Bridging the Confidence Gap with Enterprises

Let’s dive into each of these pillars, exploring the strategies and practices that can empower startups to build confidence and forge strong relationships with enterprise customers.

Solution expertise

At a minimum, you need to demonstrate expertise in the domain you are operating in. You should have a good understanding and insights about your industry and the trends. Enterprises always respect new point of views and are willing to try things that offers them value. You should have a good understanding of the problem you are trying to solve. And the value your solution is providing. Preferably in $ terms. Create a solid business case and ROI.

Try not to be audacious. For example, some startup will claim they can save $ 10 Mn per year with their products or they can increase the prospects revenue by 40%. Customers can see through the bull shit. So try to be as realistic as possible.
You can show them an ideal world scenario and a more realistic scenario. It will make your value proposition more believable.

You need to be able to demonstrate your expertise in solving the specific problems of your prospect. Even if you have a horizontal solution that will work for everyone, you need to be able to show how it will help the specific prospect. Personalize your presentation and the demo as much as possible. In fact, make the demo in your prospects environment. Use their logo in your product. This way you are minimizing the cognitive load in their minds. And bring you closer to a deal.

They need to understand that you understand not just the industry, but their company and their specific challenges. And then you need to demonstrate that the solution will work in their context and environment. Use their specific language. If you are selling to retail, use the term shoppers. If you are selling to a credit union, use the term members. Use as much of the industry jargon as possible. Yes, you will have many different versions of the deck and demo. But it’s critical.

Once you have demonstrated your expertise in the solution area and the problem space, you will need to address several enterprise concerns. For example, how do handle security of data, or scalability, performance, change management.

You probably may not have the answers or built the capabilities just yet. Acknowledge them. Mention how you plan to address these in future. Find out which item is a big concern for them. If possible, start addressing the key one first.

Demonstrating your solution expertise is a crucial step in bridging that confidence gap. Even as a startup, you should demonstrate expertise and credibility by showcasing your industry knowledge and highlighting the qualifications and experience of your team members. Leverage the expertise of your founders and key team members to build confidence.

Process control

Showing your solution expertise is just the minimum requirement. You also need to have control over the process of how you approach your deal with them.

End of the day, customers are looking to solve their critical problems. Once you have demonstrated your solution expertise, the next thing they want to know is how you will help them towards the promised land.

Let’s use an analogy. Imagine you are going on a trip to an exotic country. You may read web sites or books and get a good idea of the place. But you still need help with local expertise who can provide the best experience, and also be there with you in case of any problems there. You can work with an agent (real or virtual) who is an expert and has the information about your destination. But you would be better off working with an agent who will help you secure the local bookings, create a personalized itinerary that works for your requirement and most importantly is available in case something goes wrong. That’s taking care of your journey.

Similarly, you need to tell your customers how you will help them along this journey. Share the details of the implementation, migration, training, documentation, change management. Even if it means doing things that are not part of your core product, help them figure out all the steps.

Remember, they are buying a value. Your product is one aspect that delivers that value. The best thing you can do is to help create an implementation and a change management plan with them. Share best practices and templates when applicable. For free. They will love you just for that fact.

In addition, show them how you are helping other similar customers. Enterprises prefer to work with vendors whose product is applicable to a range of customers. That way they know they will get best practices in the product. Customers get confidence that you are not dependent on them.

POCs – Many customers insist on going through a Proof of Concept (POC). This is a large topic and I will write separate post on how to manage the POC process.

Organization maturity

Now that you have shown solution expertise and also control over the process, it’s time to act like a mature company. While you may want to position yourself as an upstart startup, most enterprises are looking for maturity. Does not mean you shed your unique startup culture.

Behave like a mature company. Which means having professional presentations, slick demos that work with no glitches. Be extremely presentable and approachable. If you are meeting in person, then share your business cards. It takes time to set up meetings, so be respectful of the customers process. Be very professional and responsive in your process.

Show personal and organizational track record. Share the experiences of your team members. Enterprises like to work with people who they can trust with their problems.

As a startup, you have the advantage of being agile and providing personalized customer support. Offer prompt and attentive support to your customers, addressing their queries and concerns promptly. This level of support demonstrates your commitment to their success and helps build confidence in your ability to provide ongoing assistance. If you are responsive in the sales cycles, you will likely be seen as responsive in implementation.

Share your roadmap and vision. Customers don’t buy products, they buy into your vision. Convince them that you have the best vision for them.

And last but not least, be likable.

Several founders have told me that their prospects have told them they like the founding team and they can see how they will help them with the implementation. Now in the long run, this is not scalable. But that’s a problem we can solve at a later stage. For now, act as if you are part of the customers team.