For Starters #55: Keeping Discovery Simple
Traveller, there is no path. The path is made by walking. - Antonio Machado
My interview on the SaaSy as F*ck podcast has been added to the “Interviews & Presentations” section of PricingFromTheStart.com
One of the biggest differences between an existing business and a solo founder just starting out is lack of persistent incoming demand.
So many of the systems and processes within a large company exist simply to process the continuous, incoming, demand in a consistent, reliable, and risk-minimizing manner. This, and the corresponding lack of resources, is one of the biggest culture shocks to new entrepreneurs that have spent the bulk of their career inside an established corporation.
The primary problem of a new business is not how to process demand, rather how to generate it in the first place.
“Small businesses are seldom in equilibrium, or even near it.” - Welsch & White, Harvard Business Review, July-August 1981.
It seems at some point in the past six years, the entirety of marketing has been redefined as: Buy ads on social media, drive traffic to landing page. Twenty years ago, this technique was new and innovative. Today, it’s just a way to burn your runway.
For CPG, I sorta get it. We’re trying to cast a very wide net of interested customers and digital marketing allows us to do that at a fraction of the price of non-digital channels, provided we trust in the algorithm. Unfortunately, it’s too often the first step - rather than a subsequent scaling step after honing in on the ideal customer - simply because it minimize the chances being rejected by a real person (again).
For B2B, no. Absolutely not. High value buyers are not passively scrolling social media waiting to for an ad to click on or another lead magnet to ignore. They’re actively searching for a trustworthy vendor to solve a persistent, urgent frustration.
As I wrote a dozen years ago:
“Most important of all – [B2B buyers] all have families they love, kids they don’t spend enough time with, and hobbies they haven’t pursued in much too long. In short, their calendars are booked solid with challenge and fulfillment…These are people fighting to make their vision a reality. Every. Single. Day. Fighting to transform their organization’s products and culture.”
“So, how do you get in front of your buyers? That’s your job to find out. It’s not a new job. Nor is it one that can be solved by the hottest new technology. It’s solved by building relationships – not followers – atop a platform that’s unique to your remarkable business.” - Where’s Your Buyer Platform
Getting a business off the ground is 6 simultaneous discovery missions;
Discovering who the ideal customers are.
Discovering where the ideal customers are.
Discovering what the ideal customers want.
Discovering how much the ideal customer will pay.
Discovering if you can deliver it to their satisfaction.
Discovering a repeatable path through 1-5
While #4 is the initial goal, you get there by accumulating interested people into a community of your own (#2) to elicit #3.
My current tools for this are: LinkedIn, this Substack, my cal.com, and my email.
For example, each week I review my incoming LinkedIn connections and offer a 30-min intro call to interesting people. It’s currently the fastest way I’ve found to establish a trustworthy, personable, connection.
If they’re in a position to buy, my goal is to help them do so in 3 conversations or less. There’s no need to put additional steps in their way just because the big guys do. If they’re not ready or not qualified, I’ll offer to add them to For Starters, and move on.
This doesn’t need to be any more complicated. Especially today, as B2B buyers are either anxious to buy or absolutely not.
Here’s how I visualize my sales and marketing efforts today. I wouldn’t call it a funnel as much as a transition from 1:many to 1:1 connections.
While you and your business might have a different combination of channels, transitioning people from 1:many channels to 1:1 channels is the same. The fewer channels the better. As it means more time for the good stuff - paying engagements, hobbies, and family.