Thread
I sold $7m in new business last year

I used a repeatable process - you can use it too

7 tactics for getting your first customers👇
One quick thing...

Before you start selling, I want you to do an exercise

Imagine you are your own first customer

What would make the sales process, onboarding, and actual engagement perfect?

These are your first tasks
I always start by building the best customer experience

I anticipate their questions or concerns

I create sales materials that address them

Thoughtfully prepare so you can make their experience seamless
1) Know Your Customer

Understanding your market segment is crucial

Who is the buyer? What's their biggest problem?

What would convince them to work with you?
Do extensive customer research

Be a sponge

Learn everything you can about your target customer

This will help you craft a winning sales strategy
2) Start With Your Network

This is this easiest way to find your first customer

Start by selling to 1st or 2nd degree connections

Put yourself out there - talk to everyone you know
Collect feedback from your network to perfect your pitch

You won't get it right first try - it will take iteration

Pay attention to points of friction

Improve these areas
3) Cold Email is a Super Power

Use tools like Apollo or SeamlessAI to find prospects

Craft personalized emails that clearly explain your offering

I like to test campaigns in batches of 500
After 500 emails, you should know what's working and what's not

Iterate and improve your approach

Send another 500 emails

Repeat
4) Offer Referrals

This is an easy hack to building a bigger sales team

Ask your friends and colleagues to keep their ears open

Offer them a % or flat-rate for opportunities they bring in
True story: I offered a friend 3% of any deals he brought me

Then he helped me land a $5m contract

I wrote him a check for $150k

Talk about a rewarding friendship!
5) Sell to Those That Are Already Buying

Let's say you write ad copy for fitness brands

Target brands that have job listings for copywriters or similar roles

Use a tool like @meetapollo to find them
Pro-tip: Usually companies with multiple open roles in one function are desperate to make progress

Tailor your offering to clearly explain how you'll help them make progress faster and cheaper
6) Say Yes To Everything At First

When you're getting started say "Yes" to every opportunity

It's low-risk at the beginning to take on smaller deals

It helps you build a portfolio and gather testimonials
Don't be too proud to take a project because they're small or their budget is tight

If you can make the deal work for you, then do it

No one lands Nike for their first sale

You have to work your way up
7) Constantly Focus on ROI

Customers only care about what the value they're getting

Make your value 10x greater than your price

This makes you impossible to ignore
It'll be hard at first

As your customer base grows, you'll collect more and more proof on the value of your work

Collect this data from customers

Use it in your testimonials

Make your value clear
Want to learn more about getting your side hustle started?

Read this next

I hope this is helpful - let me know how it goes

Follow me @_hunterhammonds for more tactics

Like/Retweet the first tweet below if you can:

Mentions
See All