Eric Greenspan

MAY 29, 2010

Using social media to increase your company’s touch and reach with each of your customers may be the most important reason to jump in to this game changing strategy. Social media can help bridge a long standing gap between customers and the companies they trust with their hard earned cash. 40,000) to join me on Facebook.

Social Media 214

Social Media Customer Custom Media 214

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 2, 2010

This is part of a series on sales & marketing. I previously covered how early phase sales teams should be “evangelical&# and consultative in nature. The first post on scaling sales dealt with “aiming&# your sales teams – making sure they were focused on the right opportunities.

Sales 289

Sales Startup Training Pricing 289

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 23, 2012

Of course, one sale isn’t really enough, so you need to get the first customer to recommend you to a second, and make sure rate of sales ramps up quickly enough to keep the business alive and growing. Customers don’t buy the impossible dream. If you lose money on every sale, it’s hard to make it up in volume.

Sales 96

Sales Customer Custom Pricing 96

Berkonomics

JULY 26, 2018

These are so succinct, so well defined, so precise that everyone in sales and everyone involved in marketing must be able to answer these three questions without pause, and convincingly. It would pay you to work over this set of questions in a special session with sales, marketing and senior management in the room at once.

Sales 226

Sales Customer Custom Pricing 226

Berkonomics

OCTOBER 27, 2022

Of course, this comment made me think of the many times I had been guilty of this more than occasional heads-down office work over the years of management and assume that most of you who have supervised others have fallen into the same trap. Had I been guilty? Shout it out! . That’s much better than “How’re you doing today?”

Resource 156

Resource Customer Custom Coach 156

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2022

Early-stage entrepreneurs rightly keep their focus on creating an innovative product or service. Of course, not every entrepreneur wants to tackle this challenge. Of course, that means a new level of risk, giving up some control, and a new business plan. Switch your attention from product development to sales.

Sales 147

Sales Metrics Guide Startup 147

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2011

Of course, one sale isn’t really enough, so you need to get the first customer to recommend you to a second, and make sure rate of sales ramps up quickly enough to keep the business alive and growing. Customers don’t buy the impossible dream. If you lose money on every sale, it’s hard to make it up in volume.

Sales 97

Sales Customer Custom Pricing 97

Berkonomics

FEBRUARY 3, 2022

Of course, even though that is your contract with the investors, way over half of those implied contracts never work out that way. Of course, you will find yourself in opposition to your investors and some of most of your board members if you do this after taking outside investment. What if you later decide to just keep control?

Equity 156

Equity Course Sales Invest 156

Berkonomics

JUNE 11, 2015

It’s good advice; the theory being that entrepreneurs can discover the flaws in their business models sooner, make course corrections and move in a more favorable direction. In my case as a young software entrepreneur, I had a different approach: Fail Locally, one customer at a time. And I would learn customer service.

Customer 120

Customer Custom Writing Southern California 120

Berkonomics

MARCH 24, 2010

First customers are critical. Your first customers for any product or service form your reference base, the important group of allies that your marketing and sales people rely upon when attempting to create buzz and make a mass market for a new product. Make your customer a partner in the process.

Customer 149

Customer Custom Resource Sales 149

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 19, 2013

The era of VCs investing in successful consumer Internet startups such as eBay led to a belief system that seemed to permeate many enterprise software startups that hiring sales or implementation people was a bad thing. But the “no sales people” mantra isn’t what I’m here to take on. Let me explain why: 1.

Startup 403

Startup Sales Software Review Technical Review 403

Berkonomics

MAY 17, 2018

It is a story about focus upon the customer, first. Each new plateau in revenue growth, each time a month’s orders hit a record, each large order from the sales department, all of these and more give rise to opportunities to celebrate publicly. An event of extraordinary customer service. Customer first, always!

