There are many reasons MarTech companies are cautious about entering a new region, whether it’s brand recognition, business culture, competition or price, there is only one reason they fail.  

I’ve worked for more than a dozen MarTech businesses in my 22 year career. As a sales rep for the first half and sales leader the second half, and the last 7 years I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about and executing on a sales strategy with scale in mind. 

Truth be told, I found learning how to sell marketing software successfully, one of the most difficult things ever. Knowledge alone is not enough. Relationships alone are not enough. Volume of activity is not enough. My own inflection point was when I focused more on the differentiating commercial value my customer would experience once using the application, combining my knowledge, ability to build rapport quickly, and do this at scale. LinkedIn was my best friend. In person events were exceptional if I planned who I wanted to meet and why - it was quite simple really, if I did a set of activities consistently enough and within a framework, I over achieved.

The foundation to building new relationships in regions you’ve never sold before is understanding the commercial value of the solution you are selling and an appreciation of how this value is realised within the organisations you are selling to. Only then can you take control of new conversations and guide those conversations towards a positive commercial outcome. 

Most companies don’t yet understand this differentiating commercial value of their own solution. Most companies don’t appreciate the difficulty organisations they are selling to, have when convincing other stakeholders how they will realise the value of the solution they are championing internally. So the deal is at risk of falling at any fence at any point in the race, and often does.  

Understanding this commercial value and mapping it to your operating model is key to understanding how to build a scalable revenue growth model that will succeed in new territories.  

If we assume this commercial value is understood by your sales team, in the market they are focused, then let the games commence. But commence, how?

Unless you have an unlimited budget and length of time, the stakes are high. You may not have people on the ground so you must do this remotely or perhaps use a hybrid model. Either way, your new strategy will not work unless ‘building new relationships’ is at the core, unless you have a plan to enable your people how to do this effectively (do not assume they know how).  

Social Selling. 

It’s not new. I’ve been using LinkedIn for 22 years. And using it well. However, it is like anything, you can always do a little better, like any athlete seeking out that extra 1%. But if you let someone else do it for you, it will not work. If you think you do it well today, you only know what you know and don’t know what you don’t know. The good news is, you can learn how to.  In the last month I created two posts, one about my eldest Sons making it on the housing ladder this year and one about ‘owning your own prospecting strategy’ and between them I received more than 200 pieces of engagement, 25+ meaningful engagements, 10 leads and 3 opportunities about Social Selling, in Finland, South America and Germany. And that’s what I know. The funny thing is with Social Selling is, it breathes a life of its own. When done consistently it’s the gift that keeps giving.  

Entering a new market is all about relationships. If you can do this well, and use social and digital to scale, in a humanised non-corporate way, then you will be amazed at the results.  This is how I closed three complex deals in 7 months in Australia, from a standing start and no existing network. This is how my team closed $2.2M in the first year in a new region. This approach was key to how my team collectively built a $22M business in a new region (spanning multiple countries) within 4 years. 

I’d welcome sharing my story. Please DM me on LinkedIn or Twitter.  

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