B2B Sales Lessons from GetGlue

fraserdemocampLast week’s Sales Peer to Peer at the Innovation Factory in Hamilton featured Fraser Kelton, COO of New York-based GetGlue.

Fraser was in town to speak on the B2B sales lessons he’s learned at GetGlue, one of the pioneers in providing second screen experiences.

As a side note, TV guide app company i.TV recently announced the acquisition of GetGlue and their 4.5 million registered users for its second-screen and TV check-in service.

Here are some key takeaways from the presentation:

1) When It Comes to Startups, There Are 2 Types of People – Building and Sales

When you work for a startup you’re either doing one or the other – there’s no room for anyone else on the team. As we like to say at VA Partners, everyone is in sales for a new business.

2) Sell What You Have

At the beginning of the sales effort, because you don’t have results yet, you have to sell what you have. For GetGlue’s first close that meant the opportunity for a really great PR story for their client.

3) Make Your Customers Look Good By Helping Them Be Successful

This aligns very well with the lesson above. Following GetGlue’s first sale, their first customer’s decision maker was promoted in part because of her decision to go with GetGlue.

4) Leverage an Existing User Community Where Possible

For GetGlue they were able to leverage fans/users to help close new clients by having them relay their feelings on the solution

5) Mining Linkedin is a Top Meeting Generation Strategy

GetGlue used direct connections to find 2nd connections through Linkedin. The response rate and success rate was significantly better than with cold calling or cold emailing.

6) Keep Tweaking Your Sales Pitch Until You Find One That Repeatedly Works Well

When GetGlue started, the team wasn’t sure whether their story would resonate with prospects. They tried different slide decks in meetings and continuously evaluated the results until they settled on the best story, one that worked time and time again.

7) Always Deepen Your Relationships

GetGlue would start with new clients through one specific area of their business, usually around a particular show. They would then methodically go through the account, referencing past work, until they had all the business within an account.

8) Integrate Into Your Customers Regular Processes

By providing analytics and interfacing with many parts of their customers’ businesses, the GetGlue solution became fundamental to measuring the success of many broadcasts.

9) Momentum is the Oxygen for Startups

It’s important to remember to always continue moving forward, even in small steps when you need to, to make your business successful.

10) Make Sure That Onboarding is Very Easy for End Users

It can be expensive and time consuming to sign new users or customers. If they abandon soon after you get them signed up, all of your sales and marketing effort is wasted in the blink of an eye.

If you live or work in the Hamilton area, please join us for the next Sales Peer to Peer at the Innovation Factory on February 5th, 2014.  If you’re looking for other B2B sales strategies to help your startup grow, check out our white paper on building a startup sales team.