Ask HN: Best books or videos to get better at sales? • Hacker News Board

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

#61

Post by steveeq1 » Thu, Sep 17, 2015, 11:30 PM UTC

dave_sullivan wrote: post #39

steveeq1 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you really think it's ethical to give "the jedi mind trick" on someone to make a sale. Really? I agree with "thinkdevcode" a few messages up. The better solution is find the best solution to the underlying problem. View yourself as a problem solver, rather than a salesman.

I think the phrase "jedi mind tricks" might mean something different to you than me. To me it's basically a sarcastic way of saying "sales training", which is actually not about trickery but does have a bit to do with psychology. To you, it means lying I think? Read the books and tell me that what they teach is pure trickery. But if you take some of the lessons to heart, magically people might start buying more (mayb…

"Jedi Mind Trick" strongly implies trickery.

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

#62

Post by gregorymichael » Fri, Sep 18, 2015, 12:58 AM UTC

I found a lot of value in taking a class on the Sandler system. Some of the concepts are packaged up here:

http://www.amazon.com/Cant-Teach-Ride-Bike-Seminar/dp/096717...

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

#63

Post by rasz_pl » Fri, Sep 18, 2015, 2:13 AM UTC

Check out this playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkVbIsAWN2lvMDgewjAld...

Louis Rossmann knows his shit

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

#64

Post by TerryADavis » Fri, Sep 18, 2015, 6:38 AM UTC

Contact by Sagan

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

#65

Post by _Codemonkeyism » Fri, Sep 18, 2015, 8:22 AM UTC

curiousjorge wrote: post #38

_Codemonkeyism wrote: post #5

1. The best book I've read on sales is: "How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling"(1952) by Frank Bettger 2. Everything at Heavybit is excellent, their sales videos are very nice: http://www.heavybit.com/library/developer-sales And an must see video for me was: http://www.heavybit.com/library/video/2015-05-12-jason-lemki...

holy crap that website is like a gift from the gods

I thought the same when I've stumbled on it.

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

#66

Post by maxims » Fri, Sep 18, 2015, 10:02 AM UTC

I'm surprised that Jordan Belfort hasn't appeared here already. You might know him more appropriately as The Wolf of Wall Street, and its doesn't matter what your opinion of the guy is - he has a natural talent for sales.

As you will note from his material, that there are 3 types of people, those that don't want the product, those that are unsure if they want it, and those that want the product. Sales is about converting those "unsures'" to sure wants.

I would recommend giving the book "The Wolf of Wall Street" a read. His course "Straight Line System" is pretty pricey, but if you have the money or the means, I would recommend this course over any other: http://jordanbelfort.com/sales-order/

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

#67

Post by makaed » Fri, Sep 18, 2015, 12:37 PM UTC

Allow me to recommend you a piece of advice rarely followed by others - practice the act of selling every day. That helps enormously to get good at sales (and better than any book).

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

#68

Post by miikka » Fri, Sep 18, 2015, 2:15 PM UTC

This podcast isn't active anymore, but I rate it as one of the absolute best resources on B2B sales: http://www.salesroundup.com

Start listening the archives from the beginning or pick your episodes, either way it's one killer virtual coaching program on B2B complex sales, applying many of the mentioned books to practice on strategic and operational level.

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

#69

Post by tsattersten » Fri, Sep 18, 2015, 5:39 PM UTC

Our selections from The 100 Best Business Books of All Time were:

-Selling The Invisible by Harry Beckwith (great look at selling services) -Secrets of Closing The Sale by Zig Ziglar (gets you prepared for objections) -How to Become A Rainmaