Are they pulling?

How to identify pull vs. "seems-like-pull-but-isn't"

Hi! If you’re new here, I’m Rob Snyder, a founder figuring out why startups take off. Here’s an intro to the theory, and here’s the companion podcast to this newsletter: Spotify / YouTube.

Also:

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• I recorded a 7-hour course with Sandbox (Utah-based entrepreneurship master’s program) on “how to position and sell early-stage products”. Get access HERE.

• I help startups figure out the best way to position and sell their products for fast growth. Learn more + grab time with me HERE.

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It is very easy to mistake “enthusiasm” for “pull”.

When customers have PULL, they try to buy. “Pulling” = “trying to buy.” The potential customer initiates a “trying-to-buy”-shaped action:

• If you’re selling to a startup or small business, the person you’re talking to will try to buy on the call - they’ll ask for the Stripe link and schedule an onboarding call, for example.

• If you’re selling into a bigger company, they almost certainly won’t buy right away, but they will do something close to it - for example, saying, “Ok, I need this, and here’s what needs to happen so I can bring this into my organization.” They will then walk you through who needs to approve and they’ll initiate the deal’s next steps.

If they have PULL, they will “try to buy” even if you don’t have a product ready yet, or even if you bumble around in the sales call. Sometimes, of course, you may do such a good job convincing them not to pull that they don’t pull. But PULL doesn’t require the perfect sales pitch, demo, or process.¹

Here’s the important point: Anything other than “trying to buy” is not pulling.

If you think they are pulling when they’re not, they are probably not going to buy. Worse, you’re going to think, “they’re probably going to buy.” As the deal extends… you’re going to keep pushing and following up, rather than trying to figure out who WILL pull! This is how startups waste precious months or years down a dead-end road. Sigh. Been there, not fun.

Let’s go through a few things you might hear that sound like they’re pulling, but these things are NOT indications of PULL:

“Wow!!!! This is exactly what the industry needs!”

This is a yes-sounding-“no.” Here’s what they’re not saying: “I need this right now. How do I get started?” Whenever you hear something like this on a call, it’s a sign something has gone horribly wrong.

“This would solve our biggest pain point!”

This sentence alone doesn’t indicate that they will pull. Pain points aren’t even indications of pull, because for the majority of “hair on fire” pain points… people do nothing about them even when presented with a compelling solution. And many purchases don’t require pain points. I have seen far too many startups obsess over customers who have “hair on fire” pain points… that never buy.

Is it actually a priority? If so, do they not have good enough options to get this done? If not, in Bob Moesta’s words - “bitchin’ ain’t switchin’.”

“This would make my life so much better!”

Yeah, cool, there are almost certainly a bunch of ways to make your life better that you’re not taking action on.

“This would save us $10M per year!”

Who wouldn’t want to save $10M? Who wouldn’t want to make an extra $100M? These are “value propositions” or “business cases” or whatever - and it seems like if you offer unbelievable value, they would be crazy not to buy. If they describe the value back to you, they’re sold, right?

Nope. Because, to paraphrase The Heart of Innovation, how many other ways do they have to save $10M or even make an extra $100M that they’re doing nothing about?

“If we moved forward, what would the process be?”

Not the worst signal, but not pulling. Notice the hypothetical. This is essentially saying - “imagine a world in which I had pull - which may or may not be this world, I may just be curious and bored - in such a world, what does buying look like.” You would be shocked at how many people are just curious.

So what do I do?

Treat anything that is not obviously pull as “probably not pull, and need to understand why.” You can use my favorite tactic - “playing dumb.”

Huh… I’m hearing that it would make your life so much better, but I’m not hearing “oh my gosh I need to buy this right now”… can you talk me through what you’re thinking?

Oh interesting, can you help me understand - you just said IF we moved forward… that is very much not “we are definitely moving forward” - can you help me understand how you’re thinking about this right now?

The goal, of course, is to get to ground truth - what’s in their mind? Do they really have PULL, or not? If not, why not? It is ok to sound dumb or confused, because that’s how you get them to explain how they’re thinking to you.

After all, life’s too short to push something the market doesn’t pull.

1. You can even think of a sales call as a “see if they try to buy” call - even a “see if they try to convince you to let them buy” call.