How Long?

Good things will eventually come from our current economic mess. Millions of Americans are getting kicked to the street. But among them is a host of talent waiting for the right moment to start new businesses. The loss of steady income isn’t the “right moment” they had in mind, but it’s the way many successful businesses have started since—forever.

Many of these new ventures will offer wholly new products and services. Others will provide new approaches to old problems that other companies have been unwilling or unable to fix. Many startups, if not most, are destined to fail. But a lot will succeed. And when each new business calls on its first prospect, they will worry about getting THE QUESTION: “How long have you been in business?” In turn, the new business will answer: “In minutes or hours?”

The fact is, that question doesn’t get asked as often one might think. When it does, don’t sweat it. A business’s age is important, but not critical, to its ability to deliver the goods. It certainly doesn’t guarantee the company will be around long. Disagree? Consider these companies:

AIG: Established 90 years ago

Lehman Brothers: Begun in 1850

General Motors: Started 101 years ago

How much confidence does the typical American consumer have in those companies today?

Tell them, and then tell them again

After graduating from college, I worked as a television reporter in Kentucky. Being a TV reporter was the biggest deal in my life to that point. I was on television. I was covering big news stories every day. Thousands of people turned on their TVs nightly, anxiously awaiting my balanced and comprehensive take on the noteworthy events of the day. At least, that was the warped perspective of a self-important 22-year-old. I assumed my exciting life was a big deal to those who knew me best back home in Missouri. But when I spoke to folks back home, the question always seemed to be the same. “So, how do you like working for that radio station in Tennessee?” And later, “you still a radio reporter?” It was a bit of a disappointment to learn most people weren’t sitting around the fireplace, wondering aloud what story I was reporting on the TV that night. I eventually realized that the things that consume my thoughts don't consume the thoughts of anyone else.

Admittedly, when I tell a lot of people that my company sells online registration software, their first reaction is something like, “Computers, huh? Maybe you can take a look at mine. Can’t figure out how to turn the thing on.” They may not understand the nuances of web-based registration immediately. But if I’m patient…

When you start a company, no matter how many times you’ve explained to Uncle Harris or cousin Diane what you do, explain it again. They won’t mind if you repeat yourself because they may not remember anyway. They have a lot of things on their minds and therefore don’t fully understand your business, but they may understand it enough to send a potential customer or two your way. They want you to succeed.

You can relate an anecdote that illustrates what you do. For example: “Boy, you won’t believe the size of opossum we extracted from the sewer the other day using the patented PossumGrabber® I invented in my garage.” When they have a passing understanding of your business, your friends and relatives might even know THE potential customer—the one that will make all the difference in your success. Unless you’re selling something that nobody in the world wants (in which case you have a larger problem than identifying prospects), you know somebody who knows somebody who could use your service. And unless all your friends and colleagues are doing hard time in maximum security, their word probably carries some weight with their friends and acquaintances, which just might be your future customers.

One of the best ways of getting your first customers is to be a blabbermouth. This may not be your style unless you are a born self-promoter, but it is exactly what you have to be. Nobody is going to be more excited about your company than you. If you can’t promote it, nobody else will. It is quite possible, depending on how narrow is the niche for your creation, that you do not know anybody who would want or need your service. But I'll bet you know somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody.

Give and then give some more

If you start any relationship interested solely in what you’ll get out of it, you’ll get out of business sooner rather than later. Giving more than you receive in a business relationship creates a high level of confidence and respect by your prospects, and subsequently, your customers. At every turn, seek ways to rise above the prospect’s expectations. It’s the direct route to a happy customer. And once the prospect becomes a customer, do even more. Surprise them. Delight them. Impress them.

Consider what information, advice or service you can offer a prospect—at no charge—that will reinforce your industry expertise. You don’t have to give anything that’s isn’t already free in the strictest sense of the word. You just have to make it more readily available to your prospects and customers. A lot of information on nearly any topic is available on the Internet. But you make it easily available, with attribution, on your letterhead or your own web site. If you do, you'll provide your customers something of value that they will associate with you.

Your prospects will associate you with smarts. If you weren’t already a pretty smart cookie, you wouldn’t be involved in a new company. You wouldn’t be where you are now if you did not have a lot going for you. The prospect probably already assumes that. Sharing a bit of your knowledge, without expecting something in return, will help confirm it.

