In anticipation of the exciting new things Junari are currently working on, what better time is there to get to know the team? For the sixth in our series of monthly interviews, I spoke with Joshua Sleigh, who works on business development at Junari.
What makes a good salesperson?
In my opinion, the best salespeople don’t act like salespeople at all. You can spot a bad one a mile off. In the modern world, consumers borderline expect to be sold to – they’re wise to virtually every tactic. Selling really isn’t about how quickly or easily you can win a contract. Many will turn it into a numbers game, but I always find the best results come from building a natural connection with the person you’re talking to before you even think about introducing a sales offer. It sounds corny, but there isn’t really such a thing as business-to-business – there’s only human-to-human.
What are 3 of the most important things to consider before launching a product?
There’s no point launching anything if you don’t know who you’re launching it to. Defining your target market, to a granular level, is so often overlooked but critical to success. Product owners can sometimes be blinded by their own vision of success, while ignoring some really important questions. If you speak to everyone, you speak to no-one. Building a top-level Ideal Customer Profile is a great starting point.
Next, having a solid product-market fit is key. Sounds obvious, but if what you’re building doesn’t really solve any problems for your customer, why would they buy it? There are no easy routes here – it’s a case of engaging with your audience, having real conversations, and learning everything you can about them. This will ensure your value proposition strikes a chord with your prospects.
I also think a common mistake when launching something into a new market is to gloss over your approach sequence. Assuming that all the prospects in your funnel will respond to the same piece of content or messaging in the same way, at the same time, can only lead to failure. Think of it as top, middle and bottom. Then create different content that helps brand awareness, explains features and use cases, and finally “seals the deal” when prospects filter down. It’s a basic principle, but very often falls to the wayside.
What do you incorporate into your daily life that allows you to de-stress?
In my free time, you’ll usually find me out on the golf course. There’s something about being out in the open air, playing a sport with a bunch of friends that makes it the ultimate de-stressing tool. Golfers will tell you that it can sometimes be a frustrating game to play in itself, but even after a few bad holes, you never regret turning up. It’s one of those sports that really makes you concentrate, there are a lot of moving parts. The “me vs me” mindset in golf is great for self-improvement, too.
How does your current role at Junari differ from your previous role?
Before joining the team at Junari, I ran a marketing agency for ten years. It taught me so much about building business relationships and the psychology behind why people buy – and why they don’t. My role here is ultimately about helping to grow the business and take it to the next level, so there is a huge amount of overlap between the two. It’s really exciting to be able to take the skills and learnings from my agency days and plug them into a new company, then watch it flourish. The people at Junari are so genuine and welcoming too; it’s a superb team to work with.
In 2022, what marketing tactics do you believe tend to work best?
Linking back to the first question, some of the most successful campaigns I’ve seen don’t feel like campaigns at all. There has been a lot of success in recent years with cool Guerrilla marketing and experiential methods. Don’t get me wrong, they’re tough to pull off. There’s a fine line between roaring success and abject failure. But as modern customers become immune to the traditional marketing methods (ad fatigue is real!), I think we’re going to see an increasing number of companies explode in size thanks to some cleverly-thought-out tactics that you just wouldn’t see coming.
Thanks for chatting, Josh!
Interview by Alana Samuel, digital marketer at Junari