How we sell to enterprise

Hi hi, how are you again? It feels like we just ran into each other, but this time we got it right, the alignments and everything are fine now, I washed it off the shoulder, changed it, it's great. So, what was our topic today? Let me try to briefly summarize, you can fill in the rest if you want. How are the tools produced by startups sold in corporate companies, or how do corporate companies approach these tools?

What kind of action are we taking here as Ardal, what advice can we give to young entrepreneurs? In short, we'll underline how much the problems of people in corporate companies and our plans align and how much they don't. Actually, we could say it's a little summary of what we've experienced in the last year or two, like an evaluation. I think it's a very complex topic. We're both not really from a sales background.

At one point, in my old job, a few years ago, I was a growth manager, and I thought I was doing sales, but managing incoming demand isn't sales, we understood that a bit better when we got into the Hardal business. Actually, it was our first time doing hardcore sales work. We've had experience with this, most of the time, especially with the co-founder. I think, especially since they haven't been trying to sell their product like crazy until that point, so it's an experience where everyone suddenly finds themselves in the middle of the ocean.

Let's see, maybe we can give some good insights. It's enjoyable. By the way, selling, and selling a product you've produced yourself, gives a different kind of pleasure, a nice pleasure. But... there are also scenarios where things don't go as planned. We plan what we produce and what we intend to sell, but it turns out the other side's problems can be very different. Legal obstacles, regulatory obstacles, the slowness of processes due to corporate companies, and so on.

These are problems that seem simple but affect the whole process. So, what kind of action do we take here? What do we do? What are we aiming for? I think it's very interesting that you inevitably meet with many parties, both the customer side and accelerator programs, etc. And there's always this basic thing, this buzzword we can call it: Product Market Fit, who is your product market fit?

Who is your customer? And you... You're constantly working on it, saying things like, "Hey, my problem is, for example, Hardal's problem is overcoming the data-related problems that marketing directors experience, making data management easier, and improving marketing performance," and you're trying to establish something with keywords like that. But in the end, you realize, "Hey, that's never his problem, or even if it were, it wouldn't be." Then, salespeople, really salespeople, started spending time together, and the topic went in a slightly different direction.

I think it'll sound like a shoutout, but Fırat Berber, our Fırat, really opened our minds. What kind of example? In the beginning, if you remember, we'd go in and say, "Hey, you have this problem, let me explain how Hardal solves it," and we'd go on and on, "Really? Really?" and then bam, bam, we'd show them their mistakes. Yes, I think our number one mistake was this: since we both have a lot of engineering plus digital marketing plus analytics mindsets, we think, "If someone tells us our mistakes, we'll look at them and say, 'Ah, what are these mistakes?'

And we'll want to solve them," it's like an optimization-based approach. It was approaching, but we never thought about it. We didn't actually think about creating a defense at first. It started with a sales method like, "We have a battering ram, we're trying to break down that wall." Of course, sometimes some people on the other side inevitably develop a defensive psychology because we're going with shortcomings. They say, "You 're doing it wrong, you can't do it," and the other side says, "Look, I've been in this business for 15 years.

You, a two-year, one- year startup, are going to tell me what to do and what not to do?" So it backfires. Yes, there were even times when, for example, the manager was there, and we were criticizing his work. So the guy would go on the defensive. Of course, he's kind of trying to save his ass, let's say. So, when Fırat came and said, "Wait a minute, let's listen to people, let's listen to their problems," I think that was one of our first points of enlightenment.

Yes, there's a concept called Discovery; first, discover people's problems. For me, that was one of the key milestones. So, what are we doing right now, especially with our current sales method? Well, after the Discovery process, we realized we could create a template. We realized we could determine if the other party is corporate, B2B, or how well they understand their problems. We actually planned a scoring system. So, how's that going?

How can we adapt it? Because we create a Discovery Score infrastructure before the meeting. During the meeting, we also pay attention to the length. For example, a half-hour meeting, a sales meeting, the first 10 minutes shouldn't be a monologue; it should be about listening to the other party's problems and taking notes. We're at a point where we adapt those problems into a scoring system after the meeting.

What do you think? Are we able to do it? Are we able to implement something like this? I think that scoring system is very good. If we go into detail, we actually have a score card. On the score card, we have a scoring system that shows how technically proficient this person is, how well this team understands the main problems, the pain points, and how well they understand what the Hardal is doing.

