Australian Software Companies

"Our software is brilliant - it does this and this and this and… even this!"

Does what? Who cares?

I know you love your software and it almost certainly is highly innovative and potentially invaluable... but this is not enough to sell it. So why do Australian software companies go so wrong in this area?

I have sold software for 20 years, building up my own software company in a dozen countries. Here’s the trick: initially you don’t sell the software, you sell the services around it. Your software is a baby chicken. Nobody wants a baby chicken, they want an egg. You fry it, you boil it, you throw it at people you don’t like. So simple! So easy! You need to sell them the egg, then let the chicken (your software) break free when it’s ready.

I am now going to explain the key factors of selling software. Don’t get me wrong, like me you will end up with egg on your face as you find the right mix for your system. However, watch how our methodology sells the chicken and not the egg to such an extent that we now have a global software sales business as a result...

The Chicken and the Egg

The egg comes first. The chicken emerges from the egg. Shall I draw you a picture? Ok, when a mommy chicken (called a hen) and a daddy chicken (called a cockerel) love each other very much...

Your software is NOT the egg, it’s the chicken.

Like any good cock/hen you are very close to your baby chicken (your software). When you look at it, you get warm and fuzzy feelings. Who cannot love those ruffed up yellow feathers, that teeny little beak, those big eyes?

We have to keep in mind that our customers are not all a bunch of cocks and hens.

They may love the little bird, think it’s all cute and nice, but all that effort... so much responsibility. They don’t want another mouth to feed!

So... tell them that you will do it for them. That’s right YOU need to do it for them. Trust me, I’m a farmer (not a hunter) so there is method in my madness.

YOU are the REAL reason your client will buy

People don’t care about your software. They might need your software, but gosh, what a pain in the arse. All that effort. Why should they bother spending time learning it?

Actually, they are buying into you and your personal reputation.

Most software companies don’t have much of a reputation. They try to get their brand name out there and fail dismally. If you are trying to bash your company name into the market, then… how to put this nicely... this is an egghead approach. You need to stand proudly in front of it and PULL your brand into the market.

You need to build your personal credibility within a small, carefully chosen select group of people.

Here it is in black and white:

If 150 of the right people know you, trust you and believe in you then you will get 30 deals. Done and dusted. They will lead to referrals and you will blossom from there. Well then, focus your time and effort building trust and credibility with those 150 people! The rest do not matter. Ignore them. They are bad eggs.

I realise you might need 300 deals and not 30 and I’ll explain in my e-book.

Chicken get eaten

If you are scared of getting your own personal name out there, then you are going to have a tough time selling. The right people need to know who you are.

Most software companies are run by great tech people. Techies tend to be introverted. They prefer to sit, code, create. So they build a brand with a nice logo, then try to push the brand into the market. It fails, so they hire a sales person or two or three and if they are really really lucky one of them might just sell something.

In every great business, the owner started out as the best sales person.

By telling you all of this I want to sell you software. But you don’t want software, you want business introductions. You want a reputation as being credible in your industry and you want 150 great people (or companies) to sell to.

You want results, you want to look good, you want to be seen as trustworthy and known for delivering a great product!

Do you want to buy software that will do this for you? No! The same goes for your customers. They don’t want software either. So then, never be scared to offer to do it for them.

Stop doing demos!

If you are currently selling from demos, you are going to have a rough time of it. You will end up with three problems: 1) you’re not getting enough demos booked, 2) people act like they loved your demo and then disappear in the blue yonder, 3) you sell the software (yay!) but then they don’t bloody use it and therefore they don’t renew.

Well then… why are you doing demos? Go into the company and offer them the full service of doing it all for them. Don’t sell the software, sell the services around the software (the egg).

Interestingly, you won’t actually stop doing demos… they just won’t look like demos.

Software companies like you tend to hate this advice. You don’t want to be in the service game. And… you don’t have to be. You simply get a partner to run those services for you.

Already I have given away too much… if you like what you are hearing, you can read more in my e-book entitled "The Captivating One-Liner" which you can download here.

Hint: you are experiencing all of this as a result of my technique...