"When I founded my first company I had no idea how to reach out to potential buyers. If I were doing it again, here is what I would do"
1) Identify the type of person (ICP - ideal customer profile) I think should buy my product
2) Buy linkedin sales navigator and start connecting with people who fit that description (ultimate goal is a 15-30 minute demo)
3) Use a Combination of These Three Channels (tips for each below):
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Cold Calling
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this would be my primary channel (I would send 100 connection requests per week via sales navigator)
my secondary (I would send 30 customized emails per day and use LeadIQ to find emails)
~20 calls per day focused on asking questions to see if people have my problem (odds are that 20 calls will mean 1 convo)
PRIMARY CHANNEL
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I would buy Linkedin Sales Navigator immediately. Its filters let you narrow in on your ICP. It is the best way to find and connect with prospects.
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Linkedin allows ~100 connection requests per week so I would max those out every week
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As people accept my connections I would DM them with the goal of starting a convo to figure out if they 1) have the problem we solve for 2) if they have ever heard of us (example that turned into a meeting below)
SECONDARY CHANNEL
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I would NOT send a ton of emails all at once from my newly created email
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Sending over ~50 emails per day from a newly created email can cause the domain to be flagged as spam and emails will stop being delivered
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I would send 30 or so customized emails per day
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I would sign up for newsletters and send emails to other gmail accounts that I own to help “warm up” my domain
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I would not guess people’s emails b/c this hurts deliverability as well.
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I would use LeadIQ, ZoomInfo, Slintel or something else to find emails for prospects (LeadIQ is my favorite, but any of them work. I would just use the cheapest option to start)
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At some point I would buy Outreach or Salesloft to help track email numbers and create automatic sequences, but I wouldn’t do that until I hired an SDR b/c it’s expensive and not necessary for a one person team
COLD CALLING
JUST DO IT
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Cold calling isn’t anyone’s favorite choice, but it’s an easy way to build some rapport with prospects
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As an early stage founder it’s easy to be super genuine, so I would just say I’m building a new company and wondering if I can ask 2 questions
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I wouldn’t start selling right away just base the call around questions and see if they even have the problem