You, as the expert, can share a little bit of your knowledge, positioning yourself as a leader while easing possible concerns about the newness of your company. Some easy ways to do that include:
· Regular newsletters with articles and tips that avoid blatant self promotion.
· White papers about industry trends that prospects may not be aware of.
· Tips on how to take full advantage of products or services like those you offer. Better yet, offer tips on how to avoid overspending on services that the prospect may not need.
· A free analysis of a prospect’s current processes with no obligation to choose your offering.

You can probably think of several other tactics related to your industry. You know things that the prospect wants to know. Even more likely, you know things they need to know, but don’t realize it and don’t have time to get it.

"No" is not an ugly word

Get used to being turned down. Unless your business is selling $20 bills for only $15.99, prospects will say “No” to what you are selling more often than they will say, “Give me two of those.” Hearing "no" is not the end of the world.

When you’ve made it through the initial meeting, the demonstration, the proposal, the countless questions, and then the prospect still turns you down, the most important thing you can do is to learn why. This may not be as easy as it sounds. You have essentially extended a marriage proposal that has been met with "NO WAY". Most prospects would prefer that you go away rather than have them explain the reasons why they don't want to do business with you. It's not unusual for some former prospects to ignore your phone calls and emails.

If you do get the opportunity to ask your prospect why she said no to the incredible value of your product/service, however, be gracious. Ask her thoughts in the most non-threatening, low-key way possible. Here’s an example:

“I appreciate that you took the time to consider us, and I hope we can do business in the future. You can’t win them all, but we sure like to try. I would value your insight on how we can improve our patent-pending fiberglass-lined elbow warmer. Can you tell me what the deciding factor was in choosing to go another direction? What could we do better the next time around? Your opinion really means a lot to me.”

It is hard for any human being to resist offering her opinion, particularly if she doesn’t think you’ll take it personally. A lot of prospects will feel they owe you an answer in exchange for the time you spent meeting with them. The information the former prospect provides you, if honest, is gold. In fact, the occasional honest feedback from one or two lost prospects is almost as valuable as a paying customer, minus the whole revenue issue. In fact, it could help you turn the next prospect into a paying customer.

You may never get better information on how to improve your stuff than from someone who turns you down. It doesn’t mean you must immediately change the color of your fantastic widget from blue to chartreuse just because the prospect said so. Some prospects simply aren't a good fit. At least you will learn a little about how the prospect thinks and how she compares you to your competition. Then you can draw on that insight when applicable for future prospects.

Appreciate that kind of intelligence when you receive it. Then get back up, dust yourself off, and move on. Don't ponder endlessly what you could have done differently to win the business. It is possible you could not have done anything to sway the prospect’s decision in your favor, not lowering your price, not adding a few more bells and whistles, not changing your hair color, not upgrading your toupee or anything else. File the prospect feedback in your brain, and then focus on turning the next prospect into a customer. Otherwise, you will be wasting your time, and your bank account will not be getting any bigger.

Relax a little

Nothing scares a prospect away faster than desperation. The more pressure you put on yourself to get that first client, the more pressure your prospects may feel as well.
Here’s a story from the early days of my company, a provider of online registration software: We had only a handful of customers and were still hurting for revenue when we were contacted by a district organization of Rotary International in Silicon Valley. (Inbound plus: Uncovering new markets) The Rotary district wanted to switch to a new online registration provider for their annual conference.

At first, we did everything we could, just as normal, to win the business. This included online demos and responding quickly to a myriad of questions. Even though the prospect was three time zones away, we made ourselves available late into the evenings. We didn’t build up ourselves to sound bigger than we were, but we put our experiences with our meager pool of customers in the best light. However, it seemed apparent to us as the sales cycle progressed that we had little chance of landing the account. For one thing, our software was still relatively new, and there were a few features the Rotary officials needed that our software did not yet include.

This was nothing new; we often made key enhancements to the software based on what prospects wanted, often at little or no additional charge. However, we sensed that the decision makers with the club were only mildly interested in working with us. Because we needed revenue—any revenue—we could have tried to win the Rotary’s business by saying, “Just tell us what we have to do to persuade you to choose us. We’ll make all the upgrades you need. We’ll discount our price some more. We’ll wash your car every Saturday for the next three months. Anything you want. Please, please, please.”

Who knows? We might have landed them as a customer that way, or our begging may have turned them off. Instead, we relaxed, assuming we had little chance of getting the sale. We said we could make the enhancements the Rotary wanted, but at full price. They had another request that was a little outside our realm, but we agreed to meet that request, too, at full price. Then, rather than calling them constantly to ask them if they had made a decision, we focused our attention on what we thought were more promising prospects. Two days later, the Rotary agreed to the full proposal. At the time, they were our highest-paying customer. And once the Rotary District became a customer, we went back into mega customer service mode, trying to give them a lot more than they had paid for. Years later, they remain a customer.

