<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0" xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/"><channel><title><![CDATA[Relate Blog]]></title><description><![CDATA[Thoughts on B2B sales, growth, and marketing]]></description><link>https://www.relate.so/blog/</link><image><url>https://www.relate.so/blog/favicon.png</url><title>Relate Blog</title><link>https://www.relate.so/blog/</link></image><generator>Ghost 6.30</generator><lastBuildDate>Fri, 17 Apr 2026 01:27:41 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.relate.so/blog/rss/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><ttl>60</ttl><item><title><![CDATA[Modern email marketing for B2B companies]]></title><description><![CDATA[Simple made better — launching Relate Marketing for B2B companies]]></description><link>https://www.relate.so/blog/modern-email-marketing/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6761fb91a3f62e00aa7731b1</guid><category><![CDATA[Relate team]]></category><category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Christopher Chae]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 17 Dec 2024 22:34:47 GMT</pubDate><media:content url="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2024/12/1relate-marketing.png" medium="image"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<img src="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2024/12/1relate-marketing.png" alt="Modern email marketing for B2B companies"><p>Email marketing is broken for B2B companies. This might sound like an exaggeration, but anyone who's tried to run sophisticated email campaigns for a B2B product knows what I mean.</p><p>The problem isn't that existing tools don't work—they work fine for general marketing. The problem is they were built for B2C companies sending promotional emails. B2B companies have fundamentally different needs.</p><p>We discovered this the hard way while trying to build our own marketing automation. We wanted simple things: automatically start an onboarding sequence when someone signs up, send product updates to churned customers, segment users based on their behavior. But these "simple things" turned out to be surprisingly difficult.</p><p>The core issue is that B2B customer relationships are complex. You need to combine data from your product, sales pipeline, customer success team, and marketing campaigns. Existing tools make this nearly impossible because they live in their own isolated world.</p><p>So we built Relate Marketing. The idea is simple: an email marketing tool that's stripped down to its essence but deeply integrated with your entire customer journey.</p><p>What does this mean in practice? Three things:</p><ol><li>You can pull data from anywhere to build precise audience segments. Want to target "enterprise leads who viewed your pricing page but haven't talked to sales"? Or "customers who haven't used a key feature in 30 days"? It's just a few clicks.</li><li>The email editor is minimal and powerful, like Notion. No bloat, just markdown and slash commands. You focus on writing, we handle deliverability.</li><li>Everything is connected. Marketing and product emails, sales deals and conversations, customer success—it's all in one place, giving you a complete view of each relationship.</li></ol><figure class="kg-card kg-embed-card kg-card-hascaption"><iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/1040193582?app_id=122963" width="356" height="240" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write" title="Relate Email Marketing"></iframe><figcaption><p dir="ltr"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Take a look at our email editor demo!</span></p></figcaption></figure><p>We're already working with 45 companies in private beta, and their feedback has been invaluable in shaping the product. We're getting ready to launch 1.0 soon, but we're still accepting new beta users who want to try something different.</p><p>If you're tired of fighting with bloated email tools that weren't built for B2B, we'd love to show you what we've built.</p><p><a href="https://www.relate.so/forms/owanag3splmfy6zr?ref=relate.so" rel="noreferrer">Sign up for early access</a> below:</p> <!--kg-card-begin: html--> <iframe src="https://www.relate.so/forms/owanag3splmfy6zr" width="100%" height="1100px" frameborder="0"> </iframe> <!--kg-card-end: html--> ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Smarter B2B Sales Data Management with AI]]></title><description><![CDATA[Automatically update CRM fields with Relate’s AI suggestions]]></description><link>https://www.relate.so/blog/ai-field-suggestions/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">675a10cb0c5ac700aab3a7be</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Sooyoung Jang]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 11 Dec 2024 22:55:30 GMT</pubDate><media:content url="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2024/12/ai-field-suggestions.png" medium="image"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2 id="managing-customer-data-shouldnt-be-this-hard"><strong>Managing Customer Data Shouldn't Be This Hard</strong></h2><img src="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2024/12/ai-field-suggestions.png" alt="Smarter B2B Sales Data Management with AI"><p>B2B sales teams know the struggle of managing customer data. The process is tedious, time-consuming, and easy to overlook. Because we rely too much on manual updates, important details often get missed, and your CRM ends up filled with outdated, incomplete, or inaccurate information.</p><p>That’s where Relate comes in.</p><figure class="kg-card kg-embed-card"><iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/1037930539?app_id=122963" width="362" height="240" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write" title="AI Field Suggestions"></iframe></figure><p>Relate’s latest AI feature, <a href="https://www.relate.so/docs/features/ai-suggestions?ref=relate.so" rel="noreferrer"><strong>AI field suggestions</strong></a>, simplifies data management for B2B sales teams. </p><p>Just write your sales meeting <a href="https://www.relate.so/docs/features/notes?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">notes</a>, and Relate automatically extracts key details and recommends updates to your CRM fields. With a single click, you can keep your CRM accurate, complete, and ready to drive action.</p><p>In this post, we’ll show you how to:</p><ul><li>Structure your CRM fields effectively.</li><li>Use Relate’s AI to automate <a href="https://www.relate.so/docs/features/custom-fields?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">custom field</a> updates from your meeting notes during discovery calls.</li></ul><hr><h2 id="how-to-automate-crm-updates"><strong>How to Automate CRM Updates</strong></h2><h3 id="1-focus-on-the-crm-data-that-matters"><strong>1. Focus on the CRM data that matters</strong></h3><p>Your CRM can track endless amounts of data, but what really drives results? </p><p>The key is to focus on data that drives your sales process—details that help you qualify leads, understand their needs, and close deals.</p><p>Use proven frameworks like <a href="https://www.relate.so/blog/what-is-bant/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">BANT</a> (Budget, Authority, Need, Timeframe) or <a href="https://www.relate.so/blog/what-is-meddic/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">MEDDIC </a>(Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Decision Process, Identify Pain, Champion) during <a href="https://www.relate.so/blog/discovery-call/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">discovery calls</a> to capture the right information.</p><p>Instead of letting this valuable information get buried in notes, turn it into structured fields you can track and analyze. Having the right fields in place makes it easier to find what matters, follow up effectively, and keep your sales process running smoothly.</p><h3 id="2-create-custom-crm-fields-in-relate"><strong>2. Create custom CRM fields in Relate</strong></h3><p>Relate provides you with various types of custom fields that can help you organize key information about your leads and sales opportunities in a way that works best for your team.</p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://lex-img-p.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/img/4b37fa78-c130-4081-8787-34822435544b-RackMultipart20241210-153-hl4zwl.png" class="kg-image" alt="Smarter B2B Sales Data Management with AI" loading="lazy" width="1331" height="600"></figure><ol><li>Go to <strong>Workspace > Settings</strong>.</li><li>For each category of data—Organizations, Contacts, Deals, Processes, and Lists—you’ll find options to add and manage <strong>Custom fields</strong>.</li><li>Add fields that align with your sales process.</li></ol><div class="kg-card kg-callout-card kg-callout-card-blue"><div class="kg-callout-emoji">💡</div><div class="kg-callout-text">For details about configuring custom fields in your Relate workplace, see <a href="https://www.relate.so/docs/features/custom-fields?ref=relate.so" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">here</a>.</div></div><p>Below are a few CRM custom fields you can start with. Feel free to add/remove/edit any of the fields below so that it's tailored to your product!</p><ul><li><strong>Team size</strong>: <code>1-5</code>, <code>6-10</code>, <code>11-50</code>, <code>51-100</code>, <code>100+</code></li><li><strong>Company stage</strong>: <code>Startup</code>, <code>SMB</code>, <code>Mid-market</code>, <code>Enterprise</code></li><li><strong>Pain points </strong>(Multi-select): <code>Slow workflows</code>, <code>High operational costs</code>, <code>Outdated tools</code>, <code>Poor data mgmt</code>, <code>Low conversion rates</code></li><li><strong>ICP fit</strong>: <code>Strong</code>, <code>Moderate</code>, <code>Weak</code></li><li><strong>Lead type </strong>(Multi-select): <code>Outbound</code>, <code>Inbound</code>, <a href="https://www.relate.so/docs/wiki/mql?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"><code>MQL</code></a>, <a href="https://www.relate.so/docs/wiki/pql?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"><code>PQL</code></a></li></ul><h3 id="3-write-better-meeting-notes"><strong>3. Write better meeting notes</strong></h3><p>Sales meeting notes are the foundation for AI-driven updates. The better your notes, the smarter your AI suggestions will be.</p><h4 id="tips-for-writing-effective-notes"><strong>Tips for writing effective notes</strong>:</h4><ul><li>Use frameworks like <strong>BANT</strong> or <strong>MEDDIC</strong> to guide your discovery calls.</li><li>Align your notes with your custom CRM fields for easy updates.</li></ul><p>Use tools like <a href="https://www.gong.io/?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"><strong>Gong</strong></a>, <a href="https://fellow.app/?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"><strong>Fellow.app</strong></a>, or <a href="https://chorus.ai/?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"><strong>Chorus.ai</strong></a> to record meetings and capture insights. </p><div class="kg-card kg-callout-card kg-callout-card-blue"><div class="kg-callout-emoji">💡</div><div class="kg-callout-text">At Relate, our team uses <b><strong style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Gong </strong></b>to streamline note-taking and get the most out of every meeting.</div></div><h3 id="4-use-ai-field-suggestions-to-update-your-crm-data"><strong>4. Use AI field suggestions to update your CRM data</strong></h3><p>After writing your notes, Relate’s AI steps in to analyze them and recommend <strong>AI Suggestions</strong> for your CRM.</p><p><strong>How it works</strong></p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://lex-img-p.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/img/f4514670-ce21-4e4b-aa23-5bbfea046a3b-RackMultipart20241210-172-dgt8c9.png" class="kg-image" alt="Smarter B2B Sales Data Management with AI" loading="lazy" width="1157" height="796"></figure><ul><li>Review the AI-suggestions for your notes.</li><li>Click <code>Apply</code> to update individual fields. If a suggestion isn’t relevant, simply click <code>Ignore</code>.</li><li>For bulk actions, you can choose <code>Apply All</code> or <code>Ignore All</code>.</li></ul><p>No more copying and pasting. No more manual errors and overlooked details. Just clean, accurate CRM data—updated in seconds to help you focus on building relationships and winning deals.</p><hr><h2 id="recap-turn-customer-data-into-your-competitive-edge"><strong>Recap: Turn Customer Data into Your Competitive Edge</strong></h2><p>The key to closing more deals lies in how well you manage and leverage customer data. Well-documented sales and customer data become valuable assets that directly drive growth. Well-organized CRM data helps you:</p><ul><li>Gain clear context about your leads.</li><li>Understand customer needs at a glance.</li><li>Follow up at the right time.</li><li>Build stronger, longer-lasting relationships.</li></ul><p>Imagine this: A lead isn’t ready to buy today, but they mention they might revisit in three months. If you’ve recorded this insight in your CRM and set a reminder, you can follow up at the perfect time—and win the deal.</p><p>With Relate’s AI, managing customer data has never been easier. Write your meeting notes, let Relate suggest updates, and keep your CRM ready to help you succeed.</p><hr><p>Ready to transform how you manage sales data? Try <a href="https://www.relate.so/?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Relate AI</a> today and see how effortless CRM can be.</p><p><a href="https://www.relate.so/blog/newsletter/">Subscribe</a> to get bite-sized, essential B2B advice and insights to your email inbox!</p><p>More about AI Suggestions:</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.relate.so/docs/features/ai-suggestions?ref=relate.so" rel="noreferrer">Product guide on Relate AI</a></li><li><a href="https://www.relate.so/changelog/ai-field-suggestions?ref=relate.so">Recent Changelog update on AI</a></li></ul>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Discovery call: The Art of Understanding the Customer]]></title><description><![CDATA[Discovery call is crucial for understanding customer needs and gathering essential information for deal closing, including the decision-making process.]]></description><link>https://www.relate.so/blog/discovery-call/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">674f6e835e764b00aaa53c8d</guid><category><![CDATA[Sales]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Won You]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 03 Dec 2024 20:59:29 GMT</pubDate><media:content url="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2024/12/discovery-call.png" medium="image"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<img src="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2024/12/discovery-call.png" alt="Discovery call: The Art of Understanding the Customer"><p>Discovery call is crucial for understanding customer needs and gathering essential information for deal closing, including the decision-making process.</p><h2 id="what-is-discovery-call">What is Discovery Call?</h2><p>A discovery call is the first real conversation a salesperson has with a possible customer. It's where the salesperson asks questions to learn about:</p><ul><li>What problems the customer needs to solve</li><li>What they're trying to achieve</li><li>If the product or service would actually help them</li></ul><p>Think of it like a doctor's first appointment - they need to understand what's wrong before they can recommend treatment.</p><h3 id="1-understanding-the-customer-and-their-needs">1. Understanding the Customer and Their Needs</h3><p>A discovery call is exactly what it sounds like - getting to know the customer. It's often the first customer meeting in sales. The primary goal is to identify the customer's problems and see if there's a fit between their issues and your product.</p><p>If the customer has an unsolvable problem, further sales activities could waste time for both the sales team and the customer.</p><h3 id="2-gathering-information-for-deal-closing">2. Gathering Information for Deal Closing</h3><p>Even if the customer's problem fits our product, we can't immediately make a sale. To close a deal, we need to understand the customer's pain points, budget, interest level, priorities, and timing.</p><p>Frameworks like <a href="https://www.relate.so/blog/what-is-bant/">BANT</a> and <a href="https://www.relate.so/blog/what-is-meddic/">MEDDIC</a> can help gather this information efficiently.</p><h3 id="3-prioritizing-information-for-the-next-sales-stage">3. Prioritizing Information for the Next Sales Stage</h3><p>While it would be ideal to gather all necessary information at once, that's rarely possible. It's best to prioritize the most crucial information for the next sales stage.</p><p>Discovery isn't a one-time event but an ongoing process.</p><h3 id="4-when-appropriate-moving-to-the-next-stage">4. When Appropriate, Moving to the Next Stage</h3><p>After the discovery call, move to the next stage if necessary for the sales team and the customer.</p><p>For the sales team, additional activities with an unqualified prospect can be a waste. Even if qualified, you need to convince the customer why they should invest more time with you.</p><p>Persuade them that their problem incurs high costs and should be a high-priority issue to solve.</p><h3 id="discovery-calls-can-occur-throughout-the-sales-process">Discovery Calls Can Occur Throughout the Sales Process</h3><p>Discovery calls usually start in the prospecting stage but should continue throughout the sales process. Keep learning about a customer even after they sign on.</p><p>Focus on understanding how they use your product and if they need additional features.