Which approach is best: good products or good sales?

Question

I just realized today that I can't build sales and marketing for a bad product, but everyone tells me to "start selling early," which I unfortunately accept but am not very happy with the results.
So, if there is a clearly positive internal feeling about the product, then sales will come much easier.

But maybe I'm wrong. What do you think?

Ozan Yalçın · Accepted Answer

There should be a balance between them

Max Krasilov · Answer

I believe that both good products and good sales are essential for building a thriving business. In my experience, a good product is the foundation of a successful company. It's the reason why customers are attracted to our business and why they keep coming back

However, having a great product alone is not enough. It needs to be coupled with a strong sales strategy to maximize its potential. Sales is what drives revenue and growth for a business, and without it, even the best product will struggle to succeed

That's why I believe that the best approach is to focus on both aspects equally. By creating a great product and investing in sales and marketing, we can build a sustainable business that provides value to our customers and achieves long-term success 🙌

Sandra Djajic · Answer

There should be a balance. But i definetly agree with you, if you feel good about your product you will sale it much easier :)

Harley coates · Answer

good product with a competitive strategy.

Raphael Leite · Answer

I think there's value in going to market early because you can learn a lot from sales calls and customer feedback. It doesn't need to be "selling" though, just talking to beta testers, potential customers and partners can accelerate a lot of your product and go-to-market learnings. It all depends of your market and what you're good at. Jason Lemkin posted an interesting take that might help you: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/j...

Dmitry · Answer

@ozan_yalcin1 Sure, always. However, I see a lot of products that aren't particularly good but are selling well.

Dmitry · Answer

@harley_coates The thing is, while our product is not good enough for my internal quality level, I can't build sales since it's hard to sell something I'm personally satisfied with. Should I fight for my own maximalist goals or improve the product until it meets the good quality criteria?

Dmitry · Answer

@inesfenner should share that I started to feel much better today, exactly at the time I realized that the core of that product quality still does not meet my internal quality requirements, but I'm free to share it and use it as a marketing approach as well.

Dmitry · Answer

@jungle_explorer I completely agree, but it is extremely difficult to build sales around a poor product, perhaps just for me because I am passionate about what I am creating and can't sell just "marketing language", only existing features.

Dmitry · Answer

@raphael_leite1 Thank you, great opinoin and artcile. However, this article is about running a stable business and dividing costs and margins. I hope we can achieve that attitude, but we are still in the early stages. And the worst part about the early sales, even the validation ones, is that people don't want to spend time on things they don't understand clearly. So, the core of my question is mostly close to the opinion that it is not possible to validate something that does not really exist. A good article about it is here: https://world.hey.com/jason/vali... But I'm still doubt, so asking the communtiy.

Which approach is best: good products or good sales?

Replies