Particularly in the early going, it will be natural to put a lot of pressure on yourself to turn each prospect into a customer. You will be nearly desperate for their business. Sometimes, however, you have to relax a little, and to allow the prospect to relax a little, too.

Five Keys to Drawing a Sales Circle

A fine line exists between convincing a prospect that you want her business and bugging her so much that you chase her away. Though you would like to do so, you can’t make the prospect’s decision for her. However, you can do the next best thing by providing her everything she needs to make an informed choice—which is to select your service.

An advertising maxim likens this process to forming a circle, which you can start, but only the prospect can complete. This applies to you first customer and your fiftieth one. Your job is to arm the prospect with key pieces of information and to make her feel comfortable in making a decision. If you’re using any phrases similar to the ones below, however, you’re trying to complete the circle for her:
- We’re the smart choice.
- Our service is simply the best.
- Our company is the worldwide leader in (fill in the blank)
- We’re so much better than our competition, it’s embarrassing.

Never tell the prospect how great you are. Rather, give her the facts to draw that conclusion. At the other extreme, there is danger in not going far enough, which means you haven’t provided sufficient information. As a result, the prospect can’t reach the conclusion you want because there is too much effort, too much left to question, and too little comfort with you or your service.

Your job is to draw a circle until it’s nearly complete and then hand the pencil to the prospect. The circle begins when the prospect realizes she has a need. The line arcs as you build her interest in your service and then reaches its logical conclusion when the prospect realizes the best way to address her need is by choosing you.

Five easy ways to form a circle
Forming a near circle requires a set of tools that you can draw on for each situation. Here are five basic ones:
1. Testimonials
As a new company, testimonials can about you, from relationships you formed in other positions. It seems like a no-brainer, but third-party validation is such a powerful, yet often under-utilized, tool. Never say anything good about yourself when you have someone else happy say it for you.

2. Mini-case studies
As soon as you've established your first customer, use them as a case study. They are another strong form of third-party validation which help overcome your company's newness. A mini-case study should contain two or three paragraphs that briefly tell how a customer leveraged your service to solve a problem.
Here’s a simple format:
Challenge > Solution > Result
Powerful case studies should mention a return on investment, such as savings in time or the elimination of stress.

3. Trials
Let the prospect give your service a brief test drive. Quite often, a prospect’s time is much more important to her than the cost of your service. If she takes time to try it, she’s serious. Another tip: Arrange with the prospect a specific stop and end point for any trial to ensure she tests your service in a timely fashion. If a prospect has an open-ended trial, she is less likely to feel any urgency.

4. Third-party information
Prospects choose you as much as they choose your service. Prospects—human beings that they are—love getting information about things that interest them. For example, you could say, “Ms. Prospect, I just came across this article that I thought you might find interesting. I know it’s a subject that’s near to your heart.” It’s another way to show you’ve taken time to understand how her business works.

5. Listening skills
It’s natural to be so excited about your service that you can’t help but talk on and on about it. But as much as you want to talk, the prospect wants to talk more. And she wants you to actively listen, which can be the quickest way to making a nearly-complete circle. If you don’t listen, you won’t know which testimonial to share, or which mini-case study compares best to the prospect’s situation. Tip: Record yourself talking to a prospect. Even if it’s just one end of a phone call, it helps to review how you conduct a conversation. As painful as it may be to hear yourself, you will know quickly if you’re listening well or possibly talking over the prospect.

In the end, relax a little. Prospects sense when you’re overly eager to gain a sale and to move them along faster than they want to move. They can equally sense when you’re comfortable enough to let your tools work for you. Soon, the prospect is ready to complete the circle, and you’ve earned the business.

…But don’t degrade them.

No matter how desperate you are to get your first customer, never talk bad about your rivals. It’s unprofessional. That should be reason enough to say nice things, or at least to remain neutral on the subject. Prospects don’t want to buy things from companies that look bad. If you try to throw your competition’s reputation down a hole, you’re likely to be chained to them when they go. You’ll get just as dirty as they do.

The second reason you should never denigrate your competition is that you may inadvertently send them business as a result. This happened my company the other day: A call came in from someone looking for online registration software. The call was quite fortuitous because it just so happens we sell online registration software. Until that moment, we did not know this person’s company needed software like ours. In fact, we did not know the company existed. Until a short time before that, the prospect did not know we existed either. We can thank one of our competitors for that.