</p><h2 id="key-points-for-discovery-calls">Key Points for Discovery Calls</h2><h3 id="1-conduct-basic-pre-call-research">1. Conduct Basic Pre-call Research</h3><p>At minimum, check the customer's website and LinkedIn to understand their business, the meeting participants, and any history in your CRM.</p><p>Identify what you can learn in advance and what to ask during the meeting.</p><h3 id="2-customer-product">2. Customer > Product</h3><p>Don't rush to introduce your product during a discovery call. The goal is to understand the customer's problems and show how your product can solve them.</p><p>Some customers may have product questions. In such cases, share a brief agenda as you start the meeting, explaining that you'll ask a few questions about their business before discussing how your product can help.</p><h3 id="3-close-the-next-step">3. Close the Next Step</h3><p>A discovery call is part of the sales process, and every step should aim to close the next step. Never end a discovery call with just a "thank you," but with a clear action item.</p><p>Convince the customer to meet again, set the next appointment, or connect with the decision-maker.</p><h2 id="stages-of-a-discovery-call">Stages of a Discovery Call</h2><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2024/12/image.png" class="kg-image" alt="Discovery call: The Art of Understanding the Customer" loading="lazy" width="3600" height="1890"></figure><h3 id="start-current-state-define-the-problem">Start (Current State): Define the Problem</h3><p>Identify the customer's problem and convince them it's a high-priority issue. Questions to ask:</p><ul><li>How much does this problem cost you?</li><li>How often does this issue occur?</li><li>Why do you find this problem challenging?</li></ul><h3 id="problem-solving-process-buying-process-understand-the-purchase-process">Problem-Solving Process (Buying Process): Understand the Purchase Process</h3><p>Once you've identified the problem, understand the customer's buying process, including specific procedures, stakeholders, and an internal champion.</p><p>Questions to ask:</p><ul><li>What's your process for implementing new solutions?</li><li>Who makes the final decision?</li><li>When might the adoption process become challenging?</li></ul><h3 id="result-future-state-return-on-spendinvestment">Result (Future State): Return on Spend/Investment</h3><p>Finally, present what the customer can expect from adopting your product. Be as specific as possible, preferably with numerical data.</p><ul><li>How would you measure ROI?</li><li>What outcomes do you expect from implementing this solution?</li></ul><h2 id="after-the-discovery-call">After the Discovery Call</h2><h3 id="write-and-share-meeting-notes">Write and Share Meeting Notes</h3><p>No one can recall every details without meeting notes. Record your notes immediately after the meeting. Also, make sure they're easy for other team members to understand and find key information.</p><h3 id="follow-up-actions">Follow-Up Actions</h3><p>After the discovery call, send a follow-up email to the customer. Include:</p><ul><li>Product/team introduction materials, meeting recording, proposal, etc.</li><li>Additional materials or persuasive content requested by the customer.</li><li>Next steps and action items that were agreed upon (next meeting schedule, feedback after demo use, connecting with decision-makers, etc.)</li></ul>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[How to do customer support as a founder]]></title><description><![CDATA[What big companies can't do is exactly what we need to do as early stage startups.]]></description><link>https://www.relate.so/blog/how-to-do-customer-support-as-a-founder/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">672a9e8c5f3adf00aa790a1d</guid><category><![CDATA[Sales]]></category><category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Christopher Chae]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 05 Nov 2024 22:58:44 GMT</pubDate><media:content url="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2024/11/cs2.png" medium="image"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<img src="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2024/11/cs2.png" alt="How to do customer support as a founder"><p>Fast, accurate responses to customer inquiries and support (Customer Support) are key differentiators for early-stagestartups against larger companies.</p><p>An early stage founder's superpower is great customer support. You can't call Satya Nadella, the Microsoft CEO, when MS Word isn't working. </p><p>But fortunately for us early stage startups, we can open up ourselves to our customers and let them call us directly.</p><p>What big companies can't do is exactly what we need to do to win as a startup.</p><p>However, most early-stage founders, especially those with technical backgrounds, aren’t good at customer support.</p><p><strong>I'll discuss 11 perspectives on doing customer support as a founder:</strong></p><ul><li>See customers as people, not as tickets</li><li>Even the smallest issues (to you) matter to customers</li><li>Be quick to respond</li><li>Don't leave customers waiting without an answer</li><li>Sometimes, you might need to "fire" customers</li><li>Empower customers with self-serve resources</li><li>Focus on solving problems, not just quick responses</li><li>Don't tell customers they're wrong</li><li>Be flexible with refund requests</li><li>Don't rush to convince customers who want to cancel</li><li>Great customer support builds loyalty</li></ul><h2 id="see-customers-as-people-not-as-tickets">See customers as people, not as tickets</h2><p>CS software like Zendesk labels a customer’s request as a “ticket.”</p><p>But remember, customers aren't tickets. They're real people with unsolved problems. When it comes to customer support, treat each interaction personally: take a moment to introduce yourself, say hello, and ask if there's anything you can do to help.</p><h2 id="even-small-issues-matter-to-customers">Even small issues matter to customers</h2><p>What seems minor to you can be a big deal to your customer. Every problem, no matter how small, it matters to customers. </p><p>Remember:</p><ul><li>A tiny bug can greatly frustrate a user</li><li>From the customer's view, all issues are important</li><li>Don't dismiss any problem as insignificant</li></ul><p>Always:</p><ul><li>Show empathy</li><li>Apologize for the inconvenience</li><li>Thank them for their patience</li><li>Promptly work on fixing the issue</li></ul><p>This approach shows you value your customers and take their concerns seriously.</p><h2 id="be-quick-to-respond">Be quick to respond</h2><p>You won't be able to respond to every single support requests as a founder. Let's embrace that. But what you <em>can </em>do is responding to each support request as soon as possible even if you aren't able to resolve immediately.</p><p>Customers often appreciate just by getting a reply to their question. Use that to your advantage — confirm you received the message and will work towards resolving it as soon as possible.</p><p>Additionally, consider building a team that can cover all time zones during work hours. At Relate, we are fortunate to have a growth team that works in both APAC and American time zones. This enables our team to effectively cover all working hours 24/7. Regardless of the hour, we can be responsive to any customer requests, day or night.</p><h2 id="dont-leave-customers-waiting-without-an-answer">Don't leave customers waiting without an answer</h2><p>Let's say a customer reports a bug in your product that can be fixed quickly within a few hours.</p><p>Even so, never leave a customer waiting for an answer until the problem is fixed. </p><p>Reply as soon as possible to let them know you've acknowledged the issue and are working on it. It's even better if you specify the timeline.</p><p>The Relate team has heavily invested in <a href="https://usepylon.com/?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Pylon</a>, a customer support tool with features specific to B2B SaaS companies.</p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://lex-img-p.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/img/600498a5-38f4-489b-a143-5456e3252241-RackMultipart20241004-202-yz1gsh.png" class="kg-image" alt="How to do customer support as a founder" loading="lazy" width="1614" height="983"></figure><p>Pylon connects with our internal communication tool — Slack, so we can respond quickly and loop in relevant SMEs (Subject Matter Experts - experts/practitioners on a specific topic) to resolve customer issues.</p><p>We can also manage all customer inquiries from multiple Slack Connect channels, our priority support channels for key customers. </p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://lex-img-p.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/img/cf6e9088-9569-4eb0-b87c-314723d2c7a5-RackMultipart20241004-157-nmamzw.png" class="kg-image" alt="How to do customer support as a founder" loading="lazy" width="1546" height="692"></figure><h2 id="handling-difficult-customerssometimes-youll-need-to-fire-customers-too">Handling difficult customers - sometimes you'll need to "fire" customers too.</h2><p>Sometimes customers get angry or rude when they're unhappy with a product. Even in this case, it's important to:</p><ol><li>Stay calm and be empathetic</li><li>Understand their frustration. They've likely wasted time</li><li>Remember that B2B customers are professionals trying to do their jobs</li><li>Explain the situation clearly, even if you can't solve it immediately</li><li>Focus on solving their problem; that's what matters most</li></ol><p>If a customer does cross the line:</p><ul><li>Remain polite but firm</li><li>Consider ending services if necessary – "fire" customers if necessary</li><li>Be careful with your words to avoid potential backlash</li></ul><p>Remember that the goal is to handle tough situations professionally and turn upset customers into advocates by addressing their concerns effectively.</p><h2 id="empower-customers-with-self-serve-resources">Empower customers with self-serve resources</h2><p>It's important to develop a well-organized guide and documentation to help your customers solve their own problems.</p><p>The top priority from the customer's perspective is solving their problem quickly. Create a comprehensive guide and documentation to enable customer self-service. This approach:</p><ul><li>Solves problems quickly for customers</li><li>Reduces support calls for minor issues</li><li>Saves time for both customers and your team</li></ul><p>Invest in product guides and onboarding materials from the start. While documentation may lag behind rapid product evolution, it's crucial for customer problem-solving.</p><p>The Relate team prioritizes a detailed, up-to-date <a href="https://www.relate.so/docs/intro?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">product guide</a> to support our customers.</p><h2 id="focus-on-solving-problems-not-just-quick-responses">Focus on solving problems, not just quick responses</h2><p>Fast initial responses are good, but they're not enough. What matters most is how quickly and effectively you solve the customer's problem.</p><p>Sometimes, calls and meetings are a more efficient way for everyone to learn more, solve problems faster, and keep customers happy.</p><p>This is why customer support teams need to be product experts and understand our customers (ICPs) in detail, including their personalities and needs.</p><h2 id="dont-tell-customers-theyre-wrong">Don't tell customers they're wrong</h2><p>As a product builder, you know your product cold. This deep knowledge can sometimes lead to a "<a href="https://hbr.org/2006/12/the-curse-of-knowledge?ref=relate.kr" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">curse of knowledge.</a>" You might think you know exactly how everything works.</p><p>When a customer reports something unexpected, like "I clicked X and Y happened," your first instinct might be to think it's impossible. But resist the urge to say, "That can't happen in our product."</p><p>Instead:</p><ol><li>Assume the customer is probably right</li><li>Ask for more details about their experience</li><li>Investigate the issue thoroughly</li></ol><p>Remember, customers are using your product in real-world situations. They might encounter scenarios you haven't considered or tested. By listening and investigating, you'll often learn something new about your product and how customers use it.</p><h2 id="be-flexible-with-refund-requests">Be flexible with refund requests</h2><p>Sometimes a customer will ask for a refund they're not entitled to, but that doesn't mean you should always turn them down. Instead:</p><ol><li>Ask for clarification on why they want a refund</li><li>Try to understand their situation</li><li>Look for alternative solutions that could satisfy both parties</li></ol><p>Being open to discussion and finding compromises can often lead to better outcomes than a flat refusal.</p><h2 id="dont-rush-to-convince-customers-who-want-to-cancel">Don't rush to convince customers who want to cancel</h2><p>When customers say they want to cancel their subscriptions, don't immediately try to change their mind. Instead:</p><ol><li>First, acknowledge their request and confirm you'll process the cancellation.</li><li>Then, open a conversation to understand their reasons.</li><li>Once they feel heard, you can explore solutions or alternatives.</li></ol><p>This approach shows you respect their decision, which often makes customers more open to discussing their concerns. From there, you may find a way to address their issues and potentially retain them as a customer.</p><h2 id="great-customer-support-builds-loyalty">Great customer support builds loyalty</h2><p>Creating a great product is just the first step. As customers use it, they'll inevitably have questions and issues. This is where providing excellent support becomes crucial.</p><p>Great customer support builds loyalty among your users. It encourages customers to use your product for longer periods, as they feel supported and valued. Moreover, excellent support helps customers derive more value from your product by assisting them in overcoming obstacles and maximizing its features. </p><p>Remember, how you handle problems can be just as crucial as the product itself when keeping customers satisfied and loyal. Your support interactions are opportunities to strengthen relationships and demonstrate your commitment to customer success.</p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Enterprise Sales Guide Summary]]></title><description><![CDATA[The Relate team shares a summary of our enterprise sales guide based on what we've learned from doing enterprise sales ourselves.]]></description><link>https://www.relate.so/blog/enterprise-sales-guide-summary/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">671bbf4f5f3adf00aa7909ff</guid><category><![CDATA[Sales]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Won You]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 30 Oct 2024 22:20:49 GMT</pubDate><media:content url="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2024/10/47da3a7f-b55e-499a-be4e-e1c4fd69f768-RackMultipart20240927-165-u5ikjs.png" medium="image"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<img src="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2024/10/47da3a7f-b55e-499a-be4e-e1c4fd69f768-RackMultipart20240927-165-u5ikjs.png" alt="Enterprise Sales Guide Summary"><p>Many B2B startups initially focus on selling to startups and SMBs. Once the product is ready, they try to go upmarket.</p><p>For the past two years, Relate has been building a <a href="https://www.relate.so/?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">simple CRM</a> and targeting startups. In the second half of last year, we started to see customers with more complex needs, which led us to expand our product offerings to a full-stack revenue platform for larger teams.</p><p>We had many lost deals before closing our first five-figure deal. After that, closing the next five-figure deals became easier.</p><p>We organized our internal playbook for enterprise sales for B2B startups. Other B2B startups with similar backgrounds can use this to accelerate their enterprise sales.</p><p>This post is a quick summary of our enterprise sales guide. For details, see the Relate team's <a href="https://www.relate.so/guide?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Enterprise Sales Guide</a>.</p><h2 id="what-is-enterprise-sales">What is Enterprise Sales?</h2><p>Key characteristics of <a href="https://www.relate.so/guide/enterprise-sales-guide-1?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Enterprise sales</a> include:</p><ol><li>Long-term contracts (1 year or more).</li><li>Larger deal size (ACV)</li><li>Complex <a href="https://www.relate.so/blog/how-to-manage-sales-process/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">sales process</a></li><li>Requires building relationships with various customer-side stakeholders.</li><li>Requires understanding of the customer's business problems and work process, including decision-making.</li></ol><p>Enterprise sales isn't just about explaining key features. It's about emphasizing the value you can deliver by <strong>solving the customer's key business problems</strong>.</p><h3 id="why-is-enterprise-sales-important-for-b2b-sales-teams">Why is enterprise sales important for B2B sales teams?</h3><p>Enterprise sales may not be essential for every B2B sales team due to its long sales cycle and complex process. However, there are compelling reasons enterprise sales benefit B2B teams.</p><ol><li>Large deal sizes (<a href="https://www.relate.so/docs/wiki/acv?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">ACV</a>) and revenue opportunities</li><li>Opportunities for long-term relationships</li><li>Builds brand credibility</li></ol><p>Through enterprise sales, B2B teams can close larger deals, upsell and cross-sell through relationship building, and enhance brand credibility through logo acquisition. So, why isn't everyone doing enterprise sales?