How OrderCast created 100 online B2B stores in 1 week

As a founder, it’s my job to get the machine up and running. I try to automate as much as possible, I call and email people all day, every conversation is an opportunity to sell...
Ayoub Assabban
Ayoub Assabban
October 31, 2022
2
mn. read

The beginnings of any startup’s sales machine are a matter of effort. It takes trial and error, carefully listening to feedback, and a clear understanding of what you’re trying to achieve.

As a founder, it’s my job to get the machine up and running. I try to automate as much as possible, I call and email people all day, every conversation is an opportunity to sell our vision and our product. Still, the one thing that really works is being face-to-face with our potential clients and showing them what OrderCast can do for them.

That’s how I ended up in Venice, Italy a few weeks ago. It’s a beautiful city that makes you marvel at just what it takes to construct something like that: the expertise, the artisans, the vision, the continually evolving plans and execution that make everything function together…

I was also thinking about that — the many, many parts that hold our world together — because I was in Italy to attend a gathering of 600+ B2B furniture component suppliers. This was a crowd that has specialties: companies that make 3000 different kinds of screws, companies that make springs at every resistance level imaginable, companies that make feet for couches, tables, chairs… All of these companies make the hundreds of individual components that are used by manufacturers to build complete pieces of furniture.

And those companies do very good business, even though the numbers are hard to fathom. Just try to imagine how many springs you need to sell to hit €15M in revenue per year — and at wholesale prices!

The thing is, a lot of those companies could be selling even more — a lot more, we think. During our time there, our main thesis at OrderCast was reconfirmed over and over: lots of SMBs could grow more quickly but are held back by not offering their customers an easy online ordering process.

Luckily, we’d come prepared: in the week before the conference, we’d selected 100 companies that could put the OrderCast solution into action at their companies fast. And we didn’t just show up to tell them that — we showed them!

2 Days, 100 Demos

OrderCast’s Head of Operations, Jean-François Mlakar, did something incredible in the week leading up to our trip to Venice. Using a list of companies that would be present, he went through their websites, identified which ones lacked an ordering solution, and put together working demos using a set of their specific products. He and our dev team were able to put together 100+ demos in a matter of days, giving us a great way to kick off conversations with our potential customers.

Each demo included everything the individual company would see as an OrderCast customer: their catalog, their branding, the check-out and delivery tracking systems that their own customers would use… We wanted to create that “Wow!” effect, the one that breaks down everything these SMBs have always faced when thinking about having their own e-commerce ordering solution, showing that OrderCast delivers a site that:

  • Doesn’t take forever to build and implement
  • Is responsive and easy to update
  • Doesn’t cost a ton of money

The results were clear: we consistently ended up showing each demo multiple times, because the first person we talked to would call over their boss, who would end up calling over the owner of the company. Those discussions are moving forward, and we’re very excited about getting dozens of new customers up and running quickly.

In the end, it comes back to a simple truth in startups: you can’t just tell people that you can help them; you have to show them. A demo might just be a first step, but when done well it’s a very big one.

Want to schedule an OrderCast demo for yourself? Get in touch and let us know a bit about your company and its needs.

About OrderCast

At OrderCast we’re convinced that all B2B companies should have an easy-to-use, integrated and accessible online sales platform. That’s why we design ready-made solutions with no implementation costs, able to be up and running in a matter of days. Our cross-industry expertise and tools make us an essential partner for organizations that want to jump on the digital bandwagon. Find out more at ordercast.io.
Published by
Ayoub Assabban

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