“How did you find out about us,” we asked.

“From one of your competitors,” the prospect answered. “I asked them who their competitors were. They specifically mentioned you and went on and on about how bad you were. They got me so intrigued about you that I just had to call you and see for myself.” One hour later, that prospect became our customer. It was one of the shortest sales cycles in our history. Maybe we should have shared some of the sales proceeds with our competitor to thank them for the lead.

Maybe we should ask them to keep up the good work.

Conversely, a prospect asked us a few days ago to name a few of our competitors. “There are quite a few good ones,” we said, acting as if we just loved talking about the competition. After we named a few, the prospect asked how we differed from them. (This is a beautiful question to hear during the sales process.) “Well,” we said, “as we mentioned, they all are good companies. It’s just that we do things a little differently.” After we outlined a few of the key differentiators, the prospect said, “That’s what I thought, too. Thanks for confirming it.” We used our rivals to point out certain advantages we offered without talking negatively about them. Not only was there no need to denigrate the competition, we had the opportunity to compliment them to our advantage. We only looked better—more professional—in the prospect’s eyes as a result.

If you are comfortable with your offering, and confident that it matches up well with your competition, you should not be afraid to mention them, and to compliment them if applicable. Prospects will be much less curious about them, and that much more impressed by you.
You will occasionally get calls from competitors masquerading as prospects. These calls are a sweet nuisance. Not only does it mean your competition is aware of you, it also means they want to discover why your customers choose you. When a rival first calls you, pretending to be someone interested in your product/service, be delighted. It proves you’ve arrived because your competition is keeping an eye on you. Soon they’ll be worried about you. Later, they’ll be working for you.

Borrow Credibility

My business partner met a budding entrepreneur at a party last weekend. The guy was the marketing/sales "arm" of a start-up company that developed a web-based storage system for medical records. So far, the company consists of the sales guy, plus the person who developed the software. And neither has left his full time job yet. My partner asked a blunt question : How would the sales guy convince medical offices to trust highly sensitive information to a new product developed by someone working in his basement at night? The new entrepreneur hadn't thought it through that far.

You need instant credibility, which may mean borrowing some. That could come in the form of a strategic partnership with another person or company that is already highly respected in your industry. It may mean starting as an entrepreneurial arm of an established company. You could build your dream within a viable business, while leveraging a bit of their image--and money. A few years down the road, you could spin off into an independent company.

Another way: Grab credibility by certification from a known brand, such as the kind Microsoft offers software developers. Then you can say: "Our people are Microsoft-certified and have expertise in the latest Microsoft web hosting products.” The prospect will hear: “Blah Blah Blah Microsoft blah blah blah blah blah Microsoft blah blah blah.” And then they think, “Hmm. I’ve heard of Microsoft. These people are OK is they’re Microsoft people.” That is, unless the prospect is a Firefox nut.

Pay Attention; Look Ahead

All your prospect wants to know is, “What’s in it for me?”

His needs come before yours. If you can meet his requirements better than anyone else can, and he likes you, you both win.

You don’t have to have a bucket-load of customers to show that you understand the customer’s problem. In fact, the prospect may be more likely to think you care if your bucket is bone dry. You have to pay attention, listen, and do your homework before you say anything about how perfectly your service matches the prospect's needs.

It's possible, however, that your service doesn't match his needs. Let’s say your company develops a special type of X-ometer that will turn the X-ometer industry on its ear. You meet a prospect and develop a great rapport. You ask lots of good questions and begin to develop a true sense of the prospect’s challenges, which, come to find out, can't be fixed by even the best X-ometer. The prospect’s problem is Y. You don't know jack about Y.

You could still try to sell the prospect on the great advantages of X in hopes of prying a little revenue out of the deal. Or you could demonstrate your interest in helping him solve his problem, even if you’re not the one who can solve it.

That would mean no immediate sale for you, which is pretty painful in the early days of your business. But two things can happen:
1) You develop a reputation as a company that really knows how to listen and how to solve problems. Prospects like that. Some will become customers.
2) If you refer a prospect that needs Y to a company with expertise in Y problems, the Y people are more likely to return the favor.

Nobody can afford to wait around while prospects that might need something a year later develop fuzzy feelings for you. But you have to work on getting your next customer while you’re trying to get your first one.

Be a Know-it-all

We've all heard these claims in business:

“We’re number one.”

“We’re world-class.”

“We’re the experts.”

