Gaining Momentum: Saint John’s New Sales Accelerator
SAINT JOHN – The Port City is finally getting a startup accelerator, one that will aim to address the shortage of an important business skill – sales.
Launching in January, Momentum will be the first rolling-intake sales accelerator in Saint John and southern New Brunswick. It will service startups and businesses that are scalable but need help growing beyond the region through sales. It will also offer a space for people to learn and build their sales skills. It will do this through two different programs.
“We haven’t had a full-time accelerator in Saint John in quite a while so we’re going to have our Impact 12: Sales by Design Accelerator,” says Momentum’s co-founder Joanna Killen, who has worked at Saint John’s Vennture Garage for the past several years. “Which is basically 12 teams working on strategies and go-to-market opportunities. We’re working with them one-on-one. We have all kinds of resources in regards to mentors and advisors.”
The second program is the Sales by Design Matchmaker program, run by Momentum’s other co-founder Corey Dugas, who has over 25 years of experience in various sales training.
“We have a ton of New Brunswick companies who need sales help but can’t afford the upfront cost,” Killen says. “So we’re going to be training a bunch of other folks in our community who want to build their skills to learn sales and help those New Brunswick companies execute their sales [goals].”
Dugas says the Matchmaker program will link sales students (called “agents”) to the businesses in the accelerator that need sales help. Both Momentum and the agents will earn commission from each sale made. The program is open to pretty much anyone who wants to build their sales skills. The program’s service is also available to any business who needs sales help, with the purchase of a Momentum membership.
“Myself and a couple of other people are going to build a good curriculum that gives people what they want through experience, not by academia,” Dugas says. “They’re going to learn these skills by doing. They will also have a chance to make some money at the same time while getting an education.”
Momentum’s Impact 12: Sales by Design Accelerator is open to businesses in any sector, the only qualifiers being that it’s market validated and scalable. Businesses who are not members of the accelerator program can also take advantage some of its services by purchasing a membership, for which there are various levels.
“We are looking at people who have this idea that is super scalable, that really has go-to-market potential,” Killen says. “So what we walk them through is the step-by-step way for execute that vision,”
Momentum will be based at the new Social Enterprise Hub in uptown Saint John. So far, the company has about 20 clients lined up for the accelerator ranging from high-tech companies to non-profits as well as around 10 sales agent student on board. Though it’s a separate company on its own, Momentum will be working closely with the province’s other startup groups such as the Pond Deshponde Centre, Vennture Garage, the Varanda Network and Enterprise Saint John. Momentum is currently working on the launch of its online portal with finalized information and registration.
Sales is one of the biggest challenges for many businesses in Canada, not just startups. No matter how great your product is, if you can’t sell it, your business will flop. The idea of creating a sales education program in the Maritimes has been floating around for a while, yet no major post-secondary education institution has created one, so the skill gap remains in the region. Momentum wants to help fill that with its approach.
“We have the ability and the people here to do it. It’s just they haven’t gone to university and they’re given chance,” Dugas says. “There are so many people out there that with a little bit of trying and experience can make a splash in the sales world. That’s what we want to give people a chance to go out and try.”
By building up sales skills in the region, Killen says more businesses can be set up to succeed without relying as much on outside and government funding. They will be able to stand more on their own.
“If we can get people better at that, we don’t have to worry about ACOA. We don’t have to worry about the Government of New Brunswick, we don’t need to worry about any of these people,” she says. “We can grow our own lone revenue in order to support our own product.”
For Killen and Dugas, the issue isn’t that there are “no sales people,” it’s that many people are, but just don’t know it yet. There needs to be a place where businesses and individuals can go to learn how. That’s what they hope Momentum will provide.
“I don’t think it’s true that there are no sales people. I think that’s crazy. The real truth is that there hasn’t been a chance for people to go and learn this stuff in a way that’s going to facilitate their professional growth,” Killen says. “You can certainly go to university and learn about business. But sales is much different than business. It’s personality. It’s excitement. It’s energy. It’s not something you can really teach without doing it.”
“We’re entrepreneurial as a crew of Maritimers who don’t like hearing ‘no’ for an answer. That is embodied in our DNA, but it hasn’t been brought up and brought out and allowed to thrive.”