Episode 649 | Learning to Sell SaaS as a Founder (Book Recommendation)

22 snips

Feb 21, 2023

Pete Kazanjy, author of 'Founding Sales', shares his insights into effective sales strategies for SaaS founders. He discusses the vital mindset shifts needed for first-time sales roles, advocating for an abundance mentality. Kazanjy dives into practical tips on handling objections and the balance between speed and quality in sales materials. He reflects on his journey growing TalentBin to $6M ARR and emphasizes the importance of founders being actively involved in sales to create repeatable processes.

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ADVICE

Expect to Win, Accept Rejection

Expect to win every sales call to maintain enthusiasm and transfer it to your prospects.
Be unfazed by rejection, as it's common in sales.

ADVICE

Embrace Plenty in Sales

Embrace an abundance of prospects, not scarcity.
Focus your time on qualified leads and avoid chasing unlikely deals.

ADVICE

Speed Over Polish

Prioritize speed and iteration over high production value for sales materials in the early stages.
Quickly adapt materials based on customer feedback and objections.

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In episode 649, Rob Walling chats with Pete Kazanjy about his book Founding Sales, which is designed to help SaaS founders learn how to sell as well as how to hire and scale sales. We cover a lot, including objection handling, how to ask for the sale, and mindset shifts you need to make when learning how to sell.

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Topics we cover:

3:53 - Overview of Founding Sales
7:54 - Growing TalentBin to $6M ARR
10:28 - What Pete is working on today with Atrium
12:28 - Mindset changes when doing sales for the first time
19:26 - Speed vs. production value for sales materials
22:46 - Handling objections
26:50 - Asking for the sale
31:03 - Relentless execution
32:15 - What sets good sales reps apart from those that struggle?

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If you have questions about starting or scaling a software business that you’d like for us to cover, please submit your question for an upcoming episode. We’d love to hear from you.

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