We have about 10-12 questions and areas of study. Let me put it this way, not even a question, but we make sure we touch on every topic in the first meeting. We learn what tools they use, where they get stuck, what kind of marketing structure they have, who their agencies are – everything. We have a diagram, and with this diagram, we try to understand if a company like Hardal is actually solving a problem.

Because our goal is n't to push them where they haven't solved it, but to understand which problems Hardal has solved that are most critical for them. When we understand this and proceed with it, it becomes much more efficient. Now, regarding the monologue issue you mentioned earlier, we're also taking advantage of the blessings of technology. We have a note-taking team, Notaker. After each meeting, it gives us a percentage of who spoke and how much.

Our goal is to constantly reduce the percentage of time Hardal speaks. Why? Because the less we talk, the more we listen to the other side. This way, we understand their needs more clearly and can make a more accurate match. I think it's going quite well. By the way, I leave the meetings satisfied because sometimes they tell me a problem that even excites me, making me want to solve it.

I think, "Ah, this is something that has never been mentioned to us before." Sometimes, solutions emerge where we say, "There's a problem, and actually, we can solve it. We've created this solution for ourselves, but we didn't think anyone else would use it." That's when I get really excited, and those are the riskiest parts. They tell me a problem, and maybe it's not something we can solve, or maybe we can solve it, but we've never solved it before.

When people come to us like that, the reason our level of expertise increases is because we say, "Okay, let's do this right away," and then we're actually planning to make a completely different product, or the conversation goes in that direction, and that's a bit risky. I think that when creating a scorecard, or during the discovery phase where we listen to problems, focusing on corporate clients and the problems they're currently facing in their jobs, we get more beneficial results.

For example, a brand says, "Do you solve problem X?" We haven't solved it yet, but it's solvable, it's possible. But if we do, it's a yes or no conversation. Should we say yes or no? Saying no and moving on to other things... We need to go, but when we look at the dynamics of corporate life, it's not so much about whether you're solving this problem or not, but what you're going to give me.

It's about how well I can showcase myself within the corporate structure thanks to you. Because there are 5,000 employees, 10,000 employees; after working with you, you can shine. But closing that purchasing process in a corporate company doesn't mean much because purchasing processes take a long time. They get offers, they do this and that, so it's more important to me how much you'll enhance the other side than what you've solved.

I think the fundamental thing there is that, as in our scorecard structure, the point that works is: how corporate the company is. Actually, we duplicate the scorecard because with each new addition, new things are added. Now you go into a meeting, you first talk to the digital marketing manager, you get information from him, and he says, for example, "My biggest problem right now is that every morning I spend 3 hours on a report, and the reason I spend that time on the report is because the data is so scattered, I don't know how to organize it."

At 88 in the morning, the Holding chairman is trying to give a report, but why ca n't he? There's the time difference, this and that, but his only concern is... Maybe this... Exactly, exactly. Then you go up to the next level, and the marketing director says, "Our profitability rates in advertising are very low right now because they used to be much better, now they're very low." A guy at that level doesn't know...

Actually, maybe it's not that low. Maybe he just can't measure it correctly. He doesn't know this, but when you get this, you go to that guy with a different pain point solving. Then, while those two are standing aside, suddenly, for example, the cybersecurity team comes in. That guy has a completely different problem. That guy says, "Don't cause me any trouble right now, the place is already a firestorm."

You understand his problem, and a third heading is added, and it's like this... Actually, they're very disconnected. How do I make my report accurate? I need to increase my determination so that my success is demonstrated. And in the background, there's a veteran developer who doesn't have to prove anything. He says, "Don't cause me any trouble," and he says, "I wish it was 5 in the evening so I could go to my service."

So, it's like they're saying, " I'm going to see my girlfriend," or "What am I going to cook for dinner?" or "Did my mother-in-law come and check on my child?" It's that kind of human psychology and structure at that moment. Their personal problems become bigger than their corporate problems, and therefore, the problems you solve need to focus on their immediate concerns. If you 're working in a corporate company, focused on getting a promotion, then yes, Hardal or someone else needs to create that opportunity for me, otherwise, I won't sit and listen.

