As a startup or growing business, one of the most important things you can work on right from the beginning (and refine over time) is your sales messaging.

Time and again I’ve seen startups underestimate the importance of putting significant time and thought into their sales messaging. It’s important to remember that it’s often the first thing a prospective customer will see (or hear) of you, and this sales messaging is what will ultimately contribute to your initial revenue generation efforts.

Here are 7 things to keep in mind when creating your startup’s sales messaging strategy:

 1. Get Honest Feedback

Getting feedback is always a good place to start. Run your sales messaging ideas by any trusted contacts in your network, preferably those in your industry. If you’re able to, test your sales messaging on your actual prospects. No one will have more valuable feedback than the people you wish to sell to.

2. Who Are You? What Do You Do?

It’s important to concisely explain who you are, why you are contacting your prospect, and what it is you can do for them.

3. Answer the “So What?” Question

“So what” may be the most important question that salespeople and marketers need to answer. Be sure to address the business pain your product or service solves and provide justification for your prospect to want to engage with your further.

4. List the Benefits of Your Solution

Always try to quantify this if you can, but communicating benefits versus technical information with your sales messaging is absolutely vital, especially in the initial stages of lead development.

5. Reference Your Existing Customers 

If you can, use relevant references of your existing work (case studies) to help your prospect build confidence in your solution. Alternative, you could also provide your customers with ‘use cases’, which are slightly different from a case study but can provide the same degree of context to your solution.

6. Include a Call to Action (CTA)

Don’t forget to always incorporate a next step into your sales messaging, such as scheduling a conference call, send your prospect a brochure or case study to review, or a web demo. It’s a best practice to ensure you are providing yourself with an opportunity to follow-up.

7. Allow for Modifications

Remember, your sales messaging will evolve as you learn more about your client base and their needs, wants, and behaviours. Your messaging will be an integral part of how you present yourselves. It should be utilized for all your sales and marketing efforts.

I hope you find these few points helpful when you are developing your product’s or service’s sales messaging.  If you’re looking for more insight into sales strategy and sales tactics, sign up for our monthly newsletter or follow us on Twitter at @vapartners.