The New Approach to Sales Training for Startups

Are you a startup founder who’s struggling to sell your vision?

Or someone looking to break into the startup world?

These two groups of people have something in common, because there is one set of skills that would hugely benefit them both. And that skillset is sales.

Sales skills are the missing piece in so many startups arsenals, and many startup founders wrongfully assume their product will sell itself. They rely on the bells and whistles of the product when pitching, rather than developing a process that can scale with their growing company. Or, they build a sales team based on experiences that have nothing to do with the unique situation of selling for early stage companies.

Lucky for you, we’ve developed a solution to this problem, and that solution is Startup Sales School.

Our new program is for both startup founders who are trying to build a sales team, and professionals who want to break into the startup world through sales. For those who wish to join this entrepreneurial community, sales positions are often the entry-point and our training will provide an advantage when vying for these positions.

You won’t just be learning. You’ll be selling and experiencing the success that comes with the processes we teach.

We’ve held two launching events so far, meeting with founders, sales professionals, and entrepreneurs, to answer their questions surrounding Startup Sales School.

Now we’ve rounded up the most frequently asked questions below, to help you determine if Startup Sales School is right for you.

What makes Skaled a trusted authority on sales for startups?

Every startup that Skaled has worked with since launching two years ago is still going strong today.

From the Daily Muse, who recently raised a $1 million seed round from Tyra Banks and other prominent investors, to Take the Interview who raised a $2.1 million series A and hired their first full time salespeople — our past clients are kicking ass and taking names.

But going back further, Skaled CEO Jake Dunlap, has been perfecting and teaching his sales processes for over a decade. As Vice President of Sales at Glassdoor, Jake grew a team of 1 to 40 salespeople in 1.5 years. As Head of Sales and Customer Success at Chartbeat, he managed the growth and execution of product outreach, and annual bookings grew 300%.

What makes Jake and his team effective at teaching these skills?

It’s what we do, every single day.

Skaled is regularly training startup founders and salespeople in the skills that are critical to startup success. We work in the trenches with startup teams, developing the messaging for emails, phone calls, and meetings. We listen in on cold calls, provide feedback and coaching, and instill these startups with the sales confidence and know-how to get out there and sell on their own.

Through Startup Sales School, we can now do all of that for you, too.

What type of hands-on experience will be available to students?

Students will be assigned eight hours of lab work to be completed throughout the program. If an individual currently works for a startup, they’ll be assigned sales tasks to complete for their current company. If not, they’ll be assigned to a startup we work with, for which they’ll provide operational support to the existing team.

Whether you work for a startup already or hope to soon, you’ll participate in the following, hands-on exercises…

• Development of sales messaging

• Cold calls

• Lead generation

• Email outreach

• Deck Creation

• Pitching

Our sales coaches will be there to offer feedback and guidance for improvement along the way.

How is startup sales different than traditional sales experience?

Startup founders often assume that any sales professional can sell for a startup.

But time and time again, we see startups hire sales professionals who have only sold for large, established companies — and then we see these people fail. This type of experience fosters reliance on a brand recognition that doesn’t exist for young companies.  These types of salespeople tend to fall back on a rolodex of connections that run dry quickly. They lack the structure and finesse that’s necessary to convince a person who doesn’t know you or your company to stay on the line.

We teach you time-tested tactics on how to find the decision makers, get them on the phone, keep them on the phone, and drive the conversation to a sale. You’ll learn how to build these processes into the DNA of your startup, and set your team up for success.

Don’t shy away from sales for your startup. We can teach you to own these skills and successfully scale your growing team. Sign up now or email Jake.Dunlap@Skaled.com with any additional questions.