i had my first sales call today as an AI engineer. here are 5 things it actually taught me about B2B sales:
1. people like to buy but without actually feeling that they are being sold something: how tf do you do that? always make them lead with the problems they have faced in the past experiences. mention how your solutions solves all/most of it. empathise with them. make them feel seen.
2. people buy from people they like: word of mouth still is, always will be the primary channel of B2B sales. if the person likes you in the first 15 seconds, your job is 30% done. always go in with a warm smile. actually care for them. a small genuine compliment, being curious about how their day to day is. all of that counts. sweat the small details.
3. find your champions: i used to listen to these b2b people say, oh we need a champion from this abc company and used to think: what does that even mean? a champion is someone who believes in your product and has incentives to promote your product to their team. one of the incentives can be that they want to spearhead ai adoption across the org.
4. its a long game: you are not gonna get done anything in a single week. don't plan it like that. it is probably going to take a couple of months or more. you should have a longer pipeline.
5. learn from your founders and seniors: it was my first call but my founders have been doing this for months. they have the idea about things that actually work. let them lead you in the right direction. the awareness that you don't know is as good as knowing.
what are some of the things you guys have learnt during your sales calls btw, v curious