Startups Need to Focus on Sales, Not Marketing (2014)
blogs.wsj.com
blogs.wsj.com
Interestingly, when it all went bust, the company laid off all the developers and retained the "sales" people in the hope that they could somehow get some revenue flowing in. Not so funny at the time, but pretty hilarious to think back upon now. It has certainly shaped the kind of questions I ask when I interview for positions ;-).
Having a good salesperson is very important even if the product is not yet ready. A sales
Looks like your product (comment) was not yet ready. Where's your salesperson? :)
The best thing a sales team can do is ensure that a relevant description of their product is found when I search for something.
The basic problem is that very few customers that can really benefit from a product actually make the effort to find the product. I sell a product that is vastly superior to all other solutions, yet almost none of my customers come organically via a Google search despite being number 2 in the niche. Almost all our new customers come indirectly after losing a contract against a competitor using our product. I have to say that this is the best way to sell.
As a startup, before you start making money, your job is not to find a ton of people to close. Your job is to find out how to close people.
It's a machine, a process for growth:
1. Idea
2. Validation
3. MVP
4. Sell to eager buyers
5. Iterate
6. ???
This means that marketing is supposed to get a product on your radar, explain to you how it can help you, and then capture some vital information from you - say, an email address or a phone number.
THEN the sales team can swing in and push you the product.
I would argue focusing on sales puts you at risk of narrowing your scope and broader appeal.