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Ask HN: Best books or videos to get better at sales?

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Re: Ask HN: Best books or videos to get better at sales?

#11

Post by mbesto »

These are great books for starting off with the why and how of sales:

Daniel Pink - To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others http://www.amazon.com/Sell-Human-Surprising-Moving-Others/dp...

Dale Carnegie - How to Win Friends & Influence People http://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People/dp/06...

As you understand the macro details of sales, the more micro things (tactics, strategies, best practices) are probably best served by specific industry or specific aspects of sales. For example:

http://www.amazon.com/Behind-Cloud-Salesforce-com-Billion-Do...

http://www.amazon.com/Sales-Acceleration-Formula-Technology-...

http://www.amazon.com/Predictable-Revenue-Business-Practices...

I also really like Jason Lemkin and his SaaStr blog: http://www.saastr.com/ Loads of SaaS sales practices on there.

Re: Ask HN: Best books or videos to get better at sales?

#12

Post by thinkdevcode »

The one piece of advice I was given years ago:

There is no such thing as "sales", and you aren't a "salesman". You provide a solution to a problem. Listen, understand, and then offer a solution.

I forgot who told me that but it's fantastic advice. As far as understanding people, the de facto book to read is "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie. I'd highly recommend that.

Re: Ask HN: Best books or videos to get better at sales?

#13

Post by dkyc »

Y Combinator Sales Summer School: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-K2DHi99oI&list=PLb1c0oEEXW...

This is basically Sales 101. Lecture by Steli Efti, YC founder of the close.io CRM. Insanely valuable.

---

Y Combinator "How To Start A Startup" Sales: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHAh6WKBgiE

This is held by one of the founder of YC startup Clever, with an emphasis on the earliest stages of sales in a startup.

---

Tons of specific sales advice on http://blog.close.io , you can find the best by googling "site:blog.close.io" and follow through the links. There is a ton of things I learned from Steli Efti (the guy behind www.close.io CRM and the Sales Summer School), be sure to attend their webinars as well if you're curious.

Re: Ask HN: Best books or videos to get better at sales?

#15

Post by JSeymourATL »

There have been several worthy recommendations in this string. Keep in mind, the more you read-- the more data you compile and master the subject. Here are a couple not already mentioned--

The best book I've read in ages on prospecting and business development, New Sales, Simplified by Mike Weinberg. If you read nothing else, Chapter 14: Planning & Executing the Attack is pure protein! http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15863998-new-sales-simpli...

Here's a video presentation by Matt Dixon on The Challenger Sale. It's a bit long, just over an hour. But give it 15 minutes-- you'll see it's solid material. Good insights on how marketing supports & equips sales. Read the book!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSfE8zZUoMc

Re: Ask HN: Best books or videos to get better at sales?

#16

Post by selleck »

I just finished New Sales Simplified:

http://www.amazon.com/New-Sales-Simplified-Prospecting-Devel...

If you are responsible for getting new business, it is probably the best sales book I have read. Walks through defining your target customers, creating appropriate messaging to reach out to those customers and how to structure discovery and presentation calls.

Re: Ask HN: Best books or videos to get better at sales?

#18

Post by roel_v »

thinkdevcode wrote: post #12

The one piece of advice I was given years ago: There is no such thing as "sales", and you aren't a "salesman". You provide a solution to a problem. Listen, understand, and then offer a solution. I forgot who told me that but it's fantastic advice. As far as understanding people, the de facto book to read is "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie. I'd highly recommend that.

While that's true at the most abstract level, that doesn't mean that there isn't a whole lot one can learn beyond that, for example on recognizing customer archetypes, how to talk to each archetype to gain pathos with them, how to approach new clients, how to handle objections, how (and when) to close, ... So I would definitely say that there is something like sales, and yes it revolves around 'providing solutions', but that doesn't mean that anyone who can provide solutions to problems can bring in revenue.

Carnegie is a useful book for life in general, don't get me wrong - it's just that it's only the 'foundation' of sales and there is a big distance between that foundation and the actual practice of doing sales. Much like algebra is a 'foundation' of programming, yet nobody gets hired to program based on their ability to multiple two numbers.

Re: Ask HN: Best books or videos to get better at sales?

#19

Post by ohitsdom »

thinkdevcode wrote: post #12

The one piece of advice I was given years ago: There is no such thing as "sales", and you aren't a "salesman". You provide a solution to a problem. Listen, understand, and then offer a solution. I forgot who told me that but it's fantastic advice. As far as understanding people, the de facto book to read is "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie. I'd highly recommend that.

> You provide a solution to a problem. Listen, understand, and then offer a solution.

This becomes clear in the classic "sell me this pen" exercise. First find out about the client, what they do, how they would use the pen. Once you know where their focus is, discussing your solution becomes easy and natural.

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