When Sales Conversations Matter (Even If Sales Isn't Your Growth Engine)

If you're building a $20/month app with low contract values, you probably can't support the time, energy, and overhead that comes with a traditional sales process. Those economics typically work better for companies with high annual contract values and high lifetime values (think enterprise SaaS, not consumer apps).

But even if sales isn't your primary growth engine, direct sales conversations are often the fastest way to validate your concept.

For example, what's the fastest way to get your first paying users for that $20/mo app idea?

Is it building the entire PLG stack? Spinning up paid ads? Creating a survey to blast out to random people?

In most cases, no. It's finding 50 potential buyers on LinkedIn and striking up conversations with them.

You'll likely learn more in two weeks of direct conversations than you will in two weeks of surveys, landing page tests, or building features in isolation.

Why Founders Avoid Sales (And Why That's Costly)

The resistance to sales conversations isn't just "I don't like selling."

It's usually deeper than that. These are the things founders tell themselves:

• "I need to know more about sales first"
• "I need to build out my CRM"
• "I need automated sequences"
• "I need to understand AI sales agents"
• "I need to finish that sales book on Audible"
• "My product isn't ready yet"
• "I need a slick slide deck first"
• "I need a sweet website"
• "I need to hire a sales person"
• And the list goes on...

I've found that you can start building momentum through sales with virtually nothing. No deck. No website. Just you, a clear understanding of the problem you're solving, and a list of people who might have that problem.

But there's a trap.

If you approach these conversations in a "salesy" way (pitching, pushing, trying to close), you risk getting false negatives. People don't respond. You conclude you're on the wrong path. You assume you need to build more before going to market.

When in reality, the issue wasn't your product or your timing. It was your approach.

When trying to get early traction, your initial goal (counterintuitively) isn't to close deals. It's to start conversations. And the way you start those conversations determines whether you get real validated learnings.

The Mindset Shift

For me, the single most powerful reframe for early-stage sales conversations was this: curiosity beats convincing.

"When you're selling, you're not selling. When you're not selling, you're actually selling." - Me

Sounds like some nonsense Ricky Bobby would say, but let me explain.

The more you push, the more people feel sold to. Your prospect's guard goes up. They start looking for reasons to say no. Your close rate drops.

But when you lead with curiosity (when you're genuinely trying to understand their problem), something changes. Their guard comes down. They open up. They start to trust you. And your close rate typically goes up.

This applies whether you're selling a product to a potential customer or selling your vision to a potential investor or strategic hire. The mechanics are the same. Lead with curiosity.

Here's what that looks like in practice.

Ask for advice, don’t pitch

An investor once told me:

"If you want feedback, ask for money. If you want money, ask for advice."

It didn't make sense at first. But here's what he meant. If you tell an investor you're raising and want their money, they'll give you the realest feedback on every reason your idea might not work. They start poking holes. It puts them in a defensive stance from the outset.

But if you ask that same investor for advice on your concept, you've created a low-stress opportunity to just talk.

Next thing you know, you're 45 minutes into a 30-minute conversation, digging into the nitty-gritty details of your business, and they're arriving at the conclusion that your concept is a good one, rather than you convincing them.

This works because you're appealing to a fundamental human desire: people love to help and share what they know. And it works in any “selling” situation.

In sales:

❌ The pitch approach: "Hey Kevin, as a growth leader at Demand Curve, you've probably tried scaling DC's growth agency through outbound sales. My company's new AI SDR booked 6x more meetings than a human for half the cost in a single week. Worth a chat?"

✅ The advice approach: "Hey Kevin, how are things going with Demand Curve's growth agency? I just launched an AI SDR that's pretty damn good at booking meetings. I think agencies could be a fit, but I’m not sure. If you have a sec, do you mind if I ping you a few questions so you can pick this apart? Feel free to be brutally honest."

The second version doesn't feel like a sales pitch. I'm being asked to help. If I was a betting man, I’d bet the response rate on the second version is dramatically higher.

In fundraising:

❌ The pitch approach: "Hi Sarah, I saw you invested in [similar company]. We're building in the same space and are closing out our seed round led by [VC firm]. We're opening up our cap table for a few strategic angels. Would you be interested in hearing our pitch?"

✅ The advice approach: "Hi Sarah, I saw your investment in [similar company]. We're building something in this space and are at a crossroads with our go-to-market strategy. I'd love to get your take on our approach if you have 15 minutes. Mind if I ping you a few questions?"

Same dynamic. You're not asking for money. You're asking for wisdom. If they're interested in what you're building, the conversation naturally evolves. If not, you've still built a relationship and learned something.

When you hit resistance, lean into it

Throughout your entrepreneurial journey, you're going to come across people who disagree with your approach.

Sometimes, the natural inclination is to get defensive (even if it’s done in a professional manner). But this can make each party dig in their heels. And news flash, it's really hard to convince people of things they don't believe.

If you've ever gotten into a fight with your partner and made the mistake of defending your logic before trying to understand how they felt, this might resonate with you.

You might find that when you ask a clarifying question, they actually misunderstood your approach to begin with. You might uncover a simple work-around to what was previously a deal-breaker. Hell, you might even uncover the pivot that becomes your core business through this line of questioning.

Here are some common areas where you might hit resistance and how to handle them:

In sales:

You don't need to have answers for every objection. When someone asks, "Does your product do X?" and it doesn't, just say:

"That's really interesting. Our initial feature set doesn't include that. But tell me more. How do you envision using that feature? Could [this workaround] be a temporary solution?"

You've turned what could be an objection into learning more about the problems your users are trying to solve.

In fundraising:

When an investor says, "I'm not sure about your CAC assumptions," don't get defensive. Get curious:

"That's fair. Walk me through what you're seeing. What CAC would make this compelling to you, and what would need to be true for us to hit that number?"

Now you're in a conversation instead of a confrontation. You're learning what would actually make this investor excited rather than trying to convince them with your existing model.

In both cases, be transparent: "I'm trying to learn if we can help. Where we can help today is X, and what we cannot do is Y."

If a conversation gets contentious, take the stance: "Look, I'm not trying to convince you of anything. I'm just telling you what we have. If it's interesting, great. If not, it sounds like we're not ready for you right now, but we should circle back once these features are in place."

The Takeaway

I think the mindset shift that matters most to be effective at sales is to be infinitely curious.

When you enter into conversations with this lens, it allows you to be authentic and gives you permission to not over-prepare or feel like you need to know everything before starting.

So next time you're nervous going into a sales conversation remember, when you're selling, you're not selling. When you're curious, helpful, and genuine, you're doing your best job selling.

Start today. Send a dozen connection requests on LinkedIn. Ask for their advice, not a sale. See what happens.

​Kevin DePopas​
​Demand Curve Chief Growth Officer