Sales has always been tough.

Wildly important, critical to the success of every startup, and very very hard.

Especially when you are selling ice, I mean, an early stage product.

And — unfortunately — with high growth tech companies tightening their budgets, the Great Exuberance painfully unwinding, and tech buyers more likely than ever to hit “Mark as Spam”, it’s not getting any easier.

NEVERTHELESS, SHE PERSISTS.

And while I don’t see the tried-and-true B2B Saas playbook of cold call, automated cadence, demo flip to AE working nearly as well as it used to (#buyer-fatigue), I do see creative startups still crushing it on the sales front.

Here’s what I’ve seen — based on startup results and reports from the front lines— working really well in 2024.

1. Social Media

Posting good content regularly on LinkedIn (or wherever your customers are) works. I know multiple founders with large followings who get inbound demo requests every day.

This is exactly why you should build your personal brand and a few ideas on how to start.

Want inspiration?

• Lauren Goodell (LinkedIn, sales)

• Troy Munson (LinkedIn, sales/marketing)

• Loren Mount-O’Brien (TikTok, consumers)

2. Personalized, Human Outreach

I delete 50 emails per day without reading them because I can tell they are automated sales messages.

But I regularly respond to cold outreach.

How to stand out in a world of automation?

Be unequivocally human.

Just ask Paddy McNamara or Ellen Twomey, two of my favorite founders, who sent an obviously personalized and researched message when they reached out (via our Contact Form and LinkedIn, respectively).

This is why Zinnia (we’re an investor) is resonating so powerfully in the sales world.

Cookie cutter automation isn’t working nearly as well.

Showing a little bit of effort and creativity (even if AI does the research 😉) does.

3. Niche Thought Leadership

You’re probably not going to usurp Gary Vee or Mel Robbins. But you could be a thought leader in your corner of the tech world.

Fynn Glover, founder and CEO of Schematic (we’re an investor), has a fantastic, very specific podcast on SaaS pricing and packaging (using AI to help with the publication process, of course). It’s a great reason to connect with industry leaders, and he’s quickly become a go-to resource with 50+ episodes recorded in a few months.

I took a page out of Fynn’s book, and am doubling down on the B2B-SaaS-investor-in-the-Southeast-who-is-a-working-mom-and-loves-running-and-cheesy-jokes niche of the internet. How am I doing? 😂

4. SEO

Be the trusted expert in your market. SEO is a slow burn, but when you do it right, it works. Especially in markets where you can win your niche or traditional outbound cold-calling doesn’t work.

Traditional SEO — do Google search, find company — is changing with AI search, but the core concept — you provide helpful expertise, customers find you — is still holding strong (see Social Media & Niche Though Leadership above 😉).

5. Get On A Plane. Bring Donuts.

These are actually two different strategies for two different markets with one important thing in common:

Be in the physical world.

When everyone is using Zoom, social, email, and AI, you stand out by showing up.

Do the old-fashioned, analog, pure hustle thing.

Show up on their doorstep — whether they are a F500 or a daycare center — a face-to-face connection (and sweet treat!) will make a difference.

6. Warm Intros

No surprise here but a personal connection — especially a recommendation from a current customer — is still one of the top ways to get a foot in the door.

Warm intros can take a variety of forms:

• a sales rep who has pre-existing industry relationships

• a strong channel partner

• working the LinkedIn connections and networking events (even if you don’t like networking 😉)

Automation is helpful here, though best kept behind-the-scenes!

Laudable (we’re an investor) helps you find the customers who love you (and turn it into compelling sales and marketing content — the mid-funnel equivalent of a warm intro) and we’ve had several iterations in our Venture Studio for “Introer” to help you find and make more helpful connections.

Are these strategies fail-proof silver bullets?

Nope.

It will always be hard to break through the noise.

Plus, product, pricing, messaging, and solving a hair-on-fire problem also impact sales results.

But real startups are closing real deals TODAY doing this stuff.

And you can too!

What has been working for you? What doesn’t work anymore? What AI tools are you loving for sales?