How to boost sales as a tech company

1. Validate your product

You may think your product is impressive, but are customers prepared to buy it? Before worrying about sales, ensure you have a product that works, delivers value and is simple to implement.

"First, there’s the technology itself: Does it work?” Kasparian says. “Does the product solve a problem and does it function well?”

Many products fail because they’re complex to adopt. Customers usually want solutions that are straightforward, intuitive and easy to implement.

“People don’t want something complicated. They want it simple; they want it plug-in. Depending on what the tool does, it has to embed itself easily in their operation and their system.”

Create a minimum viable product

To validate demand, start with a minimum viable product (MVP); a basic version with enough core features to attract early adopters.

Testing it with a small group of customers can help you:

• gauge market demand
• gather feedback
• refine your product
• confirm people are willing to buy before you invest heavily

2. Build your sales capability

Technology founders shouldn’t assume they can master sales on their own. Bringing in experienced sales talent is important for building and implementing a marketing plan and growth strategy.

“Founders who are great with products aren’t necessarily great with sales,” Kasparian says.

If hiring a full-time sales leader is not yet realistic, consider working with an outside sales and marketing advisor to help shape your approach.

3. Identify your ideal customer profile

Finding your best customers is crucial. Businesses often waste resources trying to sell too broadly.

It’s important to test out your product on different types of customers to identify the markets with the strongest potential.

“You want to find the lowest-hanging fruit,” Kasparian says. “Growth is possible on a budget only when you know exactly who you’re selling to. You have to be able to say who your ideal clients are.”

Create an ideal customer profile (ICP)—or “persona”—to describe the characteristics of your market. This can include:

• industry
• company size or customer type
• needs and pain points
• budget

It’s possible to target two or three ICPs depending on your capacity and product. Kasparian gives the example of a cybersecurity software company offering different packages of features and price levels. “You guide your customer to the right package based on their persona,” she says. “You’re not going to sell your premium package to a start-up. They’ll want your base package just to keep things running.”

ICPs can include:

• free users who can be converted to paid plans
• core customers who generate the bulk of your sales
• higher-value niche customers willing to pay for premium features

4. Double down on your best market

Once you’ve identified your strongest market, focus your sales and marketing efforts there before expanding into other customer segments. “Go deep first before you go wide,” Kasparian says.

Many tech companies scale too quickly or chase too many opportunities at once. Even with a strong product and plenty of leads, they struggle to understand where potential sales are being lost.

“The reality is that most tech companies are very lean and mean,” Kasparian says. “If too many opportunities come in without clear prioritization, teams may struggle to follow up effectively, convert prospects and deliver a consistent customer experience.”

Win one segment at a time

Sales and marketing approaches should be adapted to each ICP. Messaging, channels and offers should reflect the specific needs, priorities and buying behaviour of each customer segment.

Start with small deals and expand from there. You can grow accounts by:

• increasing usage
• upselling existing customers
• finding new ways to solve client problems
• expanding into new teams or departments within the same account

“It’s about converting better and targeting smarter,” Kasparian says. “Once one customer segment is profitable, repeat the process in the next. Winning one customer segment is usually more effective than chasing several at once with limited resources.”

What sales and marketing techniques work best?

The right sales and marketing techniques depend on your product. The optimal approach is usually a combination of approaches.

• Outbound marketing
  Ads, sales calls and other outreach to customers can generate immediate revenue.

• Inbound marketing
  Search engine optimization, podcasts, white papers and other online content are important for sustaining longer-term growth. Be sure to optimize content for both traditional search engines and AI-powered searches.

• Product-led sales
  Customers discover your product, try it themselves and upgrade to a paid version if they see enough value. This approach is best for simple, low-cost products that clients can easily evaluate on their own.

• Sales-assisted sales
  Salespeople guide customers through the product, explain the value proposition and help determine whether the solution is a good fit. This works best for complex or expensive products that need more explanation before customers buy.

• Integrate AI
  Be sure to consider how you can use AI to increase efficiency of your marketing and sales efforts. This can include helping generate content, analyze data and optimize campaigns.

“Most tech companies today use a mix of approaches,” Kasparian says. “The greatest growth comes from combining a product customers want to use with customer data that helps you target the right buyers.”

Next step

Build a marketing strategy that helps you find and keep customers by downloading BDC’s free Marketing plan template.