Marketing and business tips from mentors in the U.S.

October 15, 2019
May 22, 2020
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Have a crystal ball and see what will happen in the market in a few years.

This is perhaps one of the greatest wishes of professionals not only from marketing, but also business or HR. Aside from the magic of fairy tales, the best indicator of the future of the world is the development in America, which is a few years ahead of the rest of the world.

It’s not only about technology, but also about trends in marketing, sales and recruitment. Therefore, it’s worth watching and listening to local mentors in these areas as well. What they say may not only apply when you enter a new market, as many ideas and tips may come in handy today, too.

Czech technology firm Enehano, which focuses on the implementation of Salesforce in companies and is expanding to the US, is closely following these trends. It’s Expansion and Business Development director, Zuzana Maderová, has accumulated exclusively for Marketing & Media the most important things she has heard in San Francisco and New York over the past four months from reputable pros and mentors such as Marvin Liao, Rowland Chen, Jay Onda and Joey Muller.

Marketing and Your Value.

Always ask yourself what added value you will bring to your customer. Be sure to do it with every business or marketing communication. For example, startups need to scale as quickly as possible after getting an investment. So, we mainly communicated the fact that we offer the fastest solution that can scale within 10 weeks, while competitors can do it usually within 5 to 6 months. Few startups can afford to lose 3 to 4 months, which we can save.

For a cheap lifetime? And will you survive it?

If you sign up as a cheap, offshore vendor without any other added value at the beginning, you will find it very difficult to get out of the box later, and in this category you will probably find it difficult to succeed because you will not be able to keep up with such competition anyway.

Prepare a service or product sample.

For services, this is more difficult to do, but it is possible. For example, we devised a two-hour free workshop for our stakeholders.

How do I attract the attention of a potential customer?

Think of a decoy that will attract the attention of a potential customer and make him read on? Keep in mind that writing email or text to the web is basically the same as writing a novel.

What is CTA?

Have a clear CTA (Call To Action) on every page, subpage, blog, or social media post. Before each publication, clarify what you want to say.

Don't worry about company logos.

If you're targeting the US market, don't be afraid to put big corporate logos on your site, even though they're more of an EU brand. There are plenty of expats in San Francisco, so it's likely that someone on the team you're contacting will know brands like KBC, ERSTE, etc.

Experiment with different channels.

Try more channels, in addition to addressing customers directly. We also tried to work with VCs, accelerators, etc.

The Sale.

Keep in mind that there are always 3 layers in sale:

Why has the company started to address the issue and be interested in this issue? Why has the company become interested in a solution similar to yours? And why should you choose your solution?

Each of these questions will be answered by your potential customer during the business cycle. Be prepared for it. Ask yourself before the meeting, what questions to whom do my stakeholders address? (Which are usually CEO, CSO, CMO, CFO). Also, try to end each appointment so that the customer tells you "yes". Psychologically, this creates the feeling that the negotiations ended positively.

A / B test everything - You never know what will work.

Determine who is the gate keeper and who decides to sign the contract. Prepare tailor-made answers as well as added value for your product or service. In any case, don't forget to get on board the CFO.

Use your 2nd network on Linkedin to make contacts and make appointments.

If your friend has any contact with someone you would like to meet, do not hesitate to ask him for a performance. Beyond the ocean, it is a common practice today and basically the easiest way to negotiate meetings.

Build relationships and trust.

When you go to a meeting with examples of real business problems, the CEO will know that you are on his side and you understand his situation.

If you are rejected by a prospective client, ask why this happened. or create a questionnaire where you can ask that person to fill in (with the fact that you are in a new market and that it would be very helpful to give you feedback).

Take advantage of case studies.

in our case in San Francisco, we benefited from the case study we have with Producboard. That's why we've also created a custom package for SaaS B2B Enterprise. Once you add references in other verticals, don't be afraid to expand the area.

If you want to do a broad market research, buy a booth at a conference that your target audience visits. This gives you feedback that won't cost you so much money. As the service segment is all about references, our mentor Marvin Liao has always urged us to "get 1 customer, add 0", and then it will go back left.

Finally, think about which other businesses are selling to the same customers as you and offer them collaboration.

Hiring employees

Before you recruit a person, close 2-3 deals yourself so you know how much energy and time it takes.

To find out the quality of sales people in another country, count on having at least 20 interviews with different sales people. If you want to have a U.S. merchant, consider the concept of having two part-time merchants. You can compare them better and both can be at different ends of the US. Push as much as possible on the lowest fixed salary component and higher performance.

When recruiting merchants, think in advance about the support you give them. For example, whether and how well you have set up a process to generate leads for the merchant, or if you have the appropriate technical support for phone calls and for making business offers.

In the end, never forget that the old known “Hire fast, fire even faster” always applies!

About Zuzana Maderová

Since last autumn, she works as Expansion and Business Development Director at Enehano Solutions, where she is currently in charge of the company’s entry into the US market. It is with the development and expansion of companies, especially in CEE markets, that she has several years of experience when she previously worked as a country manager at Staffino or a relationship manager in the finances of the Dateio startup. Zuzana studied translation and interpreting in English and Portuguese. During her studies she worked for three years in the student organization AIESEC, where she worked as a country manager for Slovakia last year and was responsible not only for the growth of seven local branches, but also for the personal and career development of 400 students. In her spare time, she helps with iKid educational projects, Google for Startups and building the startup community in Prague through Startup Weekend Prague.

Reach out to Zuzana for any questions about Enehano and scaling your business in just 10 weeks time!

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