How far would you go to get your first customer?
Someone once told me a story about a small building cleaning company – this could be a fictional story or a true one, I have no idea.
This company needed their first client. So they did something that’s questionable but human – they lied.
They would walk into a building, and point at a nearby building and say: “See that building? We clean that building. We’d love to clean yours too.”
They got rejected over and over. Most people probably didn’t believe them. Some might have believed them and still said no.
Until one building owner gave them a shot. Maybe their current cleaning vendor wasn’t great and wanted to give this new company a try.
From that point on, they could point at the building and say the same line again: “See that building? We clean that building.” Except this time, it wasn’t a lie.
I’m not suggesting you lie to get your first customer. But the lesson is: get the first reference at all costs.
There are other ways too. You can offer a free pilot, or I’ve even seen a company doing a “reverse paid pilot” where they paid the client to do the pilot (it’s not as crazy as it sounds – the client is investing their time and providing feedback.)
Once you have one legitimate reference, you’re not faking it again. You can walk into the next building and say “See that building? I’m cleaning that building.”