Sales News, October 2020

Though we’ve retired the Weekly Buzz in favor of deeper investigations of startup sales strategy and sales psychology, Maestro hasn’t stopped talking about the latest sales news. Here’s the roundup of key sales news for October 2020.

CORONAVIRUS ECONOMIC IMPACT

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to upend sales and revenue predictions. While business plummets for retail, tourism, restaurants, and Hollywood, e-commerce has gotten a massive boost. Well placed to thrive in the near future are edtech startups and other businesses that deliver value remotely. TechCrunch interviewed two partners at Index Ventures who are enthusiastic about the funding opportunities right now. The Journal of Business Research reviewed 69 different studies on the performance of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in prior crises, and found that a chicken-and-egg problem of balancing strategy and funding is the main hurdle to the success of transformative new products and services.

Meanwhile, no matter what kind of product a company is selling, life has changed immensely for its workforce. McKinsey has a new report out on the post-pandemic workforce. It’s based on interviews with 800+ executives. (The good news? They’re more optimistic than they’ve been in six months.)

PITCH DECKS

One of the interesting points raised in the TechCrunch interview I mentioned above is how VCs experience Zoom as a platform for the pitch. (Not great – largely because of body language and eye contact issues.) The last month has seen vigorous debate on how to pitch investors. DocSend assembled some hard data on seed decks, how they are consumed by potential investors, and what types of slides and information show up in successful pitches (slides 8-24 have the most important info).

Meanwhile, Business Insider gathered some common pitch deck mistakes, like underestimating the competition or overestimating the importance of a founder’s prior successes and charisma. And EdWeek highlighted essential elements in a successful deck (go-to-market strategy is key!). Lastly, if you want to know that your ugly, 140-slide behemoth pitch deck is in good company, you can probably find something to compare it to in CB Insights’ crazy collection of unicorn pitch decks.

TIME MANAGEMENT

While you’re assembling that amazing pitch deck to secure funding for your pandemic-proof e-commerce or remote tech startup, you might need a break every now and then. Champion procrastinators will get a number of good laughs out of this classic TED talk from Tim Urban. But if you’re interested in breaking the cycle of procrastination and instead using your breaks to enhance your well-being and productivity, this guide to neuroscience-approved structured distraction is awesome.

Reach out to mastery@maestrogroup.co to put the latest sales tips and tricks to work for your team.