Ask HN: How to learn sales?

Some great tactical recommendations have been made here, but the author who got me to re-think what sales was and to see it as honourable and helpful was Zig Ziggler.

His books are old-school, but reading them will make you enjoy selling.

I'd recommend "Secrets of Closing the Sale" to start, but all of his early work is good. His later books get a bit self-helpy.

Close, but not quite.

Marketing is the brand, the image, points of differentiation, etc. It's the message.

Advertising is the broadcast. It's how the message is communicated. It's the medium.

Marketing + advertising = prospects and leads.

Sales is the last mile. It takes the results of marketing + advertising (i.e., leads and prospects) and guides those to closing.

Contrary to myth, successful sales is about listening, not talking.

Sales is

1. The key to selling is listening. Your goal is to listen for buyer requirements and then to support them actively with specific products features that meet THEIR needs. (Certain features of your product that your company is proud of, but your prospect is not interested in should never be dwelt upon. Don’t sell features not needed; it shows you’re not listening.)

2. Few products are sold if the customer has nagging objections. It is the job of the salesman to elucidate those objections, which may be guarded or hidden, and to handle them, showing they are either actually unimportant in real operation, or that the product handles the objections in operation.

3. Elucidation of objections is done by open probes: questions that do not have a yes or know answer.

4. Every salesperson must at some point explicitly ASK FOR THE ORDER. Not ASKING FOR THE ORDER is bullshitting with the customer, not selling.

5. There are various ways to ask for the order in a non aggressive, non-confrontational manner. This is called a TRIAL CLOSE. Natural or experienced salespeople are fluid and good at this; rookies need training hence the sales course.

6. At some point, the prospect may give a buying signal. Behavior is very important at this point. The customer must be subtly or not so subtly be supported in his putative decision. Some concrete auxiliary act, such as writing up the order, discussing installation or delivery terms, opening a customer account, even initiating a credit verification, is often done to CLOSE the sale.

7. A good salesperson NEVER SELLS A PRODUCT TWICE. Once the buyer indicates he will order, all product discussion must be kept to an absolute minimum, and engaged only if new objections, perhaps from others in the organization, surface. Sales are lost when a salesperson incorrectly gushes on about his product, only to himself open up new questions and objections inadvertently. It use to be that salespeople did a lot of qualification: finding out precisely who has the authority to buy. This is still very important. But you may have to sell one or a number of technical people, with the decision made by a committee. Every situation is different.

8. Every race, gender, creed, body mass index, personality, and social style can be successful in sales. Sales is a professional activity, not a personality. You can forget all the snickering and stereotypes about “salesmen” right now.

9. Finally there is the urban legend of the highly successful, wealthy salesman, who, in each call would initially be so nervous he would drive around the block 3 times before having the temerity to park and enter the reception area. For 25 years. Keep that in mind and happy selling.

There's very little wiggle room in convincing someone who doesn't need a product that they actually do need it, unless the product is exceptionally good and solves at least some of the customer's problems.

I've found over the years that courses and gurus that promise you the ability to sell anything to anyone are mostly bullshit. Find people who know a lot about the product within an industry and learn from them. Pay them for their time if necessary.