042: The Art of Customer Validation with Whitney Casey

"Our company mission is to help people experience the joy of food" - Scott Porter What comes to mind when you think about customer service?  Do you think about United Airlines and the infamous passenger escort? Do you remember that restaurant server who rolled her eyes when you asked for gluten-free? Or do you think about that grocery store clerk who remembered your first name and asked if your child was feeling better? We all know what it feels like to have an incredible customer experience. We evangelize, we promote, and we rave about those companies. The same is true of horrible experiences. Happy customers spend 140% more than unhappy customers yet, too often, founders obsess over profit margins or process flows and then wonder why they are struggling to grow, or much less, survive. My guest this week is Scott Porter, founder of San Diablo Artisan Churro's. Scott has a unique perspective when it comes to customer service. In fact, Scott leveraged customer service to rescue a nursing home from bankruptcy. It might be fair to say that Scott worries more about his customers than his own business. On the other hand, that's probably why his business is booming! ON THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS: Marketing a super niche business model Company growth through customer reviews What defines a great customer experience? How to measure your customer happiness/satisfaction Defining and measuring your brand: what 3 words define you? How Scott rescued a bankrupt nursing home using world-class customer service Strategies to engage your team in building a better customer experience How San Diablo defines their customers experience: D - Dedication I  - Interaction not Transaction A - Attention to Detail B - Brighten Through “Deep Fried Happiness L - Legacy O - Opportunity to WOW

Throughout this season of SalesFounders we have covered a number of themes that seem to exemplify winning startups: Leveraging domain expertise, validated learning, mentorship, and strategic sales growth. Josh Ellars, founder of Patri, exemplifies all of them. In fact, his startup story is a case-study in how each of these components blend together to create a powerful growth trajectory. Josh believes that a founder needs critical feedback and an openness to adaptation. On this episode Josh explains how he has leveraged 10 years of public sector sales expertise, 10,000 linkedIn connections, a powerhouse advisory board and a lean methodology to bootstrap a solution that is will forever change the way companies sell to the public sector.   ON THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS: Challenges selling in the public sector Positioning your career around a niche Applying the lean startup methodology for feedback driven innovation Why LinkedIn is an ideal source for validation and leads Building an advisory board - How to surround yourself with the right team The pro's and con's of an automated sales process   The challenges of running a consulting service and says company simultaneously Surrounding yourself with critical feedback and why you should never be married to your idea's

Most entrepreneurs acknowledge the importance of customer validation. Few, however, are as curious or relentless in the pursuit of customer feedback as Whitney Casey. Following her Emmy-winning career as a talk show host and NYC anchor, Whitney created Finery.com, a startup in the Fashion/Technology space. Along with her best-friend and co-founder Brooklyn Decker, Whitney has assembled a stellar team of brainiacs, in NYC, who are revolutionizing the way you interact with your wardrobe. Whitney joins us this week to explore the value of customer feedback and the strategy every founder should model before attempting to scale.  ON THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS: Finery - the first wardrobe operating system When to hire vs outsource developers A validation strategy every founder should adopt How to elicit the most authentic customer feedback The power of honest feedback from users, even if "your baby is ugly" Product Development discipline and the challenges of “feature creep” 6 revenue sources and the customers lifecycle. Choosing the right investors - “make sure you find smart money”

Justin Edwards is the VP of Sales Practice at Mercato partners. His focus is optimizing and accelerating sales performance within each of their portfolio companies. Leveraging his sales experience in startups and Fortune 100 organizations alike, Justin has demonstrated a unique ability to help founders identify sales inefficiencies and develop highly scalable sales teams and processes.  ON THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS: Modeling high velocity sales growth  Looking at people as the underlying engine for sales acceleration Identifying the 5 traits of success in your sales environment, and building process and scale around those traits Why Hubspot requires new sales reps to experience the customer journey before selling Technology, money, and the dangers of a broken sales process Mapping sales process to identify bottlenecks and deceleration.  Identify the "anatomy of a perfect customer" Sales qualified leads and the ingredients of an efficient sales process The misleading indicators of sales performance Corporate strategy - Inside Sales vs. Enterprise Sales strategy. Why HR, Marketing, and Sales are the three most common area's of weakness in growth companies

Knowing why you win and lose deals might be the most valuable information your company can have. Unfortunately, 60% of sales professionals are wrong about why they win and lose deals. Not surprisingly, founders make critical errors when they use such assessments in strategic decisions.  My guest this week is Clozd founder, Spencer Dent. Leveraging his experience at Bain, and Qualtrics, Spencer co-founded Clozd with the mission to help companies uncover the truth about why they win and lose. On this episode, Spencer shares some of the most common pitfalls, and why win-loss analysis should be an integral part of your growth strategy.  ON THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS: Win-loss analysis and the founding story of Clozd 2 reasons companies should outsource win-loss analysis Why founders avoid win-loss analysis 60% of reps don't know why they win or lose deals How to categorize and prioritize the issues that affect win-loss Adapting your sales teams to position against the competition The 3 most common deal killers that every founder should be aware of  A closer took at Clozd business model