</p><p>Because Enterprise sales is challenging.</p><h3 id="why-is-enterprise-sales-challenging">Why is enterprise sales challenging?</h3><p>Enterprise sales are more time-consuming and complex than SMB sales. They involve longer cycles, often taking months to close compared to weeks for smaller deals.</p><p>This requires engaging multiple stakeholders across various departments, from end-users to decision-makers and support teams.</p><p>Success in enterprise sales hinges on understanding and addressing the diverse needs and agendas of all stakeholders rather than focusing solely on decision-makers.</p><h2 id="enterprise-sales-step-1-prospecting">Enterprise sales step 1: Prospecting</h2><p>When <a href="https://www.relate.so/blog/3-steps-to-successful-prospecting/" rel="noopener">prospecting</a> for enterprise customers, first focus on getting these right.</p><ol><li><strong>Focus on your </strong><a href="https://www.relate.so/docs/wiki/icp?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"><strong>ICP</strong></a><strong>:</strong> Maintain a high standard for <a href="https://www.relate.so/blog/how-to-qualify-prospects/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">qualifying</a> whether they are ICPs or not.</li><li><strong>Multi-threading:</strong> Contact multiple stakeholders simultaneously to understand the prospect's org chart, key business goals or issues for decision-makers, and decision-making processes, etc.</li><li><strong>Initial discovery call:</strong> The purpose of an initial discovery call is to validate a sales opportunity and gather information for further sales efforts.</li><li><strong>Focus on value, not features, during product demos:</strong> If you're doing a product demo, don't just showcase the product. Demonstrate enough to make them think you can solve their problem.</li><li><strong>Be patient and follow up consistently:</strong> Enterprise sales don't close with a single contact or meeting, so follow up appropriately.</li></ol><h2 id="enterprise-sales-step-2-closing">Enterprise sales step 2: Closing</h2><p>To <a href="https://www.relate.so/guide/closing?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">close</a> enterprise opportunities, you need:</p><ol><li><strong>More discovery calls and product demos:</strong> In enterprise sales, discovery is not a one-and-done task but an ongoing process. They should continue to understand the needs of various stakeholders, their decision-making processes, and more.</li><li><strong>Identify and support champions:</strong> Quickly identify and support champions advocating for the sales team within the customer organization.</li><li><strong>Proposals and pilots:</strong> Proposals are all about addressing the customer's critical problems and demonstrating the value. If customers want to test your product, consider a pilot - but with a clear purpose and plan.</li><li><strong>Competition and objection handling:</strong> In enterprise sales, dealing with competition and objections is inevitable.</li><li><strong>Security review:</strong> Delay the IT/security team review as much as possible to ensure quick product adoption and sales team efficiency.</li><li><strong>Negotiations and contracts:</strong> Understand the purchasing process, negotiate, and sign contracts to find reasonable terms for both parties. Avoid unreasonable terms and prioritize long-term customer success.</li><li><strong>Utilize a </strong><a href="https://www.relate.so/docs/wiki/mutual-action-plan?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"><strong>mutual action plan</strong></a><strong>:</strong> A mutual action plan can help the sales team and customer collaborate during the product adoption process. The plan should define clear goals, decision-making processes, milestones, timelines, roles, resources, communication plans, and success criteria.</li></ol><h2 id="enterprise-sales-step-3-onboarding-customer-success">Enterprise sales step 3: Onboarding & customer success</h2><p>Closing an enterprise deal is just the beginning. Successful onboarding and ongoing <a href="https://www.relate.so/guide/onboarding-customers?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">customer success</a> are crucial for long-term growth.</p><ol><li><strong>Understanding the customer’s workflow:</strong> Before onboarding, identify the customer’s workflow that your product will impact. This understanding is critical for SaaS products.</li><li><strong>Data migration and setup:</strong> Assisting with data migration and setup provides a good onboarding experience and allows users to see the product’s value from day 1.</li><li><strong>Onboarding meetings and training sessions:</strong> Your onboarding meetings should focus on showing customers how your product solves their needs, not just introducing features. Consider segmenting onboarding meetings for different user groups to customize the experience.</li><li><strong>Regular follow-ups:</strong> In a SaaS, retaining existing customers is crucial for <a href="https://www.relate.so/docs/wiki/net-revenue-retention?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">recurring revenue</a>. When customer satisfaction and product improvements align, you can generate larger revenue through <a href="https://www.relate.so/docs/wiki/upsell-cross-sell?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener">upsells and cross-sells</a>.</li></ol><h2 id="enterprise-sales-faqs-for-startups">Enterprise sales FAQs for startups</h2><p>Here are <a href="https://www.relate.so/guide/when-can-startups-start-selling-to-enterprise-companies-ch-5?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">common questions</a> startups have when selling to enterprises.</p><h3 id="1-when-can-a-startup-start-selling-to-enterprises">1. When can a startup start selling to enterprises?</h3><p>Enterprise sales is about solving big problems, not just showcasing features. You can win enterprise deals even without a fully developed product. Focus on the customer's main business challenge and how you'll solve it. Be clear about what you can deliver now and what you'll develop soon (aim for under 90 days). Communicate openly and agree on timelines with the customer throughout the process.</p><h3 id="2-what-if-i-cant-meet-all-the-customers-requirements-at-once">2. What if I can't meet all the customer's requirements at once?</h3><p>Skilled sales reps should conduct a thorough discovery call to prioritize the customer's requirements and eliminate unnecessary ones: evaluate critical requirements based on the customer's willingness to pay.</p><p>When a feature requires further development, the sales rep must ensure clear communication between the product team and the customer.</p><h3 id="3-communicating-with-the-product-team">3. Communicating with the product team</h3><p>When a startup closes an enterprise deal, immediate communication with the product team is crucial. Here's what they'll need to know:</p><ul><li>The customer’s core problem</li><li>The problem context</li><li>The customer's proposed solution or requirements</li><li>For multiple problems/requirements, their relative importance and priority; identifying any "deal breakers"</li><li>Implementation timeline</li></ul><h2 id="case-study-our-first-five-figure-deal">Case study: Our first five-figure deal</h2><p>Check out this post if you'd like to see how Relate closed our first five-figure deal started from outbound.</p><figure class="kg-card kg-bookmark-card"><a class="kg-bookmark-container" href="https://www.relate.so/guide/case-study-relate-first-deal?ref=relate.so"><div class="kg-bookmark-content"><div class="kg-bookmark-title">How Relate closed the first five-figure deal through outbound sales - Ch. 6 - Relate Enterprise Sales Guide</div><div class="kg-bookmark-description">Here’s a case study on the Relate team’s first enterprise deal. It details the process from prospecting to closing the deal and onboarding.</div><div class="kg-bookmark-metadata"><img class="kg-bookmark-icon" src="https://framerusercontent.com/images/XifOVB3kVYJqmU6XQuK7YCfyWVs.png" alt="Enterprise Sales Guide Summary"><span class="kg-bookmark-author">Relate Enterprise Sales Guide</span></div></div><div class="kg-bookmark-thumbnail"><img src="https://framerusercontent.com/images/xUEmCA2eCaTtRGg3RRqAn3vhsA.jpg" alt="Enterprise Sales Guide Summary" onerror="this.style.display = 'none'"></div></a></figure>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Introducing Fundraising CRM by Relate]]></title><description><![CDATA[It's a place to track ongoing conversations, term sheets/investment deals, schedule meetings, and securely share decks with potential investors.]]></description><link>https://www.relate.so/blog/introducing-fundraising-crm-by-relate/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">66c4e6937e338c00a9bb6638</guid><category><![CDATA[Relate team]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Christopher Chae]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 20 Aug 2024 19:48:21 GMT</pubDate><media:content url="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2024/08/fundraising-crm-10x.png" medium="image"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<img src="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2024/08/fundraising-crm-10x.png" alt="Introducing Fundraising CRM by Relate"><p>At Relate, we’ve raised a few rounds of investment — totaling in about $2.6m to date. We raised from great investors such as <a href="https://ycombinator.com/?ref=relate.so" rel="noreferrer">Y Combinator</a>, <a href="https://www.translink.kr/?ref=relate.so">Translink</a>, <a href="https://bass.vc/_eng/?ref=relate.so" rel="noreferrer">Bass Investment</a>, and angels such as <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/doshkim/?ref=relate.so">John S. Kim</a>, founder of Sendbird, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/natematherson/?ref=relate.so">Nate Matherson</a>, founder of Positional, and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/sungmcho/?ref=relate.so">Sungmoon Cho</a>, founder of Chartmetric.com. </p><p>But the process was never easy. During our fundraising process, we talked to hundreds of VCs, angel investors, and government officials for funding. At one point we’d talk to 1-20 different institutions at the same time. This was tough to navigate — we couldn’t easily figure out who (which founder) was talking to whom and at what terms.</p><p>So we built a free product that helps founders navigate fundraising. Introducing Fundraising CRM by Relate. It's a place to track ongoing conversations, term sheets/investment deals, schedule meetings, and securely share decks with potential investors.</p><p>It’s completely free to get started — <a href="https://www.relate.so/solution/fundraising/?ref=relate.so" rel="noreferrer">sign up for an account</a> today.</p><div class="kg-card kg-button-card kg-align-center"><a href="https://www.relate.so/solution/fundraising?ref=relate.so" class="kg-btn kg-btn-accent">Get started free with Relate CRM</a></div><p>It works just like a Sales CRM accept that it’s tweaked to fit the fundraising use case. Here are key features and use cases for managing fundraising with Relate.</p><ul><li>Track investment deals</li><li>Book meetings</li><li>Share pitch decks and track opens</li><li>Send and receive emails and sync history</li><li>Keep a record of potential investors</li><li>Send investor updates via email</li></ul><h3 id="track-investment-deals">Track investment deals.</h3><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2024/08/deals-fundraising.png" class="kg-image" alt="Introducing Fundraising CRM by Relate" loading="lazy" width="5310" height="2440"></figure><p>When you are actively raising, you want to fill your investment deal pipeline with as many leads as possible and track each lead status tightly.</p><p>Relate’s fundraising process allows you to customize each stage and effortlessly create cards to track deals.</p><h3 id="book-meetings">Book meetings.</h3><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2024/08/Book-Investor.png" class="kg-image" alt="Introducing Fundraising CRM by Relate" loading="lazy" width="2520" height="1352"></figure><p>Any investment starts with a meeting. Find a time that works for both you and the investor to chat, and share meeting calendars through a customizable link.</p><h3 id="share-pitch-decks-and-track-opens">Share pitch decks and track opens.</h3><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2024/08/Screenshot@3x.png" class="kg-image" alt="Introducing Fundraising CRM by Relate" loading="lazy" width="3705" height="2679"></figure><p>Investors often share your pitch deck with interested parties—other potential investors, their startup portfolio companies, etc. In most cases, this is a good thing: you get free exposure.</p><p>But sometimes you want to control the deal narrative and sharing decks might not help. Or, you may be uncomfortable sharing confidential information that investors may share with the deck.</p><p>Relate’s Documents feature lets you control which decks are being sent and shared. With the new Fundraising CRM, you can leverage this feature to control your fundraising narrative and share confidential information with potential investors without the risk of exposure.</p><h3 id="send-and-receive-emails-and-sync-history">Send and receive emails and sync history</h3><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2024/08/Email-Draft.png" class="kg-image" alt="Introducing Fundraising CRM by Relate" loading="lazy" width="2280" height="1614"></figure><p>Email remains the primary communication channel for investor relations and fundraising. Relate integrates with Google Mail, Outlook, and others, and automatically syncs your email.</p><p>Send and receive emails from investors, track, collaborate, and connect them to leads for fundraising all in one place.</p><h3 id="keep-track-of-potential-investors">Keep track of potential investors.</h3><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2024/08/CleanShot-2024-08-20-at-14.34.33@2x.png" class="kg-image" alt="Introducing Fundraising CRM by Relate" loading="lazy" width="2480" height="1772"></figure><p>Keep track of potential and existing investors for future rounds. Relate automatically syncs all your email history, document files, tasks, and notes for full context.</p><p>Simply add investor contact information to the workspace as a record and create fundraising process for each round.</p><h3 id="coming-soon-send-investor-updates-via-bulk-email">Coming soon: Send investor updates via bulk email</h3><p>Keeping your investors informed is crucial for building a healthy, long-term relationship. Soon (ETA September), you can send updates directly from your Relate workspace.</p><h3 id="relate-is-free-to-get-started">Relate is free to get started</h3><p>Relate is a CRM product used for fundraising, sales, customer success, partnerships, and/or vendor management. This means we won’t charge for the fundraising use case alone. Our free plan will give you access to all fundraising features.</p><h2 id="how-to-get-started">How to get started</h2><p>Sign up for a free <a href="https://www.relate.so/?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Relate account</a>, invite your co-founders, and start the fundraising process.</p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2024/08/Fundraising---Features-Box-1.png" class="kg-image" alt="Introducing Fundraising CRM by Relate" loading="lazy" width="6400" height="7540"></figure>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[B2B Sales vs B2C Sales]]></title><description><![CDATA[Let's explore the similarities and differences between B2B and B2C sales.]]></description><link>https://www.relate.so/blog/b2b-vs-b2c-sales/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">666a42c282716100aa7dbc5e</guid><category><![CDATA[Sales]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Won You]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 13 Jun 2024 17:52:37 GMT</pubDate><media:content url="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2024/06/b2b-b2c-sales.png" medium="image"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<img src="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2024/06/b2b-b2c-sales.png" alt="B2B Sales vs B2C Sales"><p>B2B and B2C sales cater to different customer segments with unique decision-making processes, needs, and requirements. Understanding the difference is crucial for effective marketing and customer satisfaction.</p><p>In this article, we'll discuss the definitions of B2B and B2C sales, their examples, and similarities and differences.</p><h2 id="what-is-b2b-sales">What is B2B sales?</h2><p>B2B sales means selling products or services between businesses. It involves dealing with stakeholders, making the decision-making process complex and time-consuming.</p><p>B2B sales involve identifying pain points, preparing tailored proposals, communicating with stakeholders, and negotiating.</p><p>It's about long-term customer relationships, not just transactions. Organized customer relationship management (CRM) can lead to additional revenue through renewals, <a href="https://www.relate.so/docs/wiki/upsell-cross-sell?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">upselling, or cross-selling, making</a> <a href="https://www.relate.so/?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">CRM</a> tools essential for B2B SaaS companies.</p><h3 id="examples-of-b2b-sales">Examples of B2B sales</h3><ol><li><strong>Selling business software (B2B SaaS)</strong>: Offering software solutions to improve operational efficiency and productivity.</li><li><strong>Industrial Hardware Sales</strong>: Specializing in hardware for large industrial facilities, often in bulk orders.</li><li><strong>Logistics and Transportation Services</strong>: Facilitating the movement of goods between businesses for efficient production and distribution.</li><li><strong>Advertising Agencies</strong>: Develop marketing strategies and execute ad campaigns for businesses to reach their target audience.</li><li><strong>Consulting Services</strong>: Offering expertise in business strategy, HR management, and financial analysis to help businesses achieve their goals.</li></ol><p>There are other types of B2B sales, like construction, finance, insurance, etc.</p><h2 id="what-is-b2c-sales">What is B2C sales?</h2><p>B2C sales is selling products or services directly to individual customers. Consumers make quick decisions with a simple process.</p><p>Marketing and advertising play a much more important role in B2C sales, communicating your product's value, quality, price, and brand. You promote your products to a large audience and use distribution channels such as online stores, and social media to acquire customers.</p><p>In B2C sales, understanding diverse customer needs and offering personalized offerings is crucial. Customer reviews and feedback enhance products in B2C sales.</p><h3 id="examples-of-b2c-sales">Examples of B2C Sales</h3><ol><li><strong>Clothing Sales</strong>: Offering a variety of clothing styles and sizes directly to individual consumers through online stores or retail outlets.</li><li><strong>Food Delivery Services</strong>: Providing convenience to customers by allowing them to order food or groceries from the comfort of their homes.</li><li><strong>Electronics Sales</strong>: Selling smartphones, tablets, computers, and other electronic devices to consumers through various retail channels.</li><li><strong>Travel Products</strong>: Offering travel products such as tickets, bookings, and vacation packages to individual customers through online platforms.</li><li><strong>Sporting Goods</strong>: Retailing sports equipment, apparel, and accessories to consumers who engage in various sports activities.</li></ol><p>Other products are sold through B2C sales, including cosmetics, music, books, and more.</p><h2 id="what-do-b2b-and-b2c-sales-have-in-common">What do B2B and B2C sales have in common?</h2><p>While B2B sales and B2C sales have more differences, they also have some similarities.</p><ol><li><strong>Customer satisfaction</strong>: Enhancing product quality and fostering strong customer relationships is crucial for boosting customer satisfaction.</li><li><strong>Marketing and advertising</strong>: Differentiating and promoting products effectively are key strategies to maintain a competitive edge in both B2B and B2C markets.</li><li><strong>Pricing</strong>: Tailoring pricing by considering customers’ purchasing power, competitor pricing, and market conditions is fundamental in both B2B and B2C sales.</li><li><strong>Communication</strong>: Communicating with customers to identify needs, make suggestions, persuade, and address complaints.</li></ol><p>These shared elements underscore the vital roles that customer relationship management and revenue growth play in both B2B and B2C sales.</p><h2 id="the-difference-between-b2b-and-b2c-sales-the-decision-making-process">The difference between B2B and B2C sales: The decision-making process</h2><p>While both B2B and B2C sales aim to deliver products that satisfy customer needs, their approaches diverge significantly due to the differences in their decision-making processes.</p><ol><li><strong>Target Audience</strong>: B2B sales target other businesses as customers, whereas B2C sales focus on individual consumers.</li><li><strong>Decision Makers</strong>: In B2B sales, decisions typically involve multiple stakeholders, each with their own concerns and criteria. Conversely, B2C sales usually cater to single decision-makers — the individual consumers</li><li><strong>Pricing</strong>: Unlike most B2C goods, B2B products often have higher price tags due to their complex specifications and the higher stakes involved.</li></ol><p>Therefore, B2C sales strategies are often geared towards quick, emotion-driven purchases that capitalize on immediate consumer desires. In contrast, B2B sales require a more methodical approach involving carefully aligning proposals to the specific needs of multiple stakeholders, emphasizing logical reasoning and long-term value.</p><p>Due to its inherent complexity and longer sales cycle, developing an organized <a href="https://www.relate.so/blog/how-to-manage-sales-process/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">sales process</a> is essential for success in B2B sales.</p><h2 id="its-important-to-create-a-sales-strategy-based-on-customer-type">It's important to create a sales strategy based on customer type.</h2><p>B2B and B2C sales require distinct strategies tailored to their respective customer bases. The primary objective in both is to foster customer relationships and increase revenue through strategic approaches.</p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[10 software tools Relate team to make the sales process enjoyable]]></title><description><![CDATA[As Daniel Kahneman said, “it is much easier to strive for perfection when you are never bored.”]]></description><link>https://www.relate.so/blog/tools-that-make-sales-more-enjoyable/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6629458f2df17b00a74bb120</guid><category><![CDATA[Sales]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Christopher Chae]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 24 Apr 2024 20:50:48 GMT</pubDate><media:content url="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2024/04/tools.png" medium="image"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<img src="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2024/04/tools.png" alt="10 software tools Relate team to make the sales process enjoyable"><p>As Daniel Kahneman said, “it is much easier to strive for perfection when you are never bored.”</p><p>At Relate, we love tools that make our work more enjoyable. When it comes to sales, several tools we use daily just make everything much better—from talking to customers, negotiating contracts, jotting down discovery call notes, looking up customer data, etc.</p><p>I listed some of the tools we love using and how they help our process better.</p><p>Scroll to the bottom to see a list of all the tools mentioned in this article.</p><h3 id="for-messaging-prospecting"><strong>For Messaging + prospecting</strong></h3><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption"><img src="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2024/04/CleanShot-2024-04-24-at-12.48.55@2x.png" class="kg-image" alt="10 software tools Relate team to make the sales process enjoyable" loading="lazy" width="2000" height="1300"><figcaption><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">A screenshot of a cold email script written using Lex. Lex leverages AI to run checks, give feedback, and generate ideas to help you write more & better.</span></figcaption></figure><ul><li>Twain: AI-powered outreach/sales pitch generator</li><li>Lex: AI-powered Google Doc alternative</li></ul><p>We use <a href="https://www.twain.ai/?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Twain</a> and <a href="https://lex.page/?ref=chris" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Lex</a> to craft high-quality copywriting/sales pitches. Both are free to start and offer great AI to help you write better + tailored to customers' interests.</p><p>Twain lets you gauge exactly how much creativity AI should use to generate pitches, and Lex has a Github-like writing grid to track how often you write. Both have great AI that helps our team craft the best messaging.</p><p>Messages sent to our customers are the first interaction we have with them. We have to make sure they are good!</p><h3 id="for-meeting-recording"><strong>For Meeting + Recording</strong></h3><ul><li>Zoom Pro: Universal virtual meeting software with a customizable waiting room feature</li></ul><p>Many startups think meeting software is a commodity, and it doesn't matter which one. Wrong! Meeting rooms are where you meet your customers.</p><p>We use <a href="https://zoom.us/?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Zoom</a> with Pro Plan for several reasons:</p><ol><li>Customized waiting room</li><li>Unlimited meeting time</li></ol><p>If you buy their Pro Plan - you can customize your waiting room. See ours for example:</p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://lex-img-p.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/img/bbbb2abf-6b5e-4e7c-b5e1-6d6e136054e7-RackMultipart20240417-118-rx1q2j.png" class="kg-image" alt="10 software tools Relate team to make the sales process enjoyable" loading="lazy" width="1504" height="1224"></figure><p>We added a quick 30-second skit in the waiting room — oftentimes, customers ask about the skit as soon as we begin the call. A great icebreaker! (<a href="https://vimeo.com/938744605?share=copy&ref=relate.so">See this video</a> if you're curious about the skit)</p><h3 id="for-meeting-recording-sharing">For meeting recording + sharing</h3><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption"><img src="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2024/04/CleanShot-2024-04-24-at-13.01.50@2x.png" class="kg-image" alt="10 software tools Relate team to make the sales process enjoyable" loading="lazy" width="2000" height="1300"><figcaption><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Screenshot of a meeting recording via Gong</span></figcaption></figure><ul><li><a href="https://gong.io/?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Gong.io</a>: Meeting recording tool that also provides sales meeting insights</li></ul><p>We use <a href="https://gong.io/?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Gong.io</a> to record and share meetings. It has seamless meeting recording and call insights, which inform our team to do a better job closing deals. For example, you can understand how much you're talking compared to your customers or how often you use filler words.</p><p><strong>Side tip - use Gong (or any meeting recording alternative) to research content ideas, inform product roadmap, etc.</strong></p><p>Since Gong has all of our meeting recordings transcribed, we can easily search for keywords such as competitor names (e.g., "Salesforce") or product features (e.g., "reporting," "merge," "email sync"). This allows our product team to understand the customer's voice better.</p><p><em>Alternatives: </em><a href="https://grain.com/?ref=relate.so" rel="noreferrer"><em>Grain</em></a><em>, Relate Meetings (launching soon!)</em></p><h3 id="for-contracts-and-agreements"><strong>For contracts and agreements</strong></h3><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2024/04/CleanShot-2024-04-24-at-13.09.14@2x.png" class="kg-image" alt="10 software tools Relate team to make the sales process enjoyable" loading="lazy" width="2000" height="1300"></figure><ul><li><a href="https://commonpaper.com/?ref=relate.so" rel="noreferrer">Common Paper</a>: Beautifully designed, industry-standard contracts sending & signing platform</li></ul><p>We use <a href="commonpaper.com" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Common Paper</a> for all of our contracts. Common Paper offers high-quality, standardized contract templates (e.g., Order Form, NDA, MSA, SLA, etc.) that we use without editing a single word. It also has powerful workflows that eliminate manual editing redlines and contract ping-pong.</p><p>Common Paper takes care of 95% of the contracting process, so we can focus on more important tasks. Their contract template looks beautiful, too 👌.</p><h3 id="for-billing-invoicing-and-quoting"><strong>For billing, invoicing, and quoting</strong></h3><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption"><img src="https://scontent-ord5-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/116830817_3372098512840269_5063058786725518832_n.png?_nc_cat=108&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=5f2048&_nc_ohc=5G-LdaYDm8IAb7r4YUx&_nc_ht=scontent-ord5-1.xx&oh=00_AfA8icPtILkbF1drb102Qz8ZRkwDEdGQBDW9LyiI1fYo9A&oe=6650C809" class="kg-image" alt="10 software tools Relate team to make the sales process enjoyable" loading="lazy" width="2048" height="1150"><figcaption><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Not many people realize this, but Stripe is a full revenue analytics platform!</span></figcaption></figure><ul><li><a href="https://stripe.com/?ref=relate.so" rel="noreferrer">Stripe</a>: a billing solution that also offers MRR, Churn, Retention tracking, and wire transfer capabilities for deals with large <a href="https://www.relate.so/docs/wiki/acv?ref=relate.so" rel="noreferrer">ACV</a>.</li></ul><p><a href="https://stripe.com/?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Stripe</a> is by far the simplest choice for billing, invoicing, and quoting for sales deals. We occasionally meet customers who want to get a quote before making a decision - Stripe has a built-in quote feature so you can issue quotes to your customers.</p><p><strong>Side tip - use Stripe's wire transfer feature for larger deals</strong></p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption"><img src="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2024/04/CleanShot-2024-04-24-at-13.10.24@2x.png" class="kg-image" alt="10 software tools Relate team to make the sales process enjoyable" loading="lazy" width="2000" height="1300"><figcaption><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Stripe lets your customers send payments via wire for just $5 each.</span></figcaption></figure><p>For larger subscription deals ($10k or above), credit card fees can get crazy! For example, we recently signed a $25,000/year deal, and if it had been paid through a card, the fees would have been $725.30 (!!). Instead, we had our customer wire the money and paid $5 for it.</p><h3 id="for-creating-slide-decks"><strong>For creating slide decks</strong></h3><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2024/04/CleanShot-2024-04-24-at-13.13.08@2x.png" class="kg-image" alt="10 software tools Relate team to make the sales process enjoyable" loading="lazy" width="2000" height="1300"></figure><ul><li>Pitch: Beautifully designed PowerPoint alternative</li><li>Tome: AI-powered simple sales slides creation tool</li></ul><p>We use <a href="https://pitch.com/?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Pitch</a> to create beautiful sales decks. Pitch has great templates, and you can customize layouts as you see fit. Collaborating on slides is much easier than traditional Google Slides or PowerPoint.</p><p>If we're in a hurry and need to create a sales deck quickly, we often use <a href="https://tome.app/?ref=relate.so" rel="noreferrer">Tome</a>. Tome is an AI-powered slide creation tool built for revenue teams.</p><h3 id="for-document-sharing-tracking"><strong>For document sharing + tracking</strong></h3><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2024/04/CleanShot-2024-04-02-at-17.46.17@2x.png" class="kg-image" alt="10 software tools Relate team to make the sales process enjoyable" loading="lazy" width="2000" height="1296"></figure><ul><li>Relate Docs: A free Dropbox DocSend alternative for document sharing and tracking</li></ul><p>We use <a href="https://www.relate.so/products/docs/?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Relate Docs</a> for document sharing and tracking. By sharing docs via Relate Docs, we can understand who's reading our sales decks and their contact info. We can then use this info to follow up as soon as possible and close the deal. The app is also free — if you’ve ever used Dropbox DocSend before, Relate Docs provides the same features, except it’s free :)</p><h3 id="for-social-posting">For social posting</h3><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2024/04/CleanShot-2024-04-24-at-15.48.55@2x.png" class="kg-image" alt="10 software tools Relate team to make the sales process enjoyable" loading="lazy" width="2000" height="1295"></figure><ul><li>Assembly: Social selling automation tool that connects with Linkedin, Twitter/X, Instagram/Facebook, etc.</li></ul><p>We use <a href="https://assembly.marketing/?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Assembly</a> for social posting. Assembly lets us schedule posts across LinkedIn and Twitter/X, as well as reminders to post articles to our blog and send email newsletters.</p><h3 id="for-tracking-deals-and-customers"><strong>For tracking deals and customers</strong></h3><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://mintlify.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/relateso/images/relate-pipeline.png" class="kg-image" alt="10 software tools Relate team to make the sales process enjoyable" loading="lazy" width="3600" height="1890"></figure><ul><li>Relate CRM: The simplest and easiest CRM you can use to track customers and sales data.</li></ul><p>We use <a href="https://www.relate.so/?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Relate CRM</a> to track sales deals and customers — it houses all of our sales and customer data. We solve our own problems, and Relate CRM is our solution to the problem we’ve had internally for years: “CRMs are too complicated to manage!”</p><p>Over the course of two years, we’ve built Relate CRM as the simplest and easiest CRM that startups can use from Day 1. Many of our startup customers including Y Combinator customers such as <a href="https://crazehq.com/?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Craze</a>, <a href="https://www.bristlehealth.com/?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Bristle Health</a>, and <a href="https://codecrafters.io/?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Code Crafters</a> chose Relate as their first CRM.</p><h2 id="tools-over-process">Tools over process</h2><p>The tools we use shape our process. It’s important to choose the proper set of tools for work. But it’s even more important to select the tools that bring joy — after all, we’re all in the pursuit of happiness :)</p><p>Like this article? Subscribe to our email list for useful tips and content about B2B sales and marketing.