One of the best and very sales-oriented CEOs in Germany is Josef Brunner.
First time founders, especially those in B2B businesses should listen to his interview here:
Three key takeaways:
- Contextualize discussion: what is of fundamental importance to a customer?
- Customer journey assessment: Where can an ecosystem add value? Complement that ecosystem
- Grow early partnerships yourself (as founder). Don’t hire biz dev / sales too early
There are many other smart advises in that interview: When to stop negotiating, how long should it take to close a deal, how to speed up getting to a deal, etc.
Brilliant guy and a natural talent!