Any company that claims it's world class, isn't. If you want to convince someone that you’re the best, the worst thing you could do is to tell them so. Instead, help them discover it for themselves. That’s especially true if you’re trying to get your first customer. Who would believe you if you say you’re the best when you have no customers, yet? Even if you have a track record, people would be leery if you bragged about your greatness. Prospects want to choose a company that knows what it’s doing. But you won’t convince them by simply saying, “I know what I’m doing.”

There’s a better way.

Let’s say that after years of experimenting in her kitchen, Lucinda has developed a great-tasting salsa with a special main ingredient: lima beans. She immediately forms Sublima Lima Salsa, LLC. If Lucinda opened a small store on the busiest street in town, she might sell one or two jars of salsa a week. Her goal is to sign up wholesale customers. Not only does Lucinda have to overcome the stigma of people who associate lima beans with school cafeteria lunches, she’s never sold anything in her life. Therefore, she has to convince potential customers that lima beans really are a tasty salsa ingredient, and that she’s the expert on such things.

Lucinda sets to work by submitting an opinion piece to her local newspaper entitled Lima Beans, the Misunderstood Legume. Then she learns that the local community college is always looking for experts to teach non-credit continuing education classes. Lucinda proposes to teach a cooking class that shows students how to use ordinary vegetables for easy, unique entrees and side dishes. Her students quickly see that she knows what’s she's doing around a bean or two. On the last night of class, she gives each student a jar of her Sublima Lima salsa.

Lucinda is just getting started. She joins civic organizations and offers to speak at any opportunity about the positive health aspects of lima beans. And then she signs up for as many neighborhood and community festivals as possible where she hands out brochures on healthy eating, along with free samples of her salsa.

Eventually, Lucinda’s efforts begin to pay off. A retired teacher takes her cooking class at the college. The teacher happens to be the mother of the owner of a chain of gourmet grocery stores in town. He sees the jar of salsa in his mom’s kitchen one day and tries it. Impressed, the storeowner sees Lucinda’s contact information prominently displayed on the label, and he soon calls her to learn more about her company.

The administrator of a large nursing home facility hears Lucinda speak at a Rotary Club lunch. The administrator is always interested in new ways to provide healthy meals to her residents. After the speech, she corners Lucinda to learn more.

Lucinda begins to build her list of prospects—prospects that see her as an expert not just on lima bean salsa, but all things vegetable or legume-related. Who knows? Lucinda’s prospects may need a product other than salsa, or maybe something vegetable-based that does not include lima beans. However, they are confident that Lucinda is the expert on such matters because she’s demonstrated that fact in many settings, all without directly claiming that she is the best at what she does.

Align yourself with their customers

If you’re having a tough time reaching out to your prospects, reach out to their customers instead.

In the late 90s, I was the vice president of marketing for an Internet-based company called Construction Zone (CZ). CZ had an idea (not mine) that helped them get over the no-customer hurdle. The company developed a searchable database of formatted building product information. Rather, they wanted to develop a database.

The people who would use such a tool were all for it. They were architects, engineers and others who sought an easy way do so side-by-side comparisons of construction product information. They were also in favor of the online database because they wouldn’t have to pay for it. That would be up to building product manufacturers, whom CZ would have to convince to put their information online where their potential customers could compare it with the competition.

The general reaction from manufacturers to the idea was, “Why should we pay you when you don’t have any architects searching your database?” At the same time, architects and engineers said, “We would love to use your site, but not until you have the product information we want.” CZ needed to produce an egg at the same time it produced a chicken. Therefore, the company began to build credibility by holding listening sessions.

Each listening session consisted of potential users (architects, etc.) and potential customers (building product manufacturers). Architects from large firms were delighted to attend because it gave them a forum to express their vision of a perfect world for finding product information. Manufacturers (CZ’s prospects) eagerly attended because it meant they could be in the same room with their prospects—architects who held the key to millions of dollars in potential business.

CZ briefly outlined its idea for the database, and then sat back and listened as the architects raved about the benefits of such a tool. Rather than promise manufacturers that architects would use the tool if the manufacturers would only put their information there, CZ allowed the architects to say so themselves. It was as if CZ had teamed up with some of the most powerful decision makers in the architectural world.

Another key to the success of the listening sessions was for CZ to LISTEN. The company did not trot out its sales spiel during the sessions. Instead, CZ asked attendees, “What do you think of our idea? How would you make it better?”

The listening sessions helped CZ foster a bit of credibility before they had many customers. When manufacturers saw their potential customers getting excited about the database, they got excited, too. By realizing that CZ was taking their interests seriously, they were more inclined to try a new concept by a new company. Many of the manufacturing companies in those listening sessions eventually became CZ customers.