</p> <!--kg-card-begin: html--> <script async data-uid="b3d9d482c7" src="https://relate.ck.page/b3d9d482c7/index.js"></script> <!--kg-card-end: html--> <p>Here’s the list of all of the tools mentioned in this article:</p><h2 id="toolset-list">Toolset List</h2><ul><li><a href="https://usetwain.com/?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Twain</a></li><li><a href="https://lex.page/?ref=chris" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Lex</a></li><li><a href="https://zoom.us/?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Zoom</a> (Pro or Business Plan)</li><li><a href="https://gong.io/?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Gong.io</a>, alt: <a href="https://grain.com/?ref=relate.so">Grain</a></li><li><a href="https://commonpaper.com/?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Common Paper</a></li><li><a href="https://stripe.com/?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Stripe</a></li><li><a href="https://pitch.com/?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Pitch</a>, alt: <a href="https://tome.app/?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Tome.app</a></li><li><a href="https://relate.so/products/docs/?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Relate Docs</a></li><li><a href="https://assembly.marketing/?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Assembly</a></li><li><a href="https://relate.so/?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Relate CRM</a></li></ul>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Enhancing Sales Efficiency with CRM: Success Stories from a $23B US Company and a Korean Series B Startup]]></title><description><![CDATA[How I implemented two CRM instances at a $23B company and at a Series B stage startup]]></description><link>https://www.relate.so/blog/enhancing-sales-efficiency-with-crm/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">66203af16c302e00a725a4e7</guid><category><![CDATA[Sales]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Won You]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 23 Apr 2024 23:11:24 GMT</pubDate><media:content url="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2024/04/axon.png" medium="image"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<img src="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2024/04/axon.png" alt="Enhancing Sales Efficiency with CRM: Success Stories from a $23B US Company and a Korean Series B Startup"><p>I was so serious about using a <a href="https://www.relate.so/blog/what-is-crm/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">CRM</a> well, even before joining Relate.</p><p>Interestingly, the two teams I worked at prior to joining Relate used different CRMs. I spent a lot of time learning the tools and helping other team members better use CRM to manage customers more effectively.</p><p>In this post, I will discuss my experience using CRM to develop the sales process and change how the sales team worked in my previous companies.</p><ul><li>What is CRM<em> – exactly</em>?</li><li>Implementing Salesforce at Axon</li><li>Using Pipedrive at Comento, a Series B startup in the education sector in Korea.</li></ul><h2 id="what-is-crmcustomer-relationship-management">What is CRM(Customer Relationship Management)?</h2><p>As development teams rely on tools like GitHub, sales teams need a CRM to manage their customers. Managing customers without a CRM is not an option.</p><p>CRM is a software tool that manages all customer communications and interactions and relevant customer data. CRMs help organize the sales process, maximizing sales performance and efficiency. While existing CRMs like Salesforce and HubSpot are designed for large enterprises, we are building <a href="https://www.relate.so/?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Relate</a>, a simple CRM specifically tailored for startups.</p><h2 id="implementing-salesforce-at-axon">Implementing Salesforce at Axon</h2><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card kg-card-hascaption"><img src="https://lex-img-p.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/img/a2defe0f-567c-4952-8a8a-407741b5174f-RackMultipart20240417-126-49ppew.png" class="kg-image" alt="Enhancing Sales Efficiency with CRM: Success Stories from a $23B US Company and a Korean Series B Startup" loading="lazy" width="2000" height="1333"><figcaption><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Pic when I was at Axon - a $23b high-tech public safety software company.</span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.axon.com/?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Axon Enterprise</a>, a NASDAQ-listed company valued at $23 billion, specializes in developing high-tech software and hardware primarily for the public safety industry, including law enforcement. When I started my career at Axon, I joined the Emerging Markets team, created by the <a href="https://www.relate.so/docs/wiki/sales-roles?ref=relate.kr#chief-revenue-officer-cro" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Chief Revenue Officer (CRO)</a>, to explore new markets beyond the traditional public safety industry.</p><p>Initially, the two-person team, my manager and I used a spreadsheet as our CRM instead of Salesforce, although the entire sales team was using it.</p><ol><li>Neither my manager nor I had any prior sales or CRM experience</li><li>Salesforce appeared too complicated and time-consuming to learn.</li></ol><p>However, as the number of prospects I managed increased, the spreadsheet's limitations became apparent.</p><h3 id="3-problems-i-had-with-spreadsheets">3 Problems I had with spreadsheets</h3><p><strong>1. Lack of visibility on sales progress:</strong></p><p>As you talk to prospects and track deals, you generate lots of customer data, including meeting notes, emails, deal value, expected close date, contact information, and more. As the number of prospects and conversations increased, managing them in the spreadsheet was difficult. More importantly, It’s challenging to know what’s going on just by looking at the spreadsheet.</p><p><strong>2. Scattered customer data:</strong></p><p>Email is the primary communication channel in B2B sales. However, with spreadsheets you can’t see emails. Also, writing detailed meeting notes in the spreadsheet isn't easy. It became problematic because there are at least three tools – email app, spreadsheet, and notes app to manage customer data.</p><p><strong>3. Difficult to share customer data:</strong></p><p>Tracking and sharing key deal information was hard because customer data was scattered in different tools. We had to manually go through spreadsheets, meeting notes, and emails to compile customer data in a sharable form.</p><p>This became overly time-consuming, hindering our ability to focus on meeting prospects and closing deals.</p><p>Eventually, I convinced my manager to adopt Salesforce, the CRM the existing sales team used.</p><h3 id="how-crm-transformed-the-workflow-and-performance">How CRM transformed the workflow and performance</h3><p>Implementing Salesforce brought about significant improvements in our work and sales performance:</p><ol><li><strong>Managing customer data in one place and leveraging all information for managing customers.</strong></li></ol><p>Having all customer data in one place, including emails and meeting notes, greatly enhanced the quality of our sales efforts. Instead of wasting time searching and organizing information, we could utilize recorded data to tailor our sales approach based on each customer's situation and needs.</p><ol start="2"><li><strong>Effortless sharing of customer information.</strong></li></ol><p>I no longer needed to organize scattered customer data to share with my manager and the CRO. The Salesforce reports visualized new opportunities I generated and the progress.</p><ol start="3"><li><strong>Acquired the first paying customer and developed the sales pipeline.</strong></li></ol><p>After using Sales CRM, I acquired the first paying customer and multiple paid pilots. I generated more opportunities and developed the entire sales pipeline myself. The success prompted the CRO to hire a General Manager, expanding our team from a two-person internal venture to a significant business unit.</p><h2 id="my-experience-with-pipedrive-at-comento">My experience with Pipedrive at Comento</h2><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://lex-img-p.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/img/215e04a7-cdf8-41b3-9acb-05b074586e2b-RackMultipart20240418-117-13sqok.png" class="kg-image" alt="Enhancing Sales Efficiency with CRM: Success Stories from a $23B US Company and a Korean Series B Startup" loading="lazy" width="938" height="555"></figure><p>Following my time at Axon, I joined <a href="https://comento.kr/?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Commento</a>, a Series-B ed-tech startup in Korea. Commento already used <a href="https://www.pipedrive.com/?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Pipedrive</a> as their sales CRM. However, not all customer data was managed with Pipedrive. For outbound prospecting, the sales team used <a href="https://www.klenty.com/?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Klenty</a> and spreadsheets.</p><h3 id="problem-we-had-as-we-used-both-pipedrive-and-spreadsheet-communication-history-is-not-synced">Problem we had as we used both Pipedrive and spreadsheet: Communication history is not synced.</h3><p>When prospecting, it is crucial to access the history of customer interactions, such as when your team reached out with what message and the results. You need this information to avoid unnecessary outreach or duplicate outreach.</p><p>One of my initial projects at Commento was to migrate all prospecting history and data in spreadsheets to Pipedrive.</p><h3 id="how-crm-transformed-the-workflow-and-performance-1">How CRM transformed the workflow and performance</h3><p>I could see the entire history of prospects in the CRM, which helped our team avoid the unnecessary outreach mentioned above.</p><p>I was also able to leverage the customer information we had organized in our CRM to understand when, to which prospects, and with what messaging we were most likely to generate sales opportunities when we reached out.</p><p>As a result, I was able to generate at least 20 <a href="https://www.relate.so/docs/wiki/sql?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs)</a> per month, which was our prospecting goal.</p><h2 id="using-crm-is-fundamental-of-an-effective-sales-team">Using CRM is fundamental of an effective sales team</h2><p>CRM serves as the foundation of an effective sales team and acts as an operating system for the sales team. Managing customers and developing an organized <a href="https://www.relate.so/blog/how-to-manage-sales-process/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">sales process</a> without a CRM is incredibly challenging.</p><p>Unfortunately, many B2B sales teams don’t use CRM or fail to use it for three reasons.</p><ol><li>The existing CRM is too complex to use well.</li><li>Integrating other GTM tools with the CRM is too complex.</li><li>Existing CRM is too expensive.</li></ol><h2 id="how-is-relate-solving-this-problem">How is Relate solving this problem?</h2><h3 id="1-the-simplest-crm-that-anyone-can-use">1. The simplest CRM that anyone can use</h3><p>Relate offers a minimal learning curve, enabling users to manage customers starting their first day. Whether new to B2B sales or using CRM, Relate CRM incorporates sales best practices, ensuring users remain organized and on top of their customers.</p><p>The flexibility to adjust settings easily allows teams to adapt their sales processes as needed.</p><h3 id="2-aggregating-customer-data-in-one-place">2. Aggregating customer data in one place</h3><p>You can easily manage scattered customer data in Relate, including emails, meeting notes, and product data from other tools.</p><p>Relate supports <a href="https://zapier.com/?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Zapier</a> integration with other tools and plans to provide more direct integration, enabling seamless access to the information needed for effective sales activities.</p><p>For example, you can automatically add product data or <a href="https://www.relate.so/docs/wiki/pql?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Product Qualified Leads (PQLs)</a> in Relate through Mixpanel or Amplitude integration.</p><h3 id="3-full-stack-revenue-platform">3. Full-stack revenue platform</h3><p>You don’t need to use more than ten tools (Calendar, Forms, CRM, Sequence, Reporting, File Management & Sharing, etc.) and go through a complicated integration process to manage your entire sales process.</p><p>Relate provides everything your revenue team needs in a single, deeply integrated platform – you just need Relate to run your revenue operations.</p><p>If you are considering adopting a CRM or feel that you are not making the most of your current CRM, let us know by signing up <a href="https://relate.so/forms/lwn1jxmlvpsflw8k?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">here</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Relate Docs: When PDF meets Google Analytics]]></title><description><![CDATA[Today, we're excited to introduce Relate Docs, a free platform for tracking and sharing B2B documents.]]></description><link>https://www.relate.so/blog/relate-docs/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">661467f1ef119500a8378924</guid><category><![CDATA[Relate team]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Christopher Chae]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 08 Apr 2024 22:13:43 GMT</pubDate><media:content url="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2024/04/7EjdzMqGbbvrQfc9CYhJdkLcjCA.png.webp" medium="image"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<img src="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2024/04/7EjdzMqGbbvrQfc9CYhJdkLcjCA.png.webp" alt="Relate Docs: When PDF meets Google Analytics"><p>When you send a document, such as a sales deck or a proposal, you might wonder if your prospect looked at it or forwarded it to someone else. If the latter, then who did they share the document with?</p><p><a href="https://www.relate.so/products/docs/?ref=relate.so" rel="noreferrer">Relate Docs</a> is the latest addition to the Relate platform that answers this question.</p><p>Today, we're excited to introduce Relate Docs, a free platform for tracking and sharing B2B documents.</p><p>Think of it as having Google Analytics for your PDFs, allowing you to see who is viewing your documents and how much time they are spending on each page.</p><p>Let's explore some practical uses of Relate Docs.</p><h3 id="use-case-1-turning-views-into-sales-opportunities">Use Case 1. Turning views into sales opportunities</h3><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2024/04/CleanShot-2024-04-02-at-17.46.17@2x.png" class="kg-image" alt="Relate Docs: When PDF meets Google Analytics" loading="lazy" width="3382" height="2192"></figure><p>In the world of B2B sales, customers often take time to make decisions. By monitoring when a prospect shows interest in your documents—like sales decks or webinar slides—you can reach out at the right moment to schedule a meeting.</p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2024/04/CleanShot-2024-04-02-at-17.48.14@2x.png" class="kg-image" alt="Relate Docs: When PDF meets Google Analytics" loading="lazy" width="3246" height="2056"></figure><p>Relate Docs allows you to require email addresses to access your content, giving you valuable insights into who is engaging with your documents.</p><h3 id="use-case-2-simple-b2b-lead-capture-tool">Use Case 2. Simple B2B lead capture tool</h3><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2024/04/CleanShot-2024-04-08-at-17.09.27@2x.png" class="kg-image" alt="Relate Docs: When PDF meets Google Analytics" loading="lazy" width="3008" height="1708"></figure><p>Sharing PDF content, like whitepapers or e-books, is an effective way to gather marketing leads. Relate Docs simplifies this process by integrating lead capture forms with PDF sharing and version control.</p><h3 id="use-case-3-fundraising">Use Case 3. Fundraising</h3><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2024/04/CleanShot-2024-04-04-at-17.02.19@2x.png" class="kg-image" alt="Relate Docs: When PDF meets Google Analytics" loading="lazy" width="3248" height="2112"></figure><p>Pitch decks are crucial documents for founders seeking investment. With Relate Docs, you can control access and downloads to sensitive information by sharing links with specific individuals and setting expiration dates for viewing permissions.</p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2024/04/CleanShot-2024-04-04-at-17.03.20@2x.png" class="kg-image" alt="Relate Docs: When PDF meets Google Analytics" loading="lazy" width="3248" height="2112"></figure><h3 id="use-relate-docs-as-a-standalone-app-or-use-it-with-relate-crm">Use Relate Docs as a standalone app or use it with Relate CRM</h3><p>If you already have a CRM and want to use Relate Docs as a standalone app, you can absolutely do so.</p><p>But if you use Relate Docs and Relate CRM together, there is no need to set up complex integrations to turn docs visitors into contacts in the CRM.</p><p>Both products are free to get started! You can get started free today at <a href="https://www.relate.so/products/docs/?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Relate</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[How to set up an inbound sales engine]]></title><description><![CDATA[Here's a simple 4-step guide to set up an inbound sales engine for startups.]]