Notes on Selling Software by Not Selling Software

Some things take a long time to learn and some things take a long time to forget.


Based on my experience in roles from Communications Analyst to Software Developer to CTO to Solutions Architect, some concise steps to actually sell software and mitigate churn on renewals for B2B and B2G customer success.

1. Awareness: It's crucial to build awareness for your software. Even if you have a superior and more affordable alternative to AirTable, Slack, or Trello, it won't attract any customers if no one knows about it.

2. Engage: Once potential customers show interest, shift into solutions mode and become their go-to problem solver. Listen to their concerns to understand how best to help. If your software isn't the right fit, guide them to the solution they need. This approach will earn you a trusted champion who will refer you to others for life.

3. Exploration: The exploration stage is vital for converting leads. Provide free trials, demos, or personalized consultations to showcase the value of your software firsthand.

4. Retention: After acquiring customers, offer exceptional customer support and establish a system for regular feedback and check-ins, particularly with your top-tier clients.

5. Sustainable Growth: Re-invest revenue into marketing campaigns to attract new leads. Automate parts of engagement, exploration, and retention by hiring support staff, developing custom tools, and implementing automated workflows.

Final thoughts:

All of this assumes you first have a product that customers are willing to pay for. Before building your MVP, conduct customer discovery to validate your product hypotheses. If your hypotheses are invalidated, pivot and build something else.

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