Questions regarding selling products to both new and existing customers of the business.
0
votes
1answer
36 views
Choosing the right people for marketing the product [closed]
We have developed a new product that will hit the travel business soon at Pune India. One part needs to be installed on the cab drivers phone, and the other part needs to be installed on travelers.
I ...
1
vote
2answers
152 views
Solving the chicken and egg problem: how to attract paying customers
I am having a bit of a catch-22 with my business model. I am trying to link employers to prospective employees based on personality/work ethic profiles (think eHarmony for jobs). However, I need a ...
2
votes
2answers
47 views
How do we additional marketing channels such as affiliate partnerships, Fab.com, specialty retail/wholesale for a physical product? [closed]
We are college students bootstrapping out tech startup the AirBNB cereal box way and have launched a physical product to help with this effort; we sell exclusively through our own website. This ...
1
vote
1answer
218 views
What is an acceptable commission structure for a marketing rep?
I am a marketing professional with over 10 years of successful experience. My specialty area is strategic thinking/planning.
Recently a local company in its first year of operation asked if I ...
6
votes
7answers
329 views
startup: work on something i personally like or work on something that would sell?
I am going to start working on a project, but divided between two project ideas.
The first one is interesting to me personally, and I have been toying with it for some time as an evening hobby, but I ...
-1
votes
1answer
268 views
Backend software for - pre-sales, sales, offline bookings cycle [closed]
I'm helping a friend out who is starting up a business providing bookings in independently-owned serviced apartments (in Cambodia) and I'm trying to find out what software (open source or otherwise) ...
3
votes
3answers
218 views
Even after 1 year, the ecommerce site isn't showing good results
Last year around august, I joined an eCommerce start-up(handicraft items) as the technical head. Though, the company was online for more than 4 months prior to me.
The website look and feel was ...
2
votes
2answers
143 views
Dealing with Free and Lite Version of Competitors
We are new to the software field and have been launched ~4 months = 8 sales so far.The conversion rate is 0.5 %.Product is priced around $25-$30
We are in a market with lot of competition,in fact the ...
0
votes
0answers
34 views
What kind of approach would give the best results in sales forecasting?
What kind of approach would give the best results in sales forecasting: a top down or bottom up approach? Does it differ for different sectors? For a start up with no business at all; if the product ...
5
votes
2answers
158 views
Limiting liability of individual/small startup when selling software
If I make and sell some software (online if that matters), and say that software ends up causing some unexpected behavior (let's go extreme and say it deletes all data on the hard drive!). Am I liable ...
1
vote
3answers
880 views
Looking for freelance sales person? How can I find them?
I'm looking for a sales person to help me in my new startup.
We are targeting the high end restaurant marketplace.
I understand the product and can pitch the idea. But I am having difficultly ...
0
votes
0answers
56 views
Freelance sales person for small web/graphic design company [duplicate]
How can I find a freelance sales person for my small web/graphic design company? Sales is not something I specialize in and I need to find someone to find me more business but don't know how to go ...
1
vote
2answers
90 views
Who should process payments?
Suppose:
Company A owns product P
P is managed by company B
The sales contract is between A and customers
A has a contract with B such that B receives all income generated by P
Could B directly ...
0
votes
0answers
16 views
What Would Be a an Appropriate Contract Furniture Finders Fee?
I was wondering if you could advise me as to what would be an appropriate finders fee for a high quality contract furniture company? The contracts would typically be hotels and high end residential.
...
-1
votes
1answer
80 views
Do we really have to drink with clients/prospects in order to get orders? [closed]
I met a classmate 2 days ago. He is 28 year old and is a deputy general manager and is managing over 200 people. He often drinks with clients and gets drunk. His body is obviously wider than before, ...
1
vote
1answer
48 views
what is a good call to action on postcard marketing
Our company has a platform and managed service for SME that allows them to communicate with customers on (social media, SMS email) create an online presence (with reviews, deal and events pages) and ...
0
votes
4answers
825 views
How would you convince a domain owner to sell his domain to you?
I'm wanting to have a domain name for my business that has already been registered by someone but that he is not using. He is offering it to me for $1000 (which is too much for me) and I offered him ...
1
vote
2answers
82 views
best practices of managing follow up calls in cold calling? [closed]
Best practices of managing follow up calls in cold calling?
Actually, I am searching for the best protocols in managing follow up calls.
6
votes
3answers
1k views
How to recruit someone to help make sales on a commission basis?
I would like to get someone with me full time with good sales experience and contacts in my industry to help me get sales going but I don't have the budget to hire a sales guy? I expect your answer ...
2
votes
2answers
77 views
Setting Sales Goals
Currently, I have a small software consultancy practice. In fact, its just me. I'm not much of a sales individual, but I've been good enough at it to move along. I believe that in order to grow my ...
0
votes
2answers
80 views
How to deal with competitors who are constantly slashing their prices?
I recently noticed that one of our competitors has been very aggressive in slashing their product prices. Although our costs are relatively low I am not much of a fan in reducing our product prices to ...
1
vote
3answers
88 views
Inventory management
we have a simple spare parts selling business online. At present We store and search parts from stores manually. Which is becoming hard day by day as inventory is growing. The solution I thought is to ...
1
vote
2answers
51 views
Telephone calls to leads outside of the US?
I recently began calling up people who fill out the lead capture form on my website (name, email, phone). I'm based in the US, and calling US numbers is no problem.
But my product is available ...
0
votes
1answer
28 views
Should I follow up with prospect in this case?
I'm technical guy trying to do sales as well..
Some prospects communicate well, I know what to expect. Some acting strange. Usually when they send request via web I reply with small intro asking what ...
1
vote
1answer
53 views
Should I have a sales contract with my first client?