></description><link>https://www.relate.so/blog/how-to-set-up-an-inbound-sales-engine/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">65bc18285362a800a8aad3a0</guid><category><![CDATA[Sales]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Christopher Chae]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 13 Feb 2024 16:49:09 GMT</pubDate><media:content url="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2024/02/inbound.png" medium="image"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<img src="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2024/02/inbound.png" alt="How to set up an inbound sales engine"><p>Initially, B2B startups often grow by tapping into personal networks and making direct sales efforts. However, as the company expands, it's common for these methods to become less effective, with lead generation slowing down.</p><p>At Relate, we faced this challenge, too. Early on, we could consistently get new customers, but we quickly learned that we need more than just personal networks and outreach alone.</p><p>So, we created an inbound sales engine to accelerate our pipeline. Now, most of our qualified leads that turn into customers come inbound.</p><h2 id="what-is-inbound-sales">What is inbound sales?</h2><p>Let's break down what <em>Inbound Sales</em> means.</p><p>Think of inbound sales as the opposite of traditional sales methods. Instead of reaching out to potential customers, we have strategies in place that encourage customers to come to us. They might find us through our website, blog posts, social media, online directories, search engine results, or recommendations from friends and colleagues. When they show interest in our products, our sales team steps in to close the deal.</p><h2 id="components-of-an-inbound-sales-engine">Components of an inbound sales engine</h2><p>We call it an "engine" because it's designed to operate smoothly, much like machinery, automating the process so your team can concentrate on making sales.</p><p>Here are the essentials for a simple inbound sales engine in 2024:</p><ul><li><strong>Web forms</strong> - A way for potential customers to express interest in your product</li><li><strong>Qualification logic & flow</strong> - A method for assessing leads and routing them to the appropriate destination (e.g., sales rep or automated email sequence)</li><li><strong>Meeting scheduler</strong> - A tool for finding a time between the prospect and the sales rep to meet over a Zoom call</li><li><strong>System of Record or a CRM</strong> - A way to track and visualize the customer buying journey and activities</li></ul><p>Many startups begin by cobbling together single function tools like Calendly, Typeform, and HubSpot with Zapier integrations to manage their inbound. </p><p>We’ve seen some may not even have a dedicated lead qualification form, using only a button to schedule meetings, which can overwhelm your calendar with unqualified appointments, including those with less serious prospects.</p><p>While having a rudimentary system is better than having none, building an inbound sales engine that captures lead data, qualifies and routes for meetings and automated follow ups is easier than you think.</p><p>It’s also much more efficient and effective in the long run as you scale.</p><h2 id="how-to-build-a-basic-inbound-sales-engine">How to build a basic inbound sales engine</h2><p>Instead of thinking of every single lead flows and use cases to build an inbound sales engine, start with a basic one. Here is a four-step process for setting up a system that identifies and directs leads effectively.</p><ol><li>Capture lead information</li><li>Qualify leads</li><li>Determine where to route leads</li><li>Track inbound pipeline and lead progress</li></ol><h3 id="1-capture-leads-through-web-forms">1. Capture leads through web forms</h3><p>Web forms are your first interaction with potential customers. You can embed these forms directly on your site or link to them via a button. </p><p>Although some worry that forms might turn people away, for B2B interactions, a bit of friction is beneficial. It ensures that those who reach out are genuinely interested and likely to be better fitted for your product/service.</p><h3 id="2-set-up-a-qualification-process">2. Set up a qualification process</h3><p>After gathering lead details, the next step is to determine if the lead is a good match for your service or product. This process is about figuring out if the lead fits your <a href="https://www.relate.so/docs/wiki/icp?ref=relate.so">Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)</a>.</p><p>In your form, include questions that help you identify if the lead matches your ICP. For instance, if you're targeting large companies, you might ask for their company size. If your focus is on a certain industry, inquire about the industry type.</p><p>This process can be automated with tools like Relate — which provides powerful all-in-one inbound forms and qualification process without the need to integrate with other tools.</p><h3 id="3-route-leads-to-the-right-person-or-next-sequence">3. Route leads to the right person or next sequence</h3><p>Once leads are qualified, you need to decide where to direct them. This might mean scheduling a meeting with an AE right away or distribute among a team of AEs based on fit and availability.</p><p>For leads that need additional qualification, you might hand off to SDRs to follow up and further prospect.</p><p>For less qualified leads, you can route them to automated nurturing email sequences until they are ready to buy.</p><p>By using an <a href="https://next.relate.so/forms/1r34jht5mzt7tb5n?ref=relate.so">inbound sales platform</a>, you can automate the routing of leads and monitor their progress, freeing up your team to focus on sales rather than manual routing tasks.</p><h3 id="4-connect-steps-together-and-track-inbound-pipeline">4. Connect steps together and track inbound pipeline</h3><p>Once you placed web forms throughout your marketing channels and mapped out how a lead gets qualified and routed to your team or automated sequence, the tying up each part together and building an automated inbound sales engine.</p><p>The final step is to integrate all these components into a seamless sales automation. By setting up web forms, qualification processes, and routing plans, and then connecting these elements, you establish your inbound sales engine.</p><p>Relate, for instance, provides a full stack inbound platform for capturing leads, qualifying them, routing them appropriately, scheduling meetings, and tracking everything inside the CRM. </p><p>Ready to build your inbound sales engine? <a href="https://next.relate.so/forms/1r34jht5mzt7tb5n?ref=relate.so" rel="noreferrer"><em>Discover how Relate can accelerate your inbound sales pipeline.</em></a></p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Cold email technical setup guide in 2024]]></title><description><![CDATA[Increase email deliverability and optimize your cold email strategy with a dedicated outbound domain. This guide will walk you through the importance of a dedicated outbound domain, the setup process, and key considerations for successful cold emailing.]]></description><link>https://www.relate.so/blog/cold-email-technical-setup-guide/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">65b7bc1154daae00a7c6af9f</guid><category><![CDATA[Sales]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Won You]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 29 Jan 2024 21:58:51 GMT</pubDate><media:content url="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2024/01/technical-coldemail.png" medium="image"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<img src="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2024/01/technical-coldemail.png" alt="Cold email technical setup guide in 2024"><p>Using a separate domain for sending cold emails is one of the best practices in cold email outreach. Not having a dedicated outbound domain can significantly impact domain reputation and email deliverability.</p><p>However, many people often ignore it because they're unsure how to set it up and find it complicated.</p><p>This post guides you in setting up a dedicated outbound domain for cold emails. It covers the following:</p><ul><li>The importance of a dedicated outbound domain</li><li>How to set up a dedicated outbound domain</li><li>Key points to consider when writing cold emails</li></ul> <!--kg-card-begin: html--> <script async data-uid="2ea3b03e2b" src="https://relate.ck.page/2ea3b03e2b/index.js"></script> <!--kg-card-end: html--> <h2 id="the-importance-of-a-dedicated-outbound-domain">The importance of a dedicated outbound domain</h2><h3 id="what-is-an-outbound-domain">What is an outbound domain?</h3><p>An outbound domain is a separate domain used exclusively for sending cold emails, different from your company's primary domain.</p><ul><li>Company domain: relate.so</li><li>Outbound domain: relatecrm.so</li></ul><p>The outbound domain should not be an alias or a different email account.</p><ul><li>Company email account: <a href="mailto:won@relate.so">won@relate.so</a></li><li>Alias account: <a href="mailto:won.you@relate.so">won.you@relate.so</a></li><li>Another email account: <a href="mailto:chris@relate.so">chris@relate.so</a></li><li>Email account for the outbound domain (needed for cold emails): <a href="mailto:won@relatecrm.so">won@relatecrm.so</a></li></ul><p>Another common mistake is sending cold emails from a personal email account (e.g., gmail.com, yahoo.com) instead of your company's custom domain. This can easily lead to your emails being banned or marked as spam.</p><h2 id="why-do-you-need-an-outbound-domain">Why do you need an outbound domain?</h2><p>Sending a large volume of cold emails from your company domain can harm its reputation, leading to poor email deliverability for all company emails.</p><p>In the worst-case scenario, email services like Google and Yahoo may ban your domain, temporarily preventing you from sending emails or automatically flagging them as spam. A damaged domain reputation also affects your SEO.</p><p>Rebuilding a damaged domain reputation is challenging and time-consuming.</p><h2 id="how-to-set-up-a-dedicated-outbound-domain">How to set up a dedicated outbound domain</h2><h3 id="1-purchase-an-outbound-domain">1) Purchase an outbound domain</h3><p>To set up a dedicated outbound domain, purchase an additional domain from a domain registrar like <a href="https://www.godaddy.com/en-za?ref=relate.so">GoDaddy</a> or <a href="https://www.namecheap.com/?ref=relate.so">Namecheap</a>. When purchasing an outbound domain, choosing a name similar to your existing company domain is recommended.</p><p>Example:</p><ul><li>Company domain: unicorn.com</li><li>Outbound domain: unicorncrm.com</li></ul><div class="kg-card kg-callout-card kg-callout-card-grey"><div class="kg-callout-emoji">💡</div><div class="kg-callout-text"><b><strong style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Can I use a subdomain (e.g. mail.unicorn.kr) for outbound?</strong></b><br><br>Using a subdomain (e.g., mail.unicorn.kr) is better than using the main domain for outbound purposes. However, purchasing a separate root domain is still recommended for better results.</div></div><h3 id="2-create-a-business-email-account">2) Create a business email account</h3><p>After purchasing the new domain for outbound, create a business email account. If you use Gmail, you can create a <a href="https://workspace.google.com/?ref=relate.so">Google Workspace</a> account and set up a new email address.</p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/785EE201DC63DAAE3AECB2C7CBAE60D3/2024/01/CleanShot-2024-01-24-at-15.20.14.png" class="kg-image" alt="Cold email technical setup guide in 2024" loading="lazy" width="1255" height="648"></figure><h3 id="3-set-up-your-email-records-spf-dkim-dmarc">3) Set up your email records: SPF, DKIM, DMARC</h3><p>SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are protocols that authenticate domains for email sending, preventing security risks like spamming and phishing.</p><ul><li><strong>SPF</strong>: Stands for Sender Policy Framework. It allows the receiving mail server to verify that a message comes from an authorized source within the listed domain.</li><li><strong>DKIM</strong>: Stands for DomainKeys Identified Mail. It helps prevent spoofing and spam.</li><li><strong>DMARC</strong>: Stands for Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance. It ensures that target email systems trust messages sent from your domain by defining policies for handling messages from domains that fail SPF or DKIM checks.</li></ul><div class="kg-card kg-callout-card kg-callout-card-grey"><div class="kg-callout-emoji">💡</div><div class="kg-callout-text"><b><strong style="white-space: pre-wrap;">What is Email Spoofing?</strong></b><br><br>Email spoofing is a technique used in spam and phishing attacks, where the attacker deceives the recipient into thinking that the email is from a trusted source.</div></div><p>Setting up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records is crucial for increasing email deliverability when sending cold emails. Without these settings, your emails may not be delivered at all or end up in recipients' spam folders.</p><p>You can set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records where you registered your domain. Alternatively, if you use a tool like <a href="https://www.cloudflare.com/?ref=relate.so">Cloudflare</a> to manage your DNS, you can configure SPF, DKIM, and DMARC there.</p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/785EE201DC63DAAE3AECB2C7CBAE60D3/2024/01/CleanShot-2024-01-24-at-16.16.14.png" class="kg-image" alt="Cold email technical setup guide in 2024" loading="lazy" width="1227" height="904"></figure><h3 id="4-verify-that-your-spf-dkim-and-dmarc-records-are-set-up-correctly">4) Verify that your SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are set up correctly</h3><p>To ensure that your records are set up correctly, you can use services like <a href="https://www.learndmarc.com/?ref=relate.so">Learn and Test DMARC</a>. It's a free service recommended by Y Combinator for their batch companies.</p><p>You can verify the records by sending an email to the email account provided by the Learn and Test DMARC service.</p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/785EE201DC63DAAE3AECB2C7CBAE60D3/2024/01/CleanShot-2024-01-24-at-19.43.23.png" class="kg-image" alt="Cold email technical setup guide in 2024" loading="lazy" width="799" height="393"></figure><p>After sending the email, wait a few minutes. The service will then show you the results to confirm whether your SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records are set up correctly.</p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/785EE201DC63DAAE3AECB2C7CBAE60D3/2024/01/CleanShot-2024-01-24-at-19.41.18.png" class="kg-image" alt="Cold email technical setup guide in 2024" loading="lazy" width="1434" height="934"></figure><h3 id="5-warm-up-your-email">5) Warm up your email</h3><p>Having your email records set up doesn't mean you can start sending cold emails in bulk right away. Email services will likely flag your emails as spam if you send a large volume from a new domain.</p><p>To avoid this, it's essential to warm up your domain and email account. Start by sending a maximum of 10 emails per day and gradually increase the volume to 20-30 while monitoring your email deliverability, open rate, and reply rate.</p><p>Typically, it takes at least a month, and sometimes up to three months, to warm up a new domain and email account. Therefore, it's essential to prepare before making cold email your primary sales tactic.</p><p>Tools like <a href="https://www.mailwarm.com/?ref=relate.so">Mailwarm</a> can assist you in the warm-up process.</p><h2 id="key-points-to-consider-when-writing-cold-emails">Key points to consider when writing cold emails</h2><h3 id="1-must-include-an-unsubscribe-link">1) Must include an unsubscribe link</h3><p>When sending automated cold emails, always include an unsubscribe link. Without it, recipients may mark your emails as spam if they are not interested. Make the unsubscribe link easy to find and use without additional actions. This reduces the chances of being marked as spam.</p><h3 id="2-continuously-manage-domain-reputation">2) Continuously manage domain reputation</h3><p>Even after setting up your outbound domain and sending cold emails, maintaining your domain reputation is necessary. You can check your domain reputation using free tools like <a href="https://www.gmail.com/postmaster?ref=relate.so">Google Postmaster Tools</a> and <a href="https://talosintelligence.com/reputation_center?ref=relate.so">Talos</a>. For assessing the spamminess of your outbound domain emails, try <a href="https://www.mail-tester.com/?ref=relate.so">Mail-Tester</a>.</p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/785EE201DC63DAAE3AECB2C7CBAE60D3/2024/01/CleanShot-2024-01-25-at-11.36.08.png" class="kg-image" alt="Cold email technical setup guide in 2024" loading="lazy" width="1216" height="910"></figure><p>If you notice lower-than-usual email deliverability or a decline in cold email performance (open rate, reply rate, etc.), it's worth investigating.</p><p>Additionally, managing your cold email performance is crucial. Monitor and improve deliverability, open rate, reply rate, bounce rate, and spam rate. Outbound sales automation tools like <a href="https://www.relate.so/?ref=relate.so"><a href="https://www.relate.so/engage?ref=relate.so">Relate Engage</a></a> can help with this.</p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/785EE201DC63DAAE3AECB2C7CBAE60D3/2024/01/CleanShot-2024-01-25-at-14.07.39.png" class="kg-image" alt="Cold email technical setup guide in 2024" loading="lazy" width="1670" height="1023"></figure><p>To maintain domain reputation and email deliverability, it's important to keep the bounce rate of all emails sent from your domain below 5% and the spam rate below 0.3%. If the bounce rate exceeds 5%, your domain may be banned by Google. A 3-4% bounce rate increases the chances of being filtered as spam. Ideally, keep the bounce rate below 2%.