Yes, you can solve space problems, quantum physics, whatever, but the problem at that moment needs to be related to K. Yes, sometimes, as I said, we always talk about things like " Feeling of fear of missing out," "Fear of missing out," etc. The person is looking at this: Yes, for example, what you suggest might increase the company's turnover, but it's not my first priority. Yes, exactly, it's not going to go into my pocket.

I have other problems. If you do n't solve this, you'll just mess things up completely. In that scenario, there's no problem because that's the point where we say, "What's this guy's problem?" How is that person rewarded? Whatever that person does, they are rewarded. Rewarding whatever they do is the key, that's why. For example, as profitability, turnover, etc., increase, we focus on terms like accurate measurement, reduced workload, accurate reporting, and proper linking.

And by the way, we haven't mentioned this at all, but agencies are usually added to these metrics. Because these corporate structures generally have very well-established agencies and third parties, and they come with very different problems. One of the reasons we focus so much on partners is that they are factors that can speed up or slow down that long process. This third party knows very well what those people are dealing with, and it's important to gather that pool of information well.

By the way, for example, the next topic could definitely be something like this, related to the partner part. I think something can be done. That's a completely separate topic, but I definitely agree. People's problems really become much more common as the level increases. The higher the level, the more they say, "Don't cause me any trouble, don't mess up my existing reports, don't touch this or that," and so on.

When it gets higher, it's like, " Look, you're going to earn this much money," and that's it, one sentence, one promise. You need to give Jon a certain percentage increase because, given your position there, your only goal is to increase profit, or whatever they're using. You're going to go to someone who's focused on increasing profit, showing them a fancy dashboard and saying, " Look, you're doing this, you're connecting to Big QE, etc." It's a bit absurd, the guy looks at the screen, but he's thinking, "What are they talking about?"

Yes, the guy is calculating, "I'm going to give $500 a month. This product should earn me a minimum of $2000 a month so that this investment makes sense for me." He's putting the math in his head, and nothing else matters. That's why we were even trying to create a calculator, like, how much is he spending? Yes, yes, profit is a great thing. We're directly building it up.

Yes, that's our thing, it's ready. We tell them about it, we show them the sales processes. I think it's not the best thing in the world, but really, because, look, years ago, when it first came out, people were saying "Serv," they were looking at it. And by the way, now these guys... We were saying, "K, let's not have that kind of thing," I turned people around, you know, like, "we need to be careful so there aren't any triggers or anything like that."

I think that word needs to be comprehensive, inclusive, man. By the way, the reason we're using a calculator is this: finally, it's our over-engineering, we 're doing it, a logical range comes out, but we messed up the calculator by making it even more complex. In the end, a product could be a product in itself, something I could really sell as a paid product, etc. But our starting point was really to create a calculator according to the needs of the other party we're selling to.

For example, increasing the ROI, how much benefit does it provide there? For example, increasing website speed, how much benefit does it provide there? Or if it's data security, how much benefit does it provide? So, we're planning something where we can automate the audit process that we do manually for the other party. We want to add something new there. This, for example, prevents the publication of something, I think it prevents the project from being finished, but we're learning slowly.

Exactly, that's what I mean by over-engineering, because there are so many things to add. You're creating a journey from data to ROI, and it's not a linear line, but I think it will be good. Free tools are fun and enjoyable for us too, definitely. I hope we've opened a little window for everyone, showing how Hardal is sold in the corporate world, and maybe given a couple of ideas.

But if anyone has any other suggestions or anything, please write them in the comments. We don't do that at all. By the way, if there are any viewers, let's call out to them from here, you don't need to subscribe to us. Just write us a comment. We don't do that at all. For example, someone came up with an idea, they listened to us and said, "I also think that something like this works really well, we can do something like Centrix, you know, we have some emails, like the ' trip email' that I really like.

Maybe we can do something with those." Sharing insights is good because at the end of the day, we are just a handful of people doing the same job. There are many people who have gone through, are going through, and will go through the same path as us. Sharing is good. I'm saying this, of course, we don't expect that from anyone at all. Thank you for your time.

We'll be going to a meeting soon. Thank you. Unfortunately, podcasts and recordings are like this due to time constraints. Well, see you next week with another topic. Bye bye.