Steve Benson is the CEO and founder of Badger Maps, the #1 app in the app store for outside and field salespeople. Steve is also CEO of Badger Sales University. After receiving his MBA from Stanford, Steve joined Google, where he became Google Enterprise's Top Sales Executive globally in 2009.

In 2012, Steve founded Badger Maps for outside and field salespeople to upgrade existing CRMs with mapping, routing and scheduling. He also hosts Outside Sales Talk - a podcast specifically for outside salespeople, and he is the President of the Sales Hall of Fame.

Badger Maps is the best route planner for field sales teams. With features for territory management and route optimization, Badger Maps is an all-in-one sales tool that allows you to drive 20% less and sell 22% more. Badger allows you to get a custom view of your territory, log meeting notes on the go, automatically update your CRM, and find new leads around you - all right from the field.

Key Takeaways In This Episode

• Differences in selling vertically vs. horizontally
• What to expect when transitioning from a 9-5 job to being an entrepreneur
• Challenges faced during the first years as an entrepreneur
• Why to lead sales during the early stage of your company

How Badger Maps Was Born

Completely familiarized with the challenges in sales and with an extensive background in Google Maps, Steve noticed that there was not a sales tool that was able to get data from CRMs then combine it with a calendar and a route traced by a map for salespeople. This gap in determining which was the best territory optimization led him to create Badger Maps.

How To Go To Market

It is important to determine if you are selling your product either vertically (just one niche or one   type of company) or if you are selling horizontally (several types of customers). One common mistake when selling horizontally is trying to adapt your messaging and make it as broad as possible, as opposed to focusing on describing the type of problem that you solve. A common mistake that is done when selling vertically is believing that you are a market fit just because you have sold to a couple of companies. 

From 9-5 to Entrepreneur

Transitioning from one field to another is not easy, especially when you have experienced a lot of wins on the corporate ladder. Most of the time, this lack of failure creates a conflict when the person goes through trial and error while building a startup, giving the impression that he/she is failing all the time. Having an understanding that there will be more failures than wins is something that must be clear before becoming an entrepreneur. In Steve's words: “It's easy to fly a plane, really hard to be the Wright Brothers.”

Long-Term Perspective

Steve can't stress enough about being patient during the first years of a startup, since you have to find your place in the market. You are always resource-constrained, and most importantly, it is not about solving a problem, it is also about creating the infrastructure to make that happen. During the first years you will have to play different roles, including the ones you are not a subject matter expert in. 

Advice To Early-Stage Founders

Talk to a lot of people (including and mainly your customers) to get feedback and feel free to lead sales, even as a founder. Interacting with your customers as well as potential clients will allow you not only to understand their needs, but also to provide you with important information that will help you to either modify your product or your sales strategy.