No calls

When I first started Keygen, I had this idea in my head that I could create a company where I never had to get on a sales call — or any call. Being an introvert, I absolutely hated calls. They're not only awkward, but a 30 minute call takes up hours of my headspace. I quickly learned that I didn't want to do them, and so I decided that I wouldn't.

I instituted a bonkers 'no calls' policy at work.

(Even I thought I was being crazy.)

However, as Keygen grew, I wanted to start to move more up-market. I wanted larger customers, because the bigger a customer got, the less support they typically needed, and of course, the more they paid me. And the bigger logos help gain trust in a market.

The first thing I tried was taking sales calls. I threw up a big 'book a call' button on my enterprise pricing page — but I obviously hated it.

(What about for non-enterprise leads? Well, I can't justify a call for $49/mo, I'll tell you that much, especially when they may not buy.)

I felt like I was wasting my time, the lead's time, and I could never close a sale. It felt awkward. I tried for months. I never felt prepared. I felt like I was constantly talking to the wrong people, slowly climbing the ladder to an actual stakeholder, repeating myself over and over every call — and then repeating myself again in a summary email.

"Couldn't this have all been an email?"

(Yes, it could — and should — have been.)

"This would be easier if it was async so I could think about my answer."

"This person isn't somebody that has the authority to even close."

"Is this person even involved in the project?"

"How do I talk to engineering?"

"Why am I talking to this person again?"

One day, I woke up and out of frustration, I nuked the 'book a call' button from my pricing page.

When the next person asked for a call, I responded with a simple "No, we don't do calls, but happy to help via email. Feel free to CC any relevant team members onto this thread."

Their response was surprising. They actually did what I suggested — they CC'd the engineering department onto the email, they asked their questions, and we started chatting integration strategies.

Instead of speaking with somebody who was multiple positions removed from the project, I was speaking with the actual people who could champion Keygen within the organization — the people who're directly involved — the right people.

I thought to myself, "did I just bypass all of the red tape?"

That month, I closed my first enterprise sale.

It was an F1000 company.

"Maybe it was a fluke?"

But it wasn't.

Nearly everybody I sent that to wanted to skip the calls too. (I've even had people literally say that to me in their response!)

Sometimes, it didn't work out, and that's okay. I don't expect Keygen to be a fit for everybody; and not everybody is a fit for Keygen.

Am I leaving money on the table?

Maybe?

But I personally don't feel like I am. I feel like I get to wake up every morning and do the kind of work that I love to do. And I feel like I have the freedom to avoid the type of work that I hate to do.

I think about it like this: I don't provide white-glove integration or consulting services, even though I might be able to earn more money if I did. (And lots of people ask for it!)

But that's not what I want to do. That's not why I built Keygen.

In the same way, I don't want to do calls.

So, in enterprise sales, why do calls happen? Enterprises often default to calls for these 4 totally-solvable reasons:

1. They don't understand what you offer.
2. They don't know how to use it.
3. They don't know your price.
4. They don't trust you.

If you want to try #nocalls, you need to solve these problems.

1. They don't understand what you offer

This comes down to messaging. If your messaging is vague, people will need to get on a call to understand what you actually offer. If your product offering is too wide (i.e. you do too much), people will feel like they need to get on a call just to understand if your product is a good fit for their much more narrow use-case.

But if you narrow down your focus, and really nail your messaging — make it clear what you actually do — you can eliminate the question entirely. Drop the "We Make Work Happen" taglines and actually sell the product. (And now, it might be easier to see why some companies use these taglines — it's like a sales call siren song!)

2. They don't know how to use it

If your product isn't self-serve, and if your onboarding sucks, people will feel like have they to book a call in order to get started.

If you don't provide enough information on your website to scope a POC or an integration, they're going to need to somehow obtain that information. And that typically requires a call.

e.g. if you don't have public documentation, you guessed it — call.

(And why would you not have public documentation?)

3. They don't know your price

Price is the big one. Enterprises are used to the dance. You book a call, size each other up, and then come up with a b.s. price. It's all so tiring. And if you want to skip calls, you have to dip out of the dance.

You can do this by putting enterprise pricing up front and center. I don't care how large the number is — put it on your pricing page. If you feel like you're giving up too much money, maybe #nocalls isn't for you.

When somebody asks for a call to discuss pricing, all you have to do is say something simple like, "Our enterprise pricing is available here. Let me know if you have any questions."

4. They don't trust you

Last, but most certainly not least, is trust. If an enterprise doesn't trust you, they will not buy from you — period. How do you gain trust? Well, first off, don't die. Trust is a function of time — i.e. the longer you exist, the more people will trust that you'll continue to exist.

But there are other facets of trust as well, and enterprises will send you huge time-consuming questionnaires to alleviate all of their concerns. They might even want to jump on a call. All they're trying to do is be compliant, and you can help them be compliant without calls.

You can do that by clearly articulating how your company handles data, how you handle security, and how you handle incidents. I'm sure SOC2, HIPAA, and PCI certifications would help, too, but we don't hold those yet (but our infrastructure providers do).

(At Keygen, we have a security page that outlines all of this, and essentially answers the questions that are in most security questionnaires we've seen.)

Conclusion

It may be controversial (I'm almost sure of it), but here's my philosophy on enterprise sales while avoiding sales calls entirely:

• No sales calls, except for a short 'discovery call' if absolutely needed. Discovery calls are just a formality.
• Use email. Ask leads to CC relevant teammates (e.g. engineering).
• Explain your value clearly. Don't muddy the waters by doing too much. Avoid vague messaging that prompts more questions.
• Build trust. (Step one: don't die.)
• Focus on security, and spell it out in public docs.
• Document every problem to avoid repeating answers (i.e. allow them to easily find the answers themselves).
• Use fixed- or transparent-pricing. (If you like calls, ignore this.)
• Make onboarding self-serve.

I'm sure some people will scoff at some or all of this, but maybe others who are like myself will read this and realize they don't have to do sales like everybody else. Enterprise sales don't have to be crazy.

If you want to go #nocalls, maybe try out some of the things above.

If you want to do calls, do the opposite of all of these things.

Until next time.

---

Edit: some readers have (rightfully) pointed out that we do indeed have a 'book a call' button on our enterprise pricing page, and so there seems to be a disconnect. I've been practicing a strict #nocalls philosophy for years and years and years, and the 'book a call' button being back is relatively new.

I briefly touched on this in the conclusion, but this call is a short 15 min 'discovery call', not a sales call. It's essentially a formality to intro each other, make sure we're human, and move onto email for any further discussion. There is no further call.

Essentially, over the years of strictly #nocalls, I discovered that not all enterprises will shoot you a cold email to start the conversation, so this call is to capture those leads, with the end-goal of having all real discussion in email.

The point of #nocalls is to dip out of the dance, not of all communication.

tl;dr: some enterprises will bounce if they don't see a 'book a call' button.