If a one percent sales increase is good enough, rely on education and recommendations.

Too many startup CEOs depend on education to sell.  Give them the facts so they can decide.  Then add endorsements touting the possible benefits with testimonials or a use case.  The spiel wraps up with something like this - Don't you want this?  Act now.  Ads and social media selling are snippets of an education and endorsement tactic with dismal sales results.  Kellogg Insight discovered more TV ads for consumer goods only increased sales by one percent!  A payoff like this would doom a startup.  Getting noticed is good, but powering sales needs more than awareness.   

Meaningful change depends on a deliberate decision - to move towards a motivating personal reason.  Not surprisingly, TV ads presume their information influences the viewer to act.   The facts say otherwise.

Use education when someone has already decided to change. The reason is known, and motivation is high. Now, picking which way to change is underway, and education helps narrow the field.  A request for proposal (RFP) is a standard process for collecting choices and selecting one in business.

Cementing the relevance of your startup to achieving a person's ambition is the fastest way to increase sales.  Opening sales calls aren't coming from RFP sections.  Instead, it's time to discover the prospect's reason for and motivation to change.  Then assess your capability to move them towards their goal and share special knowledge to encourage possible change.  Education placed into an individual's purpose is convincing and influential.   

Are you pondering the thinking behind this post?  Engage with your point of view at converse@marketenabledsales.com