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Entrepreneurship Marketing Philosophy Product Management SaaS Sales Startup

Know More

What separates a great salesperson from a good one?

It’s the same thing for a marketer, copywriter, engineer, lawyer, surgeon, and many others.

They know more.

There are only 3 ways they can know more:
1. They have more experience
2. They seek more knowledge
3. They continuously apply their knowledge

1. The hack to gain more experience at less age is to be more curious and take risks to work at small-scale companies.

The first job I got in 2002 after college was with one of India’s largest IT providers – Infosys.

I left it in 8 months, took a 40% pay cut, and went to work for a 100 person company.

2. The hack to seek more knowledge is to have a growth mindset and devour as many books and training as possible on the subject matter.

I’m an engineer by education, but people get surprised by how much I know about UX Design principles, Sales methodologies, or Copywriting.

All credit goes to reading a lot of books and taking online courses.

3. The hack to apply more knowledge is to try more in your day job but also do side hustles.

The only way I became an SW engineer from an HW engineer, or a product manager from an engineer, or a salesperson from a PM is – my side hustles.

So invest in yourself and know more than others.

Categories
Product Management SaaS Sales

The Extra Effort Commitment

When we had launched Avoma, we allowed anyone to sign-up with their personal email address to try it out.

But now we stopped doing that and have added more friction. Here is why…

It’s about “The Extra Effort” they have to take to demonstrate their commitment.

With the previous approach, people were not committed.

We would follow-up with them, but they would not reply.

Neither they used Avoma actively, nor they bought it.

That makes sense, as they didn’t have any meetings on their personal calendar.

They just wanted to “check it out.”

And we had many competitors also who signed up with their personal or random email addresses “to get inspiration”. 👀😀

And it was our mistake in the first place to keep it open.

But it’s better late than never.

We finally decided to block signups from personal email addresses.

Yes, we are going to piss-off a few people and disappoint them.

Yes, we are adding more friction to the user experience.

But we want people who are willing to take that “extra effort of commitment” with Avoma.

If you sign up with your work email address, we will strive to deliver the best possible experience for you.

Sometimes you have to add more friction to provide the best experience to the right customers.

Categories
Marketing Sales

No ‟link in the comment” for LinkedIn posts

Isn’t it a frustrating experience when people share their main message in the Post area and link in the Comment area?

Hey, CEOs, Sales and Marketing leaders, and LinkedIn influencers – I have a few questions for you.

You say you’re customer-centric.

You say you strive to deliver the best customer experience.

But your customers are your prospects first, who are your LinkedIn connections.

Why don’t you strive to deliver a better experience for your LinkedIn connections?

Why do you ask me to read something in your post and then keep searching for a link in the Comment area?

LinkedIn is stupid to encourage such behavior.

But just because they didn’t fix this issue, why are you taking advantage of this situation?

Where is “don’t be evil” or “being right” value?

I’ve made this mistake too.

I’ve fallen into the trap of LinkedIn hacks.

But not anymore.

I’ve decided not to share any post with “link in the comment” hack.

Even though it means it comes at the cost of not getting more visibility.

Let’s do the right thing.

Categories
Marketing Startup

Produce, don’t just consume.

Anyone who is creating content (including me) is seeking your attention and time.

What if, you seek your own attention and time?

Content creators want you to read their articles, listen to their podcasts, and watch their YouTube videos.

So you invest your time in reading, listening, and watching.

What if, you want to observe your world, think about new ideas, and produce great creations?

Shouldn’t you be investing your time in observing, thinking, and producing?

Produce, don’t just consume.

Categories
Entrepreneurship Philosophy Startup

Our Attitude, Action, and Ambition

Right now, most of us are trying our best to achieve our adjusted goals, but we’re still finding something is standing in our way.

And I hope it’s not one of these:

  • Our Attitude
  • Our Action
  • Our Ambition

Our Attitude

Let’s make sure we see and understand what’s occurring around us with the right mindset.

Let’s:

  • Control our emotions
  • Be objective
  • Embrace constraints
  • Think differently

Our Action

Let’s make sure we don’t keep doing the same thing, or blame society or economic conditions and, in the worst case, not do anything.

