The Three Es of Sales- Energy Enthusiasm and Expertise

The three Es of sales

Last week I wrote about the four Ps that every founder needs – persistence, pressure, pride and passion. While I’m not going to disappear down an alphabet soup of advice each week, this week I’m going to look at the fact that every salesperson and every founder who is selling needs the three Es- energy, enthusiasm and expertise. Founders who have never sold before are understandably nervous. It is simply not possible, unless you have a co-founder who sells, that you will not have to sell in your startup and it can be daunting, even for experienced salespeople. Not only that but you need to get good at it and fast.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re pitching people to join your fledgling team, pitching prospective clients as you try and identify product market fit or pitching banks or investors to back you, you are now in the sales game. For bootstrapped founders it is even more critical as your ability to bring revenue and cash into the business is fundamental to its continued existence- you simply have to sell. The good news, especially for those new to sales, is that the exact same ingredients that every salesperson needs are also what every founder should have in abundance- the three Es.

Energy is key. Every investor looks for the same thing from founders – fire in the belly. A burning desire to fix a problem or create a solution. I almost added patience to the four Ps in last week’s blog https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7381648779302834176 but didn’t for this reason. This is where you need to be impatient. A 'can’t sit still or even stand still' level of energy as you try and overcome the problem that you are building a solution to. It’s a level of energy that is almost a visible frustration as you are so driven to find the solution and get the job done and incredibly impatient to get on with it. If you don’t have energy and are energised by the product or solution you are bringing to the table then stay at home. Energy gets people’s attention.

 Enthusiasm is the natural output from your energy. It infects others and in doing so it removes barriers. Almost all of the people you will talking to will be going about their normal working day whether its being pitched by startups, someone tyring to promote a solution to their problem or even if it’s just someone considering a new role.  They will think that they have heard something similar before.  In some cases they may even be jaded. They will have their usual standard objections ready to go and be waiting to roll them out.  Your infectious enthusiasm can help stop this happening, make them sit back and pause and start paying attention to what you’re saying.

You will not be the only person talking to them about something similar to this so you need to make sure you stand out. You have to bring energy and enthusiasm to the table. The combination of energy and enthusiasm will excite people. The ability to excite people is essential. It is a cold fact that whoever you are pitching will always be, at best, 10% less excited about your product than you are, so you have to use your energy and enthusiasm to get them as excited as possible.  If you get them excited then they will actually start to pay attention, to engage with you and if you can get them to do that then you have half a chance.

Often, at this point, some founders will worry even more as they consider themselves an introvert. This is not a problem. While it may be initially easier for extroverts to get out there and start demanding attention, the playing field is levelled when we get to the most important part – your expertise. This is what gets people to actually buy. Energy and enthusiasm get their attention but no one buys just because of that. People buy expertise. It does not matter what the problem that is causing them pain is, your expertise is what will solve it.

You can’t solve anything unless you understand it in detail. This is why it almost always take a number of iterations of an idea or solution to bring a product to life, as each time you are increasing your knowledge of the problem and the challenges it brings. In doing so you are building expertise. It can be a faster cheaper process, a Gen AI solution, a new product that fits a new market paradigm or a new solution that technology has only just made solvable. At the end of the day, it is the expertise that you develop and that you shape and mould and bring to them, that will fix it.

 Introvert or extrovert, once you start talking with the knowledge that expertise brings and start demonstrating that expertise in helping them fix their problem, then people will listen. They might not buy from you right now, but they will pay attention and be ready to come to you when the time is right for them. That is all sales fundamentally is.

It is getting people comfortable with you, to the point that they will come to you first, when they have a need for you and will then want to buy from you. It is about building that level of trust and comfort.

By partnering with them to provide your expertise so that they can fix their problem you give them a greater sense of control. Trust and a sense of control fulfil deep rooted human needs. You need to tap into this as a founder. By focusing on the three Es you can’t be guaranteed success but you can be guaranteed a better chance of it😊