Customer 226

Customer Custom Sales Course 226

Berkonomics

JUNE 4, 2020

Most college econ courses teach marginal economics. That’s impressive sales leverage. Visit to purchase, click to close, or other terms are used in various industries to describe the measure of conversion rate from initial landing on a page displaying purchase information about a product or service.

.Net 156

.Net Sales Tool Email 156

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 14, 2021

For example, I believe that Starbucks surprised most people by proving that they could take a commodity business, a coffee shop, and make it a worldwide profit winner, just by justifying premium pricing with a quality product, the right locations, personalized service, and appealing to the professional customer personas.

Pricing 145

Pricing Startup Competition Examples 145

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 10, 2011

Netflix as a service has always prided itself on movie recommendations that are tailored specifically to you plus user ratings on the quality of films. Some customer segments value the DVD business and these may be more price sensitive. Some customer segments value the convenience of instantly available films.

Netflix 287

Netflix Customer Custom Pricing 287

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 19, 2014

Today’s customers are much more in control of their buying decision, as they have more choices and more information than ever before. Bloom’s recent book, “ The New Experts: Win Today''s Newly Empowered Customers.” Great startups manage to continually improve the relationship through outstanding follow-on support and service.

Customer 98

Customer Custom Entrepreneur Startup 98

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 23, 2021

Relevancy for an early-stage company is the discovery and understanding of the real addressable market for a product or service. This is not the total opportunity out there, and not the total target market, but the subset of customers who have and will spend the money you need to cure their pain. A startup must gain balanced traction.

Education 151

Education Customer Custom Sales 151

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 24, 2022

So, when do we know which course to take? Well, even though that acquisition is still playing itself out on the field of battle, it appears quite clear that the new parent has directed its new subsidiary to abandon the lower end of the market and focus upon the larger sales, corporate customers, and major brands.

Resource 156

Resource Competition Examples Customer 156

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 30, 2015

Today’s customers are much more in control of their buying decision, as they have more choices and more information than ever before. Bloom’s classic book, “ The New Experts: Win Today's Newly Empowered Customers.” Great startups manage to continually improve the relationship through outstanding follow-on support and service.

Customer 101

Customer Custom Startup Course 101

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 7, 2021

Every entrepreneur’s first priority should be the alignment of interests across the range of constituents required for success – partners, investors, customers, vendors, and employees. Make sure the inspiration that launched your vision isn’t lost in the course of a pivot or market change. Realign all elements of the plan.

Social Media 143

Social Media Startup Framework Course 143

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2021

Investors, on the other hand, typically don’t even look very hard at the product or service, but prefer to evaluate first the entrepreneur, and secondly the business plan. A deep product or service has a robust set of features. A complete solution provides a great experience that includes service, support, and a string of enhancements.

Ideas 155

Ideas Startup Summary Examples 155

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2018

Today’s customers are much more in control of their buying decision, as they have more choices and more information than ever before. Bloom’s classic book, “ The New Experts: Win Today's Newly Empowered Customers.” Great startups manage to continually improve the relationship through outstanding follow-on support and service.

Customer 52

Customer Custom Startup Course 52

Tech.Co

NOVEMBER 28, 2022

Live Shopping is an integral part of the “social commerce” phenomenon – a general term for ecommerce experiences within which customers don’t even have to leave social media platforms to buy items – but other tech companies like Meta, as well as TikTok, have struggled with it in the US and Europe so far.

Social Media 148

Social Media Startup Commerce News 148

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2023

Everyone in the company must adopt the principles of customer-first focus, agility in responding to change, and constant innovation to improve your processes as well as the solution. Of course, margin and profitability are important, but must be committed to adding more value to the lives of your clients, and making the world a better place.

Customer 91

Customer Custom Marketing Startup 91

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

We have global opportunities from these trends but of course also big challenges. Of course we can’t. There are of course many Seed VCs who take board seats, don’t over-commit to too many deals and try to help with “company building” activities to help at a company’s vulnerable foundations. Hot, Flat & Crowded.”

