Veeraj Mehta

Founder at Puzzl

Where do I start? What the heck is going wrong?

Hi! I'm the co-founder of Puzzl. We're a payments/payroll software for companies that hire (mostly rely) on independent contractors.

We're at the pre-seed stage and trying to sell. Our target industries are trucking, manufacturing, and healthcare. Prospecting hasn't been too hard. But no one responds. Email are pretty good according to most sales folks.

Are these industries just not interested in email sales? Should we send something? Have you sold to any of these industries before?

https://www.puzzl.app/ Puzzl We make payments as easy as Venmo. No more worrying about all the invoices your freelancers are sending you. No more struggling with scattered payment platforms. Most importantly, no more fees.We allow you to not only pay your workforce instantly but also allow you to aggregate invoices for better accounting.

💵 Finance

26 comments

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Pachacuti

Politicker

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

Even as a Sales professional, I get 10-20 random emails from people trying to sell me something daily - and I don't make decisions. Imagine if you're an actual decision maker! So you need to put yourself in their shoes.

Sending emails doesn't really work anymore. Sure you're going to get the occasional random win if you send out enough emails (cause even a broken clock is right twice a day).

The payments space is CROWDED. You compare yourself to Venmo right out the gate. Venmo is owned by Paypal which is recognized globally as a payments gateway when it acquired Braintree. So why wouldn't I just accept Venmo (which opens the door to Paypal and many other forms of payment). Why should I take a risk on YOU?! What niche do you fill or need you fulfill? (BTW - don't tell me here - I don't care) You need to figure out how to communicate that to your prospects.

Not to scare you or dissuade you, but you need a very compelling hook to even get someone's interest, and no one is gonna read that email.

HVACexpert

Politicker

sales engineer

Especially from a pre - seed stage start up, how do know you’ll be around long enough to support the product I just bought??

GDO

Politicker

BDM

yeah they'll get that continuity question everytime they have a call with a prospect.

Gasty

Notable Contributor

War Room Community Manager

Sales Daddy asking all the tough, yet right, questions here

GDO

Politicker

BDM

I love the WHWHN method in combination with something that makes you jump out compared to the rest

TheQueenofDiamonds

Politicker

Account Executive

I am in interchange sales and I agree 100% with every word!

braintank

Politicker

Enterprise Account Executive

1) your emails probably aren't that good
2) why are you better than whatever else is out there?

Founder

1. I'll share a few here!
2. We're directly cheaper, faster, and easier to use. Specifically, we have transparent pricing, instant payments, and an automated platform that takes out 80% of the admin work.

TheQueenofDiamonds

Politicker

Account Executive

Same as the other 150 vendors

Filth

Politicker

Live Filthy or Die Clean

ok - trucking I can speak to. You can send emails but you better be following up via phone or you'll never get anywhere. Logistics industry only uses tech on their terms and you'll have to come to them. If the prospect is big enough, you need to go in person, its a relationship based business disguised as a commodity.
Best of luck. Happy to share more advice logistics as needed.

Founder

Appreciate this a ton! How'd you go about cold emails? Also, for phone calls, what's the usual flow?
Thanks for the help!!

Filth

Politicker

Live Filthy or Die Clean

Make sure the email is really straight forward - Hey we made an easy payroll solution for your independent contractors , blah blah value add, quick call soon?
Then about 1m later call and refer to the email - leave a message if they don't pick up and then call back later in the day (no need for second message) then wait a day, then hit with another email saying you missed them on the phone and would give them a call in an hour - call in an hour and just sell the time of the meeting, not the product.
It's persistence and doing what you tell them you're going to do with follow up unless they give you the time of day. It's your job to set a meeting, not sell something is the right outlook.

Founder

love this, thanks!

HVACexpert

Politicker

sales engineer

It would be similar for HVAC companies, don’t waste their time and get in front of them

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

@InQ5WeTrust weren't you in logistics at one point?

InQ5WeTrust

Arsonist

No marketing, mayo isn't an MQL

I was indeed, it was a dark time. I was focused on sea and freight though, so a little different to what they are focusing on

HVACexpert

Politicker

sales engineer

Who are you reaching out to eat these companies? Is it the right person? How many are you reaching out to everyday? Are you trying LinkedIn too? Have you tried phone calls? How many SDRs do you have? Is your product full functional ? Lot of questions to be answered before anyone can help

Founder

Thanks, still learning.
We're reaching out to operations, finance, and HR leaders. We're usually confident on the person we're reaching out too. (could be wrong). 50% LinkedIn 50% Email. Phone Calls get pick-ups but they end them because they're almost always used for their business. 2 SDRs (my co-founder and I). Product if ready!

Also, we're looking to talk to a few HVAC companies. They tend to hire a ton of 1099s!

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

I applaud you for being willing to ask and actually receive advice without ego friend. I wish you the very best of vibes and fortune 🦊

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Very refreshing, and I agree!

Diablo

Politicker

Sr. AE

It comes down to a lot of things, just an email might never work. First thing first - are you getting at least a few responses or not at all? Off these 3, where are you getting from. What are your communicating during your initial reach out? Do you think your usps are unique that no one has atm?

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

Sales Rep

Are you tracking open rates? Are these emails getting to their inboxes or maybe straight to junk

saaskicker

Celebrated Contributor

Enterprise AE

you're still in beta, website doesn't exude confidence in longevity. no one wants to switch payroll providers.

Founder

We're mostly doing outbound so haven't spent much time there. Will improve!

saaskicker

Celebrated Contributor

Enterprise AE

if you're targeting a specific subset of the market, make the website speak to that person as soon as they hit it. waitlist/beta would make me skeptical

LambyCorn

Arsonist

A mfkn E

Have you tried a software for email tracking / data? That sure helped me out. Lavender is one example

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Veeraj Mehta

Where do I start? What the heck is going wrong?

26 comments

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