</p><h3 id="3-limit-the-number-of-emails-you-send-from-one-mailbox">3) Limit the number of emails you send from one mailbox</h3><p>A good rule of thumb is to limit the number of cold emails sent from one mailbox to a maximum of 50 per day. If your reply rate is above 5%, you can increase it to 100.</p><p>Remember, the success of cold emails doesn't solely depend on the volume sent. It's more effective to send fewer personalized emails to the right people. For new domains under three months old, it's recommended to limit the number of emails to 10-30.</p><h2 id="setting-up-your-emails-is-key-to-cold-email-success">Setting up your emails is key to cold email success</h2><p>While it's vital to write concise and interesting cold emails with a clear call to action, the success of your efforts relies on proper email setup. No matter how well-written your email is, it won't generate results if it's not delivered, bounces, or ends up in spam folders.</p><p>If sending cold emails is a primary sales tactic, I recommend following this guide to create a dedicated outbound domain. You can <a href="https://relate.so/cal/relateteam?ref=relate.so">schedule a meeting</a> with the Relate team if you need further assistance.</p><hr><p>Feel free to explore other outbound and cold email-related posts written by the Relate team:</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.relate.so/blog/how-to-find-high-intent-prospects/">How to find high-intent prospects for outbound sales teams</a></li><li><a href="https://www.relate.so/blog/how-to-run-a-cold-email-campaign/">Cold email sequence best practices</a></li><li><a href="https://www.relate.so/blog/3-steps-to-successful-prospecting/">3 Steps to successful prospecting</a></li></ul>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Announcing Relate CRM]]></title><description><![CDATA[Introducing a better way to connect with customers and simplify sales for B2B teams.]]></description><link>https://www.relate.so/blog/announcing-relate/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6540222e4f11b600a8bd4304</guid><category><![CDATA[Relate team]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Christopher Chae]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 07 Nov 2023 03:05:25 GMT</pubDate><media:content url="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2023/11/ph1.png" medium="image"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<blockquote><em>"Why are you building a CRM? Salesforce already solved it, no?"</em></blockquote><img src="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2023/11/ph1.png" alt="Announcing Relate CRM"><p>Indeed, Salesforce is worth $200 billion today, the largest sales software in the world. But for early-stage startups, it is too expensive, heavy, and difficult to adopt. Managing pipelines, organizations, and contacts in Salesforce just isn't the same experience as writing notes in Notion or messaging a teammate on Slack.</p><p>This is why we're building a new sales software for startups and small businesses from the ground up.</p><p>After nearly two years of development, we are finally opening our doors to build Relate with a broader public user community. Today, we're announcing Relate CRM — a better way to build customer relationships and simplify B2B sales for teams.</p><p>Shout out to our early private beta customers, including Footprint, Fabra, Vizzly, Neusral, Hexlant, DSRV Labs, and SelectStar. Also, to our investors — Y Combinator, Bass Investment, Translink, Bon Angels, and founders of Sendbird, Positional, Headstart, Chartmetric, and Hyperquery.</p><h2 id="it-started-with-scratching-our-own-itch"><strong>It started with scratching our own itch.</strong></h2><p>Before building Relate, we spent our <a href="https://www.relate.so/blog/six-applications-y-combinator/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"><u>first five pivots</u></a> working on various B2B products. We needed a way to track our early sales and customer development activities, so we picked a CRM available on the market then — and we quickly found we were limited with old processes. Our sales motion, as a result, was very slow.</p><p>We jumped around different CRM solutions, but none worked for us. Adding customer profiles was cumbersome and felt manual. Updating deals daily was taking longer than the selling itself.</p><p>Why isn't there a simple and easy-to-use CRM that just works out of the box?</p><p>For chat, we love using Slack. And for issue tracking, we love using Linear. But what about sales? Why isn't there a CRM that gives you similar excitement and joy as Slack and Linear?</p><p>Frustrated by failing to find one, we built one to solve our problem.</p><h2 id="eight-customers-signed-up-on-the-spot"><strong>Eight customers signed up on the spot.</strong></h2><p>We knew that the pain was huge; we felt it ourselves, and after having many conversations with other startups and early-stage companies, we learned that we weren't alone.</p><p>We rarely found companies that love Salesforce and HubSpot. They primarily used them because Salesforce and HubSpot were the de facto tooling, and no other options existed.</p><p>Despite the size of the pain, CRM as a category is a tough nut to crack. Salesforce and HubSpot already dominate the market and have been doing so for nearly two decades. Do we really want to risk our company competing with them?</p><p>Having these doubts, we looked for some proof to ease our minds. So, even before writing a single line of code, we looked for startups willing to buy the idea before seeing the product.</p><p>We went through our LinkedIn connections and our contacts to find one company that would be generous enough to put down some money before we build the product. Luckily, we found eight!</p><p>We told our story of failing to find a better, simple CRM and showed them our early sketches. They told us they could relate to our story and they agreed to put down a few hundred dollars to secure their spot when we released our first version two months later. <a href="https://www.neusral.com/?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"><u>Neusral</u></a>, a PR monitoring SaaS company, was one of them, and they are still our customer today!</p><p>Early customers like Neusral gave us the confidence to build our first version of Relate, and they still are the reason we continue to believe in the mission we pursue.</p><h2 id="fast-forward-to-today-were-now-launching-a-publicly-available-relate-crm"><strong>Fast-forward to today, we're now launching a publicly available Relate CRM.</strong></h2><p>After nearly two years of building in private, we're finally launching Relate as a publicly available product. Our competitors have been in private beta even longer than us, but I think they've also spent a long time in private for a good reason. CRM is a very challenging product to build. We're not just making the same feature sets legacy players have already created. Instead, we’re re-designing and rebuilding each interface, feature, each workflow, and each use case from scratch. It’s a big challenge from both technical and design perspective.</p><p>Are we finally ready? No. We still have lots to build, refine, and improve.</p><p>But many of our private beta customers use Relate daily, and new customers are also picking up our tool fast. We'll never be "ready," but we decided to open our doors to build Relate with a broader community!</p><h2 id="why-relate"><strong>Why Relate?</strong></h2><p>Relate offers a simple way to build customer relationships and collaborate with teams in one place.</p><figure class="kg-card kg-embed-card"><iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/871731677?app_id=122963" width="426" height="240" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" title="Relate Intro"></iframe></figure><p><strong>Simple layout + plans for startups</strong></p><p>We built something that we'd use for ourselves. We designed the platform and its subscription plans so that it makes sense for B2B startups to install it as a "day 1" tooling alongside Slack, Figma, and Linear. Relate's layout is simple — it's a contact list with a spreadsheet and newsfeed-like UI. Learning how to use the app is easy and straightforward.</p><p>Relate also has a free plan that will give you all the powers of a full-fledged CRM!</p><p><strong>Crafted product experience</strong></p><p>Sales teams use CRMs multiple times daily, checking new updates, writing customer emails, sharing notes with teammates, etc.</p><p>And we understand that the software should enhance their workflow, not hinder it. We aim to craft a frictionless and fast workflow for sales teams to go in and out of the CRM.</p><p><strong>Smart CRM</strong></p><p>From adding a new prospect to closing a deal, Relate streamlines the process and automates repetitive tasks such as creating a deal card and entering status for tracking.</p><p>For example, Relate's auto-handoff feature lets you skip the manual work of creating a deal for each corresponding qualified prospect. Qualify the prospect, and you'll see a deal card pop up in your pipeline.</p><p><strong>Modern B2B collaboration</strong></p><p>Relate's modern B2B collaboration capabilities empower team members to share sales/customer information, insights, and updates directly in the CRM.</p><p>Teams can stay organized and aligned through features like shared emails, tasks, assigning, and commenting. Collaboration is further enhanced with @mentions and follow/unfollow notifications, ensuring everyone stays in the loop and nothing falls through.</p><h2 id="whats-next-for-relate"><strong>What's next for Relate?</strong></h2><p>Our mission is to simplify go-to-market for B2B startups. We are committed to continuously improving the core CRM platform and developing new products that support B2B startups in their go-to-market efforts.</p><p>Stay tuned for exciting updates as we work towards making GTM simple and effective.</p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Inbound Sales 101: How to generate inbound leads and automate inbound sales]]></title><description><![CDATA[Inbound sales may take time, but it can be powerful once established. This post explores how to generate inbound leads and automate the inbound sales process. ]]></description><link>https://www.relate.so/blog/inbound-sales-101/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6514476061a36d00a9c52e62</guid><category><![CDATA[Sales]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Won You]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 05 Oct 2023 08:55:52 GMT</pubDate><media:content url="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2023/10/inboundsales.png" medium="image"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<img src="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2023/10/inboundsales.png" alt="Inbound Sales 101: How to generate inbound leads and automate inbound sales"><p>Early-stage startups must initially lean on outbound sales because they don’t have brand awareness. However, once you better understand your <a href="https://www.relate.so/docs/wiki/icp?ref=relate.so">Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)</a> and acquire initial customers, you can start <a href="https://www.relate.so/docs/wiki/Inbound-Sales?ref=relate.so">inbound sales</a>, making potential customers find you and buy your product. </p><p>Inbound sales may take some time to work because you need to increase brand awareness and set up multiple marketing channels that potential customers can engage. Once established, inbound sales can be much more effective than outbound sales in the long run. Also, depending on your team's situation, you can choose between <a href="https://www.relate.so/blog/inbound-outbound-sales/">inbound and outbound sales</a> or do both together.</p><p>In this post, we'll discuss what you need to know when you first start inbound sales. Here's the agenda.</p><ul><li>How to generate inbound leads</li><li>How to automate the inbound sales process</li></ul><h2 id="part-1-how-to-generate-inbound-leads-prospects">Part 1: How to generate inbound leads (prospects)</h2><h3 id="1-create-content-that-your-ideal-customer-profile-icp-will-be-interested-in">1. Create content that your <a href="https://www.relate.so/docs/wiki/icp?ref=relate.so">Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)</a> will be interested in</h3><p>Inbound sales is getting prospects to come to you. There are many ways to get your prospects to come to you, including word of mouth, referrals, conferences, etc. One of the most powerful and consistent ways to generate inbound leads is through content. The content should be that your ICP is interested in or that will help them do their jobs. </p><p>You should first talk to your prospects and customers to decide what topics to cover. As you talk to them, you can create content about the questions they ask repeatedly or their pain points.</p><p>You can also create content that gives convincing answers to your prospects' objections during the sales process. If you already have customers using your product, you can develop case studies of your loyal customers. </p><p>Here's an example of blog content the Relate team wrote about a common pain point or concern among customers they met.</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.relate.so/blog/what-is-crm/">What is CRM?</a></li><li><a href="https://www.relate.so/blog/how-to-manage-sales-process/">How to manage sales process</a></li><li><a href="https://www.relate.so/blog/how-to-run-a-cold-email-campaign/">How to run a cold email campaign</a></li><li><a href="https://www.relate.so/blog/how-to-cold-call/">How to cold call</a></li></ul><p>As you start creating quality content consistently, it will compound and bring more potential customers. Also, great content helps build brand awareness and credibility.</p><h3 id="2-create-different-types-of-content">2. Create different types of content</h3><p>You can create different types of content. The most common types are blogs, product guides, playbooks that utilize your product, webinars/coffee chats, podcasts, and more. You can decide what content you will create based on your team’s resources and how your prospects consume content. </p><p>The advantage of utilizing different types of content is that you can reuse content you've already created elsewhere. For example, run a webinar on a specific topic and then write blog content to recap the webinar.</p><p>The Relate team utilizes various content, which you can see below.</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.relate.so/blog/">Blogs</a></li><li><a href="https://www.relate.so/docs/intro?ref=relate.so">Product guides</a></li><li><a href="https://www.relate.so/docs/wiki/SaaS/ARR?ref=relate.so">Startup Wiki</a></li></ul><h3 id="3-promote-your-content-on-multiple-channels">3. Promote your content on multiple channels</h3><p>Creating great content doesn't mean anything if there's no one to consume it. Here are some common channels to promote your content.</p><ul><li>Blog subscriptions: Make your team's blog available for subscription and automatically deliver new content in a newsletter format.</li><li>Community: If you are running a community, that's great, but if not, leverage external communities.</li><li>LinkedIn: LinkedIn is one of the best professional social media to promote your content. </li></ul><p>You should find and leverage as many channels as possible to get your content to potential customers.</p><h3 id="4-use-hyperlinks-and-calls-to-action-ctas">4. Use hyperlinks and calls-to-action (CTAs)</h3><p>If you already have relevant content created by your team, you can add hyperlinks to the new content you're creating. This will encourage prospects to spend more time on your site and naturally make them more likely to be interested in your products.</p><p>Alternatively, we can gauge a prospect's interest by encouraging them to download a specific template, playbook, whitepaper, etc., but requiring them to leave their contact information.</p><p>Finally, you should lead highly interested prospects to the product's landing page, where they can connect with the sales team.</p><p>Currently, the Relate team uses the "Get Early Access" button in the top-right corner of the landing page or the Intercom messenger in the bottom-left corner.</p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/rCuWWoL2duRlBHvau83pGKWxY0SDUtYfhEsOx2WKNopfo5cWVgN8e60Sz69Irh2KzGuW26okY5392e5OGUUNwIjd94Gx69f3FmCF4BY9SKjEyZbqXosUejtEEVwoz0cvTfi1IDBoIF76HGEWmoX6HDk" class="kg-image" alt="Inbound Sales 101: How to generate inbound leads and automate inbound sales" loading="lazy" width="624" height="407"></figure><h2 id="part-2-how-to-automate-the-inbound-sales-process">Part 2: How to automate the inbound sales process</h2><p>Getting prospects to come to you through great content doesn't mean you will be successful at selling your product. To be effective at inbound sales, you must ensure the prospects are interested in your product and get them to book a first meeting with your sales team quickly. </p><p>However, it's very difficult to respond quickly to all inbound inquiries, and doing this manually is almost impossible if there are many inquiries. </p><p>The simplest way to solve this problem is to use <a href="https://zapier.com/?ref=relate.so">Zapier</a>, a tool we use to automate repetitive tasks.</p><h3 id="1-collecting-inbound-lead-information-with-typeform">1. Collecting inbound lead information with Typeform</h3><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/xG1Lhc7ch_bXJYWoBPpXSuqFhUtns_z2ktDpq1nh4rfoh3MrjeJHQLGR1546de7Y1ps3dcNNG_aKmvbc1WKRkHooh7MVruYiAglMjrMAQJBZeYRZj2cbMp6Rb2VLdtg8Qo9Dw9TpPlIh8lzsB-MkEx0" class="kg-image" alt="Inbound Sales 101: How to generate inbound leads and automate inbound sales" loading="lazy" width="624" height="401"></figure><p><br><a href="https://www.typeform.com/?ref=relate.so">Typeform</a> is a clean and interactive survey tool to capture customer information.