Nov
24
There are non-believers among you, and to them I say begone!
Filed Under production, sales | 1 Comment
Event Seek began as an idea around March of 2007. It started very simply as a dream - nothing more than a fleeting concept. Over the last 20 months or so, it has transformed from an idea to a belief, to a goal, to a series of to-dos, to a set of accomplishments, and to a thriving company.
We’ve talked to countless numbers of people about Event Seek: investors, advisors, potential customers, friends, family, and even strangers. To say that we’ve gotten a series of reactions is an understatement. I’ve heard everything from “brilliant” to “seriously? are you kidding?” And I’ve come to realize that in these conversations I’m not talking, not sharing, not storytelling, but evangelizing. Every business conversation is an opportunity to spread the gospel that is Event Seek.
Certainly I’m not trying to compare myself to any of the greats here - I don’t have that kind of hubris! But I do have a significant appreciation for what they experienced. The moment of epiphany you see in the faces of your listeners, the joy that comes from seeing someone convert, the excitement of seeing disciples preach the gospel for you, the disappointment you feel when someone just doesn’t get it, and the awkward feeling that comes after you’ve tried your best to tell this amazing story only to realize you’ve solidified another non-believer.
Ahh, the non-believers. Those all-to-intelligent individuals who understand what you’re preaching and just don’t believe you can do it. Conversations with non-believers is like banging your head against a brick wall. Once someone has made up their mind about you, there is often no changing it. You can huff and puff all you want, but often these are bricklayers and you aren’t about to blow that house down.
Non-believers are also wonderful people. They don’t believe in you and your idea - can you imagine that? Nothing riles up an entrepreneur like non-believers. We often will put in that extra hour, that extra call, that extra meeting simply because we know we can prove you wrong. Non-believers are simply believers who haven’t been convinced yet. You know how non-believers are often convinced? Miracles.
No, not walk on water or anything truly miraculous like that. Simpler miracles. Non-believers don’t think you can sell the product, raise investment, or get people to use it. So anytime someone does any of those things it is like a small miracle to a non-believer. So the best way to convert non-believers is execute on all the things you told them you would execute on. Do exactly what you set out to do!
Sure it’s exciting when all the people who beleived in you congratulate you for your accomplishments and achievements. It feels great, it makes your day, its a needed shot of confidence. But when a non-believer says: “Hell, maybe its not such a bad idea after all…”. Now that makes for a good day.
This weekend, Event Seek signed our first customer/distribution deal. Hometown Times, a provider of the technology supporting local news websites, has selected Event Seek to provide local events support for 250 of their corporate websites and all future franchise websites. This partnership allows us to support small local websites that we would not be able to sell to on our own. Through Hometown Times, we can expand our market coverage and serve customers both large and small. We’re absolutely thrilled about the Hometown Times partnership and the impact it can have for both companies. We believe this is the beginning of a long-lasting mutually beneficial relationship.
This is the first of many deals to come for Event Seek. I don’t believe we have a good product and interested buyers - I know it. Our development team is really excited about launching our first customer, but little do they know it’s not going to slow down anytime soon.
There are non-believers among you, and to them I say begone!
Nov
20
Yup, we’ve been pretty silent lately. Much like squirrels, we’ve spent this last bit of fall gathering nuts for the coming months of winter. In our case the nuts represent potential customers and we haven’t’ exactly been gathering them so much as meeting them, showing them Event Seek and getting them excited about the product.
I was so sure way back when that we would launch one customer, and then a month or so later another, and then another month another customer. Now as we prepare to bring on our first customers it looks like it won’t work that way at all. It turns out we may launch 2-3 (or 250) all at once. More on that random 250 comment later. For now, all you need to know is that the customers are coming and soon….
Keep your fingers crossed!
Jul
11
I don’t consider myself much of a salesman
Filed Under sales | Leave a Comment
But then again with only three other people in the company (who all have real actual roles and responsibilities), the job basically falls on my shoulders.
Hrmm…
- No sales experience (Unless you count that lemonade stand back in the day)
- Selling into large, slow moving, corporate organizations at a senior level (VP and above)
- I’m still only 26
- The hopes and dreams of a company and its investors placed squarely on my shoulders
Nothing like jumping into the deep end to find out if you can swim! We’ll probably paddle poorly for a while and stay afloat. Hopefully this will give us enough time to figure out some of the techniques that make good sales teams successful. Supplement that with a boatload of research and a “do it or drown” attitude and I think we might just be able to pull this off.
I’ve got two potential customers interested so far. They’re excited about the product and the opportunities we can provide them, and we’re excited about how they view their online real estate. We’ll be sure to keep everyone updated on our progress. Look for some exciting news in the next month or two…