Next week I will meet with my first client to discuss a subscription with my SaaS product. I gave him the first month to test it out.
During that time, he’s given me a wealth of helpful feedback ...
3
votes
2answers
161 views
What to offer sales biz dev first hire / partner for product that has early sales traction?
Background:
I am a developer with a SaaS product that is bringing in revenue, but not enough to pay a sales person's salary (yet). The company shouldn't need outside funding. The product is ...
0
votes
2answers
73 views
Reward Points Calculation Dilemma
I run a new small e-commerce business and I'm considering to reward my customers with reward points for every dollar spent in our store.
I was thinking along the lines of 10 reward points for every ...
2
votes
1answer
117 views
When is a business cofounder needed
I am technical founder right now of my own software startup.
Right now, I'm developing the software and am seeking a business cofounder.
I lack domain expertise in the various parts of the business ...
13
votes
8answers
6k views
Hiring sales people as independent contractors
Anyone have any experience hiring independant contracted sales people for a startup scenario? What types of an independant contracts have you used and issues to watch out for? What successful ...
9
votes
11answers
1k views
Anyone experimented with $49.95 vs. $50 Pricing for subscription software?
I've read a bunch of times in the retail world where the $49.95 (or $49.99) style pricing actually increases sales vs. just making it a round number like $50.
Has anyone tried this for a subscription ...
1
vote
4answers
94 views
Is making a product free a valid sales strategy?
We have a product that is comparable in features and user experience to several competitors, however we are unable to gain any real market share, because the target market is relatively hard to reach, ...
1
vote
4answers
97 views
Making a sale that's over the customers budget
I have been working on an offer for a software project, requested by a customer.
I'm pretty sure that the price of the offer will be over their budget.
The price itself is nothing special, it is a ...
1
vote
2answers
177 views
What's the best way to get our product into stores?
A friend and I created a product, found a manufacturer for it, and are selling it online, but we need to get it into stores. We don't know anything about marketing, we are bootstrapping the business ...
4
votes
3answers
161 views
Breaking the Chicken Egg dependency (taxi's vs travelers)
I have read through the Q&Z for chicken egg issue, on this site. And have come up with a solution. I hope to receive some business advice on my solution.
A Taxi Booking, webportal/mobile app is ...
5
votes
6answers
470 views
How to compensate sales rep for (bootstrapped) SaaS startup?
My SaaS startup has gained some early traction (a slowly growing number of paying customers built up over our first few months after launch). It's now time to "step on the gas" and grow the ...
4
votes
2answers
171 views
How to transform a free trial user to a paying one?
We are a B2B web company, which offers a tool for online sellers ( amazon, ebay ).
Since we got more and more free trial user, our ratio from trial to paying ( which was before near 80% ) got back ...
2
votes
3answers
62 views
Why is it necessary for online marketing to be mobile-friendly?
Can online marketing still survive even if it isn't mobile-friendly? What advantages can it give to online marketing?
0
votes
1answer
129 views
How to get desktop research tool distributed?
We are in the process of creating a desktop research tool, which will provide snappy access to a wide range of information.
Conceptually, this tool is similar to Babylon. How would you go about ...
10
votes
4answers
243 views
Is it worth using box shots for online product sales?
I am selling professional software B2B online to engineers. Price tag around $1k.
Many online software vendors include an image of their product's packaging, a so-called "box shot". Of course, ...
1
vote
2answers
84 views
Determine offer for SaaS company?
I've read various forms of the following question, but haven't found an answer that fits the following, so I'm hoping someone can help out.
I'm interested in potentially acquiring a currently in-beta ...
1
vote
2answers
178 views
Where are C-level titles for marketing and sales?
I very often see these C-level titles: CEO, COO, CTO, CFO.
But what about marketing and sales? Are there any C-level titles for those roles?
I searched on Wikipedia and I found: CBDO (Chief Business ...
3
votes
2answers
166 views
Should a free listing in a niche directory include full features?
I have built my own web directory for a niche business market.
The directory is still in its early days.
I have currently kept the basic plan completely free and I am not restricting the information ...
0
votes
4answers
133 views
How to get people to pay before they can see the product or service?
One of the ideas to find out if a new product/service is viable to build is see if there's interest in it. One of the methods talked about is to gauge how many people want to buy it. That is people ...
1
vote
3answers
67 views
Profit Share with Customers
Has anyone here ever tried giving a share of company profits to regular clients? We are thinking of allocating about 30% of after tax profits to a pool in which our regular customers share. The payout ...
0
votes
3answers
144 views
Selling original cartoon artwork online
What is the best way to take original cartoon characters that my offspring have drawn and sell them online either for the character themselves, or on merchandise as in T-shirts, hats etc.
0
votes
4answers
278 views
How to hire sales rep? [closed]
What site would you recommend to add posting?
Any specialty site that would be better for jewelry sales rep?
What template should I use for the contract if any?
1
vote
1answer
179 views
Price quote inquiry - best way to answer and find more?
I just received an inquiry about a price quote for a large amount of Users for our Online Suggestion Box tool Vetter, from a local government employee. He simply asked for the quote, no other info.
...
0
votes
2answers
173 views
minimum needed to hire a sales guy for commission
I'm an engineer/CEO/Founder of an unfunded startup (well, I guess you could say I'm the one providing the funding). So far I've been the only person who has done any work with this company. I don't ...
2
votes
3answers
151 views
Have any advice on getting good at sales?
We're ready to start selling our (free) software product to local businesses. Don't worry, we make money another way :)
So, by selling, I mean of course, pitching them and getting them to use the ...
7
votes
2answers
154 views
How to keep track of the all the people you're in contact with
I realized that I was losing track of people I have been in contact with once I got a call from a prospective vendor and they referred to a quote that I couldn't identify.
I would like to track:
...
