How to build your early B2B sales strategy for your tech platform.

If you’re building with an eye on targeting companies and enterprise clients, this week’s podcast is for you. We spoke to Heine Bellingan, founder of JOBJACK, who just raised R46m, about their mission and, most importantly, how to get your first few sales as a B2B startup in SA.

How to build your early B2B sales strategy for your tech platform.

1. No 1 sales secret: Persist & celebrate publicly

Getting those first sales is super hard, but Heine says there’s magic in being able to approach a new prospect when you refer to having done work with another big-name company.

They did pilot projects and would share them on LinkedIn, making a big deal about it (even though there’s no cash yet), and this would create the impression that big brands are hiring JOBJACK. The snowball effect is that getting the next meeting becomes much easier – and, from there on, it's just persistence.

2. Never underestimate the value of cold calling

If you want to learn what’ll work, fast, Heine says the way to go is to cold call. Because when you actually speak to people you get immediate insights into what they want, need and what they’ll respond to.

If you’re targeting the kind of client whose contact details can be easily sourced, get on the phone and be prepared to make a fool of yourself for the first 10 or so calls. You’ll learn so much from that, you’ll be able to go back and adapt your script, approach and proposal, so you’re fine-tuning the process for your first hit.

3. It gets easier, but the hard yards come first

As Heine explains here, landing that first client requires working up the willingness to phone 100 people, dead cold, in a matter of a week, getting rejected by 99 of them and maybe getting a “yes” from just one.