Checklist for a Founder/ Sales VP pivoting their B2B startup to sell in the US market.

Checklist for a Founder/ Sales VP pivoting their B2B startup to sell in the US market:

Many B2B founders are thinking of avoiding the home market (India) – the size & efforts are not worth it – & directly going to the largest market (US).

Some of the bravest sales leaders jump up to this opportunity. The bravery soon turns into foolhardiness as they realize they are losing their sanity, their team is resigning/getting worn out & that they were terribly underprepared.

Some hard questions to ask the self to avoid this predicament:

1. Do we understand the lay of the land? Do we have primary research-based, written down Go To Market, Competitive Differentiation & Sales Playbooks that your board has seen & signed on?

2. Have we done solid on the ground activity – generated real leads, done local PR, AR – are on G2/Capterra – before we get our ISEs rolling in?

3. Do we have enough money in the bank to support these activities for a year or is the money coming ‘soon’?

4. Are our sales trained & equipped to optimize on remote selling for today?

In sales – the answer to all will never be a full ‘yes’ – but it’s important to be at least honest with oneself & make the best preparation – humanely & resource-wise possible!