</p><p>The following is the must-capture customer information:</p><ul><li>Company name</li><li>Contact name</li><li>Contact email address</li></ul><p>You can also collect other important information for your sales team to qualify prospects, such as demographics, team size, business types, and industry.</p><h3 id="2-let-your-icp-set-up-a-time-seamlessly">2. Let your ICP set up a time seamlessly</h3><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/mnqPTDwmMOv-GyR57CWhtSPAJ7nsGdGT7v3G1RiGHNznTTTqKL1LTXfRGLv5K6MrzHa00IontAZz6o-DEJnOHxLmzpYS-da5MzlcnzvJjviWuglPzhI3e1ttdUUhxXBxLwrqs0_RgIuqgliFhaCMpDQ" class="kg-image" alt="Inbound Sales 101: How to generate inbound leads and automate inbound sales" loading="lazy" width="624" height="393"></figure><p>One of the great things about Typeform is that you can offer different scenarios of questions and CTAs based on how people answer each question.</p><p>You can do a basic <a href="https://www.relate.so/blog/how-to-qualify-prospects/">qualification</a> based on their answers, and then, if they're qualified, you can provide them with a calendar link to schedule a meeting right away.</p><p>If you schedule meetings manually, there's a higher chance of losing them. The Relate team uses <a href="https://calendly.com/?ref=relate.so">Calendly</a> to automate scheduling meetings.</p><p>For inbound leads, responding quickly (within 5 minutes) is very important so you don't lose them. Allowing prospects to choose their convenient time to leave their information is the most effective way to convert inbound leads into paying customers.</p><h3 id="3-automatically-add-inbound-lead-information-to-relate">3. Automatically add inbound lead information to Relate</h3><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/TJETQHbVxWsmUFfCCSDHGIiA3TYhA8WVR38z5uzuyIMUc1NIA11uCZo28eiREXDyGfzAMTgzsnnPIUw_Ecod49va-YswBhzKT2Ga36PmjHAL2Nk_hrcK-b-SwZ8eUSjQnexV7ehSPhgEoVPLkVc1rWQ" class="kg-image" alt="Inbound Sales 101: How to generate inbound leads and automate inbound sales" loading="lazy" width="624" height="423"></figure><p><a href="https://www.relate.so/?ref=relate.so">Relate</a> is a simple sales customer relationship management (CRM) solution. With Relate, you can easily manage your customer information, communications, contract-related information, and more.</p><p>Automatically adding inbound leads to your CRM is important because it reduces the manual work for your sales team and allows you to manage customer history.</p><p>With your customer information from Typeform, you can automatically add companies/organizations, reps, and deals within Relate.</p><p>If you've already scheduled an appointment, you can easily add meeting notes after the first meeting, go through onboarding, and more for future sales activities.</p><h3 id="4-send-follow-up-emails-to-prospects">4. Send follow-up emails to prospects</h3><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/zLJhhhqlKVH2xsZtjR6SusPfR0QwpXfaJlDjfYhKqIw_ijpc8p1-z3zEIi5S-YBCkWXc5GrwyJraWMgywDaEtuRtxU6c14y41CW9-fVym6k4_KxM_sgKz_v2Wur4Gu8p8kcbKWX4xtaOEv4A9J6RPLk" class="kg-image" alt="Inbound Sales 101: How to generate inbound leads and automate inbound sales" loading="lazy" width="624" height="416"></figure><p>You can automatically send follow-up emails to prospects who have left their information in Typeform. There are two main benefits to sending follow-up emails.</p><ol><li>Confirmation of their inquiry.</li><li>Remind them if they didn't schedule a meeting right away.</li></ol><h2 id="bonus-what-about-inbound-leads-that-didn%E2%80%99t-schedule-a-meeting">Bonus: What about inbound leads that didn’t schedule a meeting?</h2><p>In this case, the Relate team has a two-step process for managing inbound leads.</p><h3 id="1-email-campaigns-for-inbound-leads-using-apolloio">1. Email campaigns for inbound leads using <a href="https://apollo.io/?ref=relate.so">Apollo.io</a></h3><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/k1MYzx9VwIo6eTguRTFmI1BhOB7SJISEjzX30idqEdY5USdtBxIJRc-WG8imb4ShS9XgGLYBYfgnA5ZDD67IL3yv9KgjlMs1VWp1eH_KMsFG-jGpkvCQHJCBGU4vuUH0YZEu9kG44MclMmINUrtv_LQ" class="kg-image" alt="Inbound Sales 101: How to generate inbound leads and automate inbound sales" loading="lazy" width="624" height="400"></figure><p>Not all inbound leads schedule a meeting right away. If they don’t schedule a meeting after a day or so, we add them to the email campaign using <a href="https://apollo.io/?ref=relate.so">Apollo.io</a>.</p><p>Emails will automatically go out until the prospect replies to the email or schedules a meeting. In our follow-up emails, we briefly explain how to effectively manage sales using Relate, interactive demos, and demo recordings.</p><h3 id="2-prospects-who-dont-reply-after-multiple-follow-ups">2. Prospects who don't reply after multiple follow-ups</h3><p>These prospects are managed within Relate CRM with a <a href="https://www.relate.so/docs/features/prospect-status?ref=relate.so">Prospect Status</a> of Potential. Your sales team won’t engage with prospects in the Potential status until one of the following conditions is met.</p><ul><li>Your product is updated.</li><li>A similar type of prospect converts to a customer.</li><li>You run an event, conference, promotion, etc.</li><li>The prospect's circumstances change, such as investment news, hiring news, etc.</li></ul><h2 id="inbound-sales-may-take-time-to-work-but-it-can-be-very-powerful">Inbound sales may take time to work, but it can be very powerful</h2><p>To make inbound sales successful, it may take some time. However, once set up, it can be very powerful and sometimes more effective than outbound sales.</p><p>As mentioned at the beginning of this post, you will have to lean on outbound sales during the early days. After acquiring early customers, start creating high-quality content that your ICP will be interested in.</p><p>If you are successful at attracting prospects through content, automate inbound lead capturing and early sales process with CRM and other tools to increase the chance of sales.</p>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[How to talk to customers]]></title><description><![CDATA[Why prioritizing customer dialogues leads to a better product and stronger growth]]></description><link>https://www.relate.so/blog/how-to-talk-to-customers/</link><guid isPermaLink="false">64e7d44644fa4000aa565a9d</guid><category><![CDATA[Sales]]></category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Christopher Chae]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 24 Aug 2023 22:10:58 GMT</pubDate><media:content url="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2023/08/customers.png" medium="image"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<img src="https://cdn.getmidnight.com/D25922EDB7AB92C0CA31328CBDCBD42F/2023/08/customers.png" alt="How to talk to customers"><p>The best founders don't put off talking to customers. They instead prioritize talking to them over anything else. It's one of the most important jobs for a founder.</p><p>Some view talking to customers as something you do only in the early stages, but I believe they are just as important in later stages as they were in pre-product market fit.</p><h2 id="a-common-misconception-about-plg">A common misconception about PLG</h2><p>Sometimes when talking to our prospects at Relate, I hear objections like this.</p><blockquote>"We're not ready to sell (so, not ready to buy CRM) because our product isn't ready yet."</blockquote><p>Or, </p><blockquote>"Our go-to-market strategy is PLG(Product Led Growth)."</blockquote><p>Whenever a B2B software startup comments like this, it sends a little chill down my spine.</p><p><strong>In B2B, "build now, sell later" or "build, they'll come" don't exist.</strong></p><blockquote>"What about Figma? Notion? They were successful, after years of just building."</blockquote><p>True. Figma achieved product market fit despite being in pure build mode for three years, and Notion is one of the fastest-growing PLG companies in history.</p><p>But these companies, Figma and Notion, are very unusual success stories in Silicon Valley. Far more companies have achieved Product Market Fit (PMF) and grown just as fast–or even faster–than Figma and Notion because they sold from day 1: Snowflake, ServiceTitan, DocuSign, Twilio, and all.</p><p>Retool —another fast-growing “PLG company” in Silicon Valley — is an excellent case study of why it’s risky to go with PLG at first.</p><p>David Hsu (CEO) talked about the common misconception about PLG:</p><blockquote>“PLG before finding product-market fit is dangerous. Initial sign ups may not convert and you may not know why. Adjusting your product or market often requires direct customer engagement, which is sales. <br><br>PLG is more effective once you have substantial revenue and confirmed PMF. Early on, sales is crucial to understand PMF, as was the case with Retool.”</blockquote><p><em>Paraphrased for conciseness. See </em><a href="https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/retool-ceo-david-hsu-on-finding-product-market-fit-via-sales?ref=relate.so" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"><em><u>full podcast interview</u></em></a><em>.</em></p><h2 id="early-conversations-with-customers-should-be-sales-conversations">Early conversations with customers should be sales conversations</h2><p>Your early-stage user conversations should be sales conversations. There is room for user interviews but when you’re an early-stage startup, sales conversations are much better than general user interviews.</p><p>This is because, in sales conversations, money is involved. And when money is involved, people tend to be more direct. They are willing to pay $X for Y product.</p><p>When you’re early-stage, you should prioritize features with a clear path to revenue. And the best way to see that path is by involving money in the conversation.</p><p>We learned this the <a href="https://www.relate.so/blog/six-applications-y-combinator/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"><u>hard way</u></a> – when we were working on a different product, the feedback we got from people was overwhelmingly positive yet we made close to zero dollars from it.</p><h2 id="why-you-should-prioritize-talking-to-customers">Why you should prioritize talking to customers</h2><p>Why talk to customers? And why prioritize?</p><p>As a startup founder, you've undoubtedly heard the advice to talk to customers multiple times. Surprisingly, though, few founders have a regular dialogue with their customers. To truly understand their needs and pain points, you must meet with them in person (Zoom calls are fine, but they gotta be person to person) and attempt to sell your product.</p><p>Obtaining this knowledge is vital to refining your product/market fit and cannot be done through surveys or data analysis.</p><h2 id="things-to-watch-out-for-when-taking-to-users">Things to watch out for when taking to users</h2><p>There are two kinds of feedback. The first one is compliments and cheerful comments. The second one is something you can take action on. Hearing the first kind might feel good, but they don't help your business. When you hear the second kind, you can understand what the customer needs to get their job done.</p><p>We need to extract the direction of our business and product from customer conversations . That direction is fundamentally found in customer behavior patterns and the problems and solutions they understand and define in their own unique words.</p><p>When you talk to customers, you must listen carefully and make sure that you ask more than you talk. This is a common sales/user conversation mistake; to justify the meeting, you try to prove your value by describing it. But if the customer has already agreed to take a meeting — they already think the meeting has some value. It's your job to discover what led them to take this meeting.</p><p>So instead of talking, ask what their work lives are like, what they've tried to solve, the problems you're trying to solve, how much they're willing to pay for a solution, etc.</p><h2 id="talking-to-customers-at-different-stages">Talking to customers at different stages</h2><p>Founders need to prioritize talking to customers, regardless of the stage they're in. But I suppose there are slightly different things you can get out of them at each stage.</p><h3 id="ideationpre-product-stage">Ideation/pre-product stage</h3><p>In the ideation stage, your goal should be to learn about your business through the words and actions of your potential customers, more than selling.</p><p><strong>Questions you can ask:</strong></p><p><strong>What's the hardest part about doing [x]?</strong></p><ul><li>This question discovers the real problems your customers have.</li></ul><p><strong>When was the last time you faced this problem?</strong></p><ul><li>This question helps you understand the problem through real-life examples that your customer faced.</li></ul><p><strong>Why did you find it challenging?</strong></p><ul><li>Customers buy the <em>why</em>, not <em>what </em>or <em>how</em>. This question helps us find the right frame for our product/offering from the customer's perspective.</li></ul><p><strong>What solutions have you tried so far?</strong></p><ul><li>This question helps you identify potential competitor, both competing products and patched-together workarounds.</li></ul><p><strong>What don't you like about your current solution?</strong></p><ul><li>This question uncovers any features you might want to build as a way to differentiate.</li></ul><h3 id="mvp-stage">MVP stage</h3><p><strong>What is the cost of the [x] problem?</strong></p><ul><li>This question will give you a grip on the depth/size of the problem.</li></ul><p><strong>How often does this problem occur?</strong></p><ul><li>Repeat occurrence is a good sign. If the problem occurs repeatedly, that means this is a problem worth solving.</li></ul><p><strong>How much budget is available (or do you think will be available) to solve this problem?</strong></p><ul><li>This question aims to discover if there is serious interest or willingness to solve the problem from the customer. Even if the customer is willing to solve the problem, if they don't have the budget, it's unlikely to translate into sales (yet). Remember that the most stark difference between B2B and B2C is sales.</li></ul><h3 id="post-launch">Post-launch</h3><p>Post-launch means that you already have customers using the product. So you should tailor your questions to learn how customers perceive and understand your product.</p><p>Questions:</p><p><strong>Why do you use our product? (or, why did you choose our product?)</strong></p><ul><li>Ask them the "why". Ask what problem they were trying to solve before onboarding and how your product solves it.</li></ul><p><strong>Why do you like our product?</strong></p><ul><li>Ask why they "like" your product. If they are using your product over another competitor, it's probably because they like at least one thing about your product over the other. In most B2B SaaS markets, except for truly revolutionary ideas, you're almost always improving an existing solution. If the case, then figuring out why customers chose your product can help us envision our product roadmap.</li></ul><p><strong>What don't you like about our product?</strong></p><ul><li>Asking customers what they don't like about using our product or what they find most challenging to do in the product to take action [x] can give you hints on why they churn.</li><li>This will also give you guidance on new features or improvement ideas.</li></ul><h3 id="achieve-three-great-outcomes-by-asking-these-questions">Achieve three great outcomes by asking these questions</h3><p><strong>1. A simple product with exciting new features</strong></p><p>What we call a "product" is effectively a collection of features that work together. On their own, features don't mean much; it's only when they come together that they become a solution to a specific problem.</p><p>There may be features in your product that are less important or even unnecessary to solve that problem. However, they only add to the complexity of the product and hinder usability.</p><p>Asking these questions will be a starting point to simplifying the product and understanding which features will be exciting vs. another addition to the bloat.</p><p><strong>2. Prevent churn and achieve high retention</strong></p><p>What kills SaaS is often churn, not growth. To understand why customers churn, you'll need to closely examine what problems customers want to solve using our solution and why churned customers failed to solve them.</p><p>Once you understand the reasons for churn, you can create a concrete roadmap to fix things that cause them.</p><p><strong>3. A strong market positioning</strong></p><p>Even if you're pre-product market fit, if you have a customer, there's a reason that the customer is using your product. And this might not be something obvious. Even if you design the product to work in a particular way, customers might find another way to use it to solve their problems. It's your job as a founder to find this out. Once you know how customers are solving their problems with your product, you can use it to position your product in the market better.</p><h2 id="conclusion">Conclusion</h2><p>In conclusion, talking to customers is a vital aspect of being a successful founder. Whether you're in the early stages of ideation or post-launch, engaging in sales conversations and actively listening to customers can provide invaluable insights.</p><p>By understanding their needs, pain points, and the solutions they seek, you can refine your product, prevent churn, and position your offering effectively in the market. So, prioritize customer conversations and harness the power of direct engagement to drive the growth and success of your startup.</p>]]></content:encoded></item></channel></rss>