If the participants in listening sessions had seen the gatherings as a veiled attempt only to generate sales, the events would have been less productive, or even counterproductive. Commit to being as neutral as possible so that you can reap the invaluable information generated.

Take their advice

You can even semi-formalize your relationship with your early advisers. Consider putting together an advisory board filled with people who have already reached the goals that you aspire to, even if they don’t have the potential to become customers. If you can’t connect with the right people with expertise in your industry, seek out wise folks with business expertise in other areas, or a solid image in general. Maybe a senior manager with the company you just left would be interested in serving on your board. After all, your success will reflect favorably on her.

Tell your advisers what you expect from them and how much (actually, how little) of their time you’ll require. Never waste their time. Hold meetings regularly, perhaps over lunch, but infrequently. When the money starts rolling in, you can be more elaborate, if you want, by taking your advisers on a weekend getaway. But don’t pay them. You want objective advice. You want people who will tell you what you need to know, not necessarily what they think you want to hear. You want them to be unencumbered by the promise of stock options or other biases.

Types of practical advice to seek from your advisers:
- How logical is your business plan
- How best to approach others in your industry
- Thoughts on how long sales cycle is likely to be (from the time of your first appointment with
the prospect to the sale)
- Realistic expectations for generating customers
- Examples of what worked for your advisers when they started in business

Your objective with the advisory board, besides the priceless advice, is to establish in future prospects’ minds that you’re receiving regular input from reputable business minds. The idea that a bevy of well-known decision makers is willing to take the time to advise you on a recurring basis will mean a lot to your prospects. They will know that your adviser’s time is a powerful investment in you.

You can tell your prospects, for example, that even though you don’t have the level of experience enjoyed by your competitors, you receive advice from those who do. The time your advisers spend as your sounding board will engender peace of mind with your first prospects almost as much as a long list of customers.

Your advisers should help you willingly because they believe your success will increase the success of your industry or the business climate in general. Who knows? Some of them may become your customers. It wouldn’t be the first time such a thing happened. But that shouldn’t be the main reason you form a board.

You don’t have to have a Fortune 500 executive on your advisory board. Heck, you don’t even have to have an advisory board. You can ask one or two people to serve as senior advisers. When they agree, immediately put their names prominently on your web site, letterhead or other marketing materials. As long as your advisers
1) will increase the level confidence among your prospective customers and
2) can offer objective advice, nobody should be off limits as a potential advisory board member.

Tap the brains of wise people (without paying them)

Develop some of the credibility you need. When someone chooses to be your customer, she will prove her infinite wisdom, right? The wisest people in your industry are those who boast a long record of success. Some are your competitors, but many more are potential customers. Contact some of them, but don’t worry yet about turning them into customers.

Your immediate goal is to learn from them.
Imagine Lucas has a new ATV that he never drives because he’s afraid he will wreck it. He wishes he could think of a way to drive as fast he wants on the ATV, while guaranteeing it will never roll over. One evening, as he ponders his dilemma, Lucas watches his pet hamster speed across the living room carpet in its plastic ball. Eureka! Lucas says to himself. He will create a large plastic ball big enough for his ATV to fit inside. No matter how fast he drives, the ATV will never tip over. Better yet, Lucas figures a lot of other ATV enthusiasts would buy such a ball. Lucas builds a prototype and decides to call his contraption The Bubble Over. He’s pretty sure he’s a genius, and believes he can sell millions of Bubble Overs.

Lucas is business-savvy, so he wants to prove the practicality of The Bubble Over before he spends a lot of money manufacturing it. He gets in touch with Carl, the owner of the local ATV dealership, to ask if he can pick his brain. From research, Lucas knows that Carl has been selling ATVs for 25 years and that he is well respected in the industry because he understands what ATV owners want and need. Sure, Carl says to Lucas’ invitation. He is always willing to hear about new products that might benefit his customers. Like most of us, Carl loves it when people ask, “Can I get your advice on something?”


Lucas brings his prototype of The Bubble Over with him to the meeting so that Carl can try it. Based on Carl’s feedback, Lucas starts to get an idea of how well the marketplace will receive his product. Carl also offers suggestions on how Lucas might make The Bubble Over better. As Lucas starts a relationship with Carl, he is also starting to show that he is committed to solving a problem in Carl’s industry. He knows Carl’s experience is the most important thing he can tap into at the beginning of his venture. Simultaneously, Carl is turning into Lucas’ prospect. If he should become the first distributor of The Bubble Over, his good reputation in the ATV industry will make it easier for Lucas to land subsequent customers. Lucas has just taken a big step toward credibility.