Michelle Weinstein, also known as The Pitch Queen, has leveraged an exciting sales career, and an entrepreneurial rollercoaster to refine a skill that has become her secret weapon - the Pitch. Michelle has pitched her way into Costco, onto Shark Tank, and into the world of millionaires, athletes and coaches. Michelle joins SalesFounders this week to talk about the art of the Pitch and a few of her strategies to help entrepreneurs build relationships, gain rapport, and generate powerful sales traction.  ON THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS: Facing adversity - lessons from a failed startup Entrepreneurship is a 24 hour sales job Preparing your company to weather unknown costsBuilding Rapport - why trust is the secret to selling  Relationship based-selling and the “champion” Persistence and the art of being ‘Professionally Annoying’ Strategies to connect with influencers  Ingredients of a great sales pitch

"More than 90% of startups fail, due primarily to self-destruction rather than competition." The Sales Gap is perhaps the most daunting stage of entrepreneurship. Most founders will agree that their primary objective is to leverage product market fit into scalable sales growth as efficiently as possible. However, the majority of startups self-destruct during this transition as a result of premature scaling. In this keynote excerpt from Founders Weekend, Brad Harker explores the concept of "sales validation," and the roadmap he has developed to help organizations preempt the dangers of premature scaling, and generate sustainable sales growth. ON THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS: Navigating the Sales Gap Premature Scaling vs. Market Bubbles Sales Validation - the capstone to Product Market Fit 4 Prerequisites to sales validation Business Validation Value Proposition Sales Alignment Launch Strategy Defining 4 Stages of the Sales Process Lead Development Sales Mapping Marketing Automation Metrics 7 Components of Sales Validation Sales validation is confirmed when the following 7 criteria are achieved with the majority of those transactions: Are you consistent in where you source new leads? Is the sales process similar? When customers purchase, is the product stable? Are customers buying the product for the same features? Do you need to customize the product to make the sale Are your customers endorsing and evangelizing your product? Is it profitable?

"Nobody want’s to be sold anymore.” With so many products and solutions competing for our attention, buyers want simple solutions from people they know like and trust.  Meet Steve Nudelberg, author, speaker, and “serial salesman” who has built a successful career by being valuable, authentic, and connected. Steve will argue that, for more startups, cold calling is a waste of time, and that entrepreneurs should spend less time hiding behind their brand and more time engaging with their customers. On this episode, we explore the evolving sales landscape, the biggest sales challenges entrepreneurs face and some secrets to help startups connect with their customers and keep their sales pipelines full. 

Ace Marks is a brand of handcrafted Italian dress shoes that has leveraged a direct to consumer sales strategy to disrupt one of the most established industries. In the past year alone, Ace Marks have sold in more than 80 countries, and has become the worlds most funded footwear project through Kickstarter. Founders Paul Farago and Julian Gonzalez join SalesFounders to talk about their relentless focus on customer experience, the domain expertise behind this disruptive brand of luxury shoes.  On this Episode we Discuss: Leveraging domain experience around the needs of the customer The pro’s and con’s of the direct to consumer strategy Why Ace Marks chose crowdfunding as their initial source of growth  Kickstarter success and their unorthodox approach to building a campaign Life after Crowdfunding - how to find sustainable growth channels Breaking paradigms - educating customers and the cost=value fallacy Influencer Marketing - the algorithm Ace Marks developed to identify the best influencers How to manage cash flow in high inventory startups Competition and the challenge to disrupt highly established industries

Roy Morejon is the President of Enventys Partners, a full-service product launch agency that has created more than 450 brands, 65 companies, and made over $1 billion for entrepreneurs and corporations. Roy's passion is helping entrepreneurs launch great ideas and Eventys Partners has a comprehensive solution that supports entrepreneurs with everything from product design and development, to crowdfunding and marketing. Roy joins us this week to talk about product validation and the system that has helped 21 brands break the million dollar crowdfunding mark.  On this Episode we Discuss: The 3 pre-requisites to a winning crowdfunding campaign Eventys Partners receive 150 pitches per day - here’s how they validate the best products 5 things founders can do to prepare for a successful product launch Why simple products perform better than feature-rich solutions The nature of selling and why entrepreneurs should prepare for change How to differentiate your product in highly competitive markets How to initiate a product validation campaign with your target audience Strategies to clarify your ideal customer profile