Fast Environment, Slow Results
People tend to associate start-ups with fast-paced environments. From experience, I can tell you that this is true. One week, you’ll just be sitting around hoping someone knocks on your doors. The next, you’re struggling to balance four projects running simultaneously in your sales pipeline with very tight deadlines. Every week, I set goals for what I need to get done however, there are times when all of my plans just comes crashing down because a client needs a project done in three days. These all-hands-on-deck situations comes unexpectedly and you’ll never know when you’ll need to pull an all-nighter.
People also tend to associate fast-paced environments with fast-results. However, this is not always the case. When you zoom out and look at the bigger picture, you’ll notice that the growth is not as steep as you think it is. No company transforms from a ten people WeWork space to having offices around the world overnight.
I am currently building a sales department for the start-up I’m working with and there are days where I need to constantly remind myself to look at the bigger picture. Essentially, sales is a game of numbers. One thousand prospects converts to one hundred leads, then, if lucky, maybe two deals. However, it is only a game of numbers when you have a system to play with. In a start-up, there is no foundation until you build it. Thus, while I am currently working with a potential client on a project, I have to remind myself that my goal isn’t to close the deal. My goal is to learn from the process and convert that into the foundation of a sales department. Having gone through days and nights of prospecting, I am hungry for a deal but I need to remind myself that if I can take this apart and find out how to get there, I’ll be able to get there all the time.