Because Lucas is a smart guy, he wants feedback from lots of people in the ATV industry to ensure he’s getting an adequate picture of the potential for his product. Therefore, he contacts other ATV dealers, too. The first words out of his mouth when he calls the other dealers are, “You know Carl, right? He’s been advising me…” The other dealers will be happy to offer their input as well. Every bit of feedback Lucas receives helps him better understand the viability of The Bubble Over. As he improves his product and prepares it for market, he’s also building a sales pipeline.


You can probably find plenty of movers and shakers in your chosen industry that can offer you advice on the viability of your business, particularly if you demonstrate an interest in providing a new or better solution to their problems. Nothing is more freely given than advice, especially when the results of the advice may help the adviser as much as the advisee.
“What do you think?” are sweet words that your advisers (first prospects) will love to hear.

Design the Perfect Customer

Complete this sentence: “My perfect customer is (fill in the bank) and spends gobs of money with me.” The right time to begin imagining your perfect customer is before you have any. Right now, you may define your ideal customer as anyone who is willing to pay you, which means you haven’t established many standards. It’s possible that some customers will actually be more trouble than they’re worth, no matter how much they pay. If you spend a little time now imagining your best customers, you can better identify them when they come along. Better yet, you can avoid the ones who don’t meet enough of your criteria.


Because your shriveling bank account is ever on your mind in the early going, it’s natural to accept and hang on to customers even if the hassles they create seem to outweigh their benefits. You’ll say to yourself, “We can stomach them as long as they pay.” Just don’t stomach them too long if they distract you from getting better customers.

Put your business plan to work
Your company’s business plan is supposed to serve a greater purpose than to help you obtain funding. It is supposed to serve as your road map to success, which should involve finding a paying customer or two. Take a fresh approach to your plan and begin to flesh out the description of your target customers. How would you define your ideal client? Even if you’ve never sold anything before, somewhere in your life you have had customer-vendor relationships, even if it goes back to selling lemonade when you were ten years old. Picture in your mind the best customer you’ve ever had and try to remember what made him so great to work with:

- Did he pay his bills on time?
- Did he trust that you knew what you were doing?
- Did he have the confidence of his boss, or was he the boss?
- Did he acknowledge the times you went to extraordinary measures to meet his needs and demands?
- Did you hurry to pick up the phone when you knew he was on hold?
- Would you find him likeable even if he weren’t helping to pay your mortgage?

Maybe it’s easier to form a picture of the worst customer and then to avoid him:
- Did your worst customer think he could do your job better than you could? (Makes you wonder why he was spending good money for your help.)
- Did you sometimes get the sense that you were talking to a brick wall, as if the words that came out of your mouth were not making it past the customer’s glazed look?
- Did he often seem unhappy with your work, even though he could never adequately explain why?
- Did he end the relationship with the equivalent of the boyfriend-girlfriend breakup: “It’s not you. It’s me”?

With such questions in mind, you can begin to look for important signs from prospects, such as:
- Does she clearly express her expectations?
- Does she answer your questions with, “Uh, let me think about that” or “you figure it out?”
- Does she recall promises you’re pretty sure you never made?
- Does she give a realistic timeline for you to develop a proposal or presentation on your product/service?
- Does she listen when you speak?
- Does she “get it” when you talk about your product/service?
- If you are not dealing with the top dog, do you sense that your prospect has the ear and the confidence of her boss?

Most customers will fall someplace in between the ideal and the worst case. Don't be ultra-selective when you are trying to sign up a customer—any customer. However, it would help if avoid a bad one as your first customer since you will have your hands full as it is. You should try to identify prospects who will help you validate your decision to give up the finer things in life like premium cable just so you could start your own company. It’s easier to cut someone loose when they’re a prospect than when they are already your customer.

As you begin to develop your customer base, you can periodically return to your list of ideal-customer characteristics. If you’re lucky, you may have one of two customers that come close to your ideal early on. Possibly, the concept of the perfect customer that you develop will change a lot once you have a few clients under your belt.

Compelling Reason #2: Your First Customer

Because I lack the ability to see into the future, I can tell you little about your first customer, except this: She is no dummy. Let’s say you are introducing the shiny new ultra-sleek TrashSmasher 3000, which competes directly with the well-known but less-sophisticated TrashCrumpler made by Humongous Conglomerate, Incorporated (popularly known as Humco, Inc.). Your first customer knows you will treat her as though she is the only customer in the world, because that's what she'll be for a while. If she has a problem, you will address it before her phone hits the receiver. Conversely, she knows that the highfalutin powers-that-be at Humco, Inc. will respond to her requests at a glacial pace. That gives you an advantage. And she knows your advantage is to her advantage.

Your soon-to-be first customer wants you to succeed, partly for business reasons, because you can make her look good to her boss or customers. But she also wants to see you succeed for emotional reasons. Everybody wants the chance to say, “I gave that successful guy his first break.” Everybody likes to pull for the little guy. Right now, there is nobody smaller than you. If you establish a good relationship with a prospect-cum-customer, she will root for you to become the best in your industry. She will say that she knew you back when, and that she was prescient enough to take a chance on you.

The day your first customer chooses to do business with you will be the luckiest day of her life, because you will treat her like the center of the universe. You will name your first child after her, even if your child is already in college. You will speak dreamingly of her to your spouse or to your pet. You will love your first customer as you have loved no near stranger before. She knows it.

Realize your advantages
To say you can use your size and newness to your advantage is not just a bunch of hooey. You really do have advantages. Let’s say your first customer calls you with a problem. How long would it take for you to respond? A split second? Less? Think how many times you’ve called someone, as a customer, and waited for what seemed like an eternity for someone to get back to you. You are resolved not to let that happen to your prospects and customers. You are going to do things the right way. Express that resolve to your soon-to-be first customer at every opportunity.

Compelling Reason #1 that Being a New Business is an Asset: You

Your main advantage over your competitors—an asset they can never offer—is YOU. You’re not starting a company because you want to be second best. You're doing it because of something that distinguishes you from any other venture in your industry. Maybe you have a great idea. Or maybe you know how to provide a particular product or service in a way no one else is. It may be that your experience or level of expertise is unique. Perhaps you have a knack for finding solutions to tough problems.

Was your previous employer getting the job done the way you knew it should be? Perhaps you were the reason your previous employer was successful. Maybe you left your former company just so you could build a better mousetrap. And now here you are, ready to show your future customers how to catch mice. Perhaps you have lots of great ideas about how to better serve customers, ideas that languished at your old company because they had to be filtered through too many levels of bureaucracy filled with people who lacked your vision. Unless you have a lot of split personalities, your ideas will get implemented in warp time at your new company. Whatever your reason for going into business, it should make a compelling story for your prospects. One of your first jobs is to identify that story to help you turn a prospect into your first customer.

Even when your business is 20 years old and you are able to take three-week vacations to Acapulco, one thing will never change: Your new customers will buy you more than they will buy the thing you're selling. All the gadgets and gizmos in the world will not make them want to do business with you if they don't think they can count on you. You will convince them that you can listen and react to their needs in a timely fashion. They know you will pay attention.
You are selling them a relationship with you. Sure, it sounds like a cliché, but it’s true. Even if you are the sum total of your company, you amount to a lot. You are the most important part of your company. Embrace that fact even if you set up shop in your utility shed and use the riding lawn mower as your conference table.

If honesty isn’t the best policy, it is a close second.

OK, I lied. Honesty is the best policy when you try to land your first customer. Telling the truth may seem like such a simple thing, but it's often overlooked. You’ll hear lots of advice about working hard, working smart, never giving up, and so on. But a commitment to the truth often gets left out.

We all want to be truthful in our business, but honesty can become an early casualty as we try to persuade a teetering prospect to commit. We start hedging the length of time we’ve been in business. We count our spouse and children as staff. We include the UPS guy as an employee. We set steaming mugs of coffee at empty desks when visitors come. We suddenly have phantom customers. I mention honesty at the beginning of this blog for a good reason. The integrity of your venture will color everything else you do. If that’s not enough reason, truthfulness can also help you land Customer #1.

Before you call on your first prospect, make a pact with yourself to accurately represent the depth of your company. This does not mean you have to loop a sign around your neck that says “We are a tiny company.” In fact, you should always present your story in the best possible light. The best possible light is the truth: You’re new and you’re small. Being a small, new company does not have to be a liability. More than a half million new businesses open their doors each year in America. If the rest of us were afraid to become their customers, commerce in this country would grind to a halt.

If you convince yourself that your company’s size is one of its strengths, and in fact may be one of your greatest assets, many of your prospects will believe it, too. No, not all prospects will want to do business with a company that's just two minutes old, but many will be open to it. And why not? By golly, your size is your strength. If you need convincing, I can give you two compelling reasons without having met you. More on that next time.