Let’s:

  • Keep moving
  • Practice persistence
  • Iterate constantly
  • Follow the process

Our Ambition

Let’s make sure our internal willpower is strong enough, so it’s not affected by the external world.

Let’s:

  • Build inner strength
  • Find a purpose bigger than ourselves

We’re in this together, and we’ll come out of this stronger.

Categories
Design Philosophy Product Management Startup

Attention to Detail Matters

Attention to detail is probably the most underrated attribute because of which many organizations are inefficient.

Every spelling or grammatical mistake, UI inconsistency, confusing copy, branding mismatch, etc., are typically considered as nitpicking and not necessary.

But these details matter.

And it starts with leaders.

If leaders don’t care, why should employees?

Attention to detail is about getting the small things right.

Attention to detail is about building a consistent habit.

Attention to detail is about building a culture of caring.

Attention to detail is about being passionate about your craft.

Attention to detail is about walking that extra mile but leaping miles ahead (in your career).

Categories
Philosophy

Genuine Marketers and Clever Marketers

Quarantine has helped us to realize that there are two kinds of marketers: genuine ones and clever ones.

There is a thin line between those two.

Genuine marketers make it easier to find things that we need.

Clever marketers make us believe that we want certain things that we didn’t need in the first place.

Now you may realize –

You don’t need a fancy office space for white-collar jobs. A corner in your home works just fine.

You don’t need fancy equipment and a gym to do exercise. Bodyweight-based exercises work just fine.

You don’t need restaurants for everyday lunch and dinner. A home-cooked meal work just fine.

You don’t need 300% hyper-growth for your business. 100% growth would work just fine to sustain it.

You don’t need show-off living. A happy and healthy living works just fine.

Categories
Entrepreneurship SaaS Sales Startup

Pain Killer Vs Vitamin

Is exercising a pain killer or a vitamin? 🏋️‍♂️

Is a reading book a pain killer or a vitamin? 📖

Is eating nutritious food a pain killer or a vitamin? 🥗

Is playing sports a pain killer or a vitamin? ⛹️‍♂️

Is meditating a pain killer or a vitamin? 🧘‍♂️

All things that are essential to living a happy and healthy life don’t seem to be a pain killer. 🤔

Then why the heck while running a business, everyone advises buying only a pain killer? 🧐

Isn’t it too late to buy a pain killer to fix your broken organization?🤦‍♂️

Shouldn’t you actually be investing in running a better organization and making sure it doesn’t break all the time? 🤔

Of course, you can still buy a pain killer (or a band-aid) occasionally when the organization breaks. 💊🩹

But why be reactive when you can be proactive? 🤷‍♂️

Categories
SaaS Startup

Replying to Customer Support Issues as a CEO

As a CEO of a SaaS company, one of the most gratifying things I enjoy is – replying to Customer Support issues.

It helps me to stay grounded.

It helps me to be empathetic.

It helps me to understand what they truly care about.

It helps me to work harder to fix issues in our product, messaging, documentation, and more.

Categories
Productivity Startup

Slack Etiquettes

With remote work, I’m worried if we’re spending more time Slacking vs doing uninterrupted high-quality work.

Here are some Slack etiquettes:

1. Fewer messages mean fewer notifications

Never send a one-word message like hey, hmm even if you immediately follow up with your real message.

2. Use Reactions vs sending one-word messages

For acknowledgment, use Reactions instead of one-word messages (Thanks, lol).

3. Use formatting for longer messages

Use bulleted lists, bold, and italic text styling to make your titles and key points stand out.

4. Use threads to reply and comment

Use threads every time to keep an ongoing conversation with replies and keep the main channel clear.

5. Default to public channels

Use @username mention for specific requests or urgent matters. DMs are for confidential conversations.

6. Set prefixes to indicate message purpose

BUG: someone needs to look into it
FYI: no one needs to reply
CUSTOMER ISSUE: a high priority issue

7. Disable Notifications

Disable all Slack group notifications sounds and alerts. Keep only personal DM or @mention notifications.

8. Praise publicly, criticize privately

9. Know when to Slack vs to meet

If you’re furiously Slacking in channel, consider having a meeting/call. Share discussion points & decisions for others.