Venture Capital 471

Venture Capital Writing Invest Pricing 471

Berkonomics

AUGUST 2, 2018

Companies that compete on price rarely compete against others who emphasize service or quality. There are exceptions, based upon cost of sales. Nordstrom’s competes on service above all, quality second and price a distant third. We enter a Nordstrom’s store expecting superior service and know we will pay a price for this.

Pricing 226

Pricing Competition Examples Class 226

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 21, 2014

It’s when the noise stops and you can actually get customer attention, press articles and VC meetings. Of course back then it literally was sold in a package and stored on a shelf! People attending marquee conferences with rock bands, prominent speakers, Gartner Group prognosticators and lots of other happy customers.

Marketing 354

Marketing Case Study Metrics Sales 354

InfoChachkie

MARCH 3, 2011

In the summer of 1999, Expertcity (creator of GoToMyPC and GoToMeeting, acquired by Citrix) released a free service called BuddyHelp. In the spirit of the “land grab” mentality of the day, we emphasized usage of our screen sharing technology with no thought applied to how we would convert such users into paying customers.

Customer 162

Customer Custom Technical Support Startup 162

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 30, 2021

Of course, no business wants to be the next Blockbuster , which kept charging straight ahead despite subtle clues that the Internet was changing everything. Here are some key strategies that I recommend to prompt you when changes to your business may be required: Look for a changing customer sense of value.

Marketing 162

Marketing Social Media Metrics Customer 162

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2022

The “valley of death” is a common term in the startup world, referring to the difficulty of covering the negative cash flow in the early stages of a startup, before their new product or service is bringing in revenue from real customers. Barter your services for their services. Commit to a major customer.

Startup 136

Startup Technical Review Equity Incubator 136

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 8, 2021

It highlights the story of how United Airlines paid no attention to social media while Dave’s story of his crushed guitar and poor customer service went viral around the world. Of course, the right approach is to be proactive along all the following fronts: Reputation management. Increase customer leads and conversion.

Social Media 142

Social Media Media Platform Customer 142

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 26, 2016

profitable and companies like Amazon who chose to focus on growth > profitability were not losing money on each book sale (ie they were gross margin positive). And even when calculated correctly often CAC’s are assumed to be constant but of course they’re not. Customer acquisition cost. Gross margin positive !=

Metrics 150

Metrics Startup SaaS Course 150

Berkonomics

NOVEMBER 28, 2013

How do you judge a company’s prospects, if a corporate business-to-business sale has to be your game? I am assuming that you have an awesome product or service which cleverly solves some tough problem and promises to deliver solid ROI for the buyer. Read on! - DB. Email readers, continue here.]

Startup 214

Startup Sales Product Customer 214

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 24, 2016

Investors, on the other hand, typically don’t even look very hard at the product or service, but prefer to evaluate first the entrepreneur, and secondly the business plan. A deep product or service has a robust set of features. A complete solution provides a great experience that includes service, support, and a string of enhancements.

Customer 60

Customer Custom Ideas Summary 60

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2021

Of course there are people who are great at getting things done, but haven’t had an original idea in their life. For entrepreneurs, effective networking is required to find investors, partners, and customers. Customer retention. More customers are lost to apathy after the sale than poor service or quality.

Activity 133

Activity Startup Ideas Technical Review 133

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 14, 2023

For example, the handmade-item platform Etsy sponsors free entrepreneurship courses for underemployed and unemployed people, including assistance in setting up a store on Etsy, thus adding more artists and artisan sellers to their platform. Delight and deliver value to your customers. Without customers, there is no business.

Framework 95

Framework Customer Custom Tips 95

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 28, 2018

If a consumer will pay a fixed price for a product or service then the battle over who gets the margin in any sale is between the person who merchandises a product and the person who manufactures it. Many of us learned about substitute products in undergrad economics courses. So Why Does This Matter? What is it, really?

Product 296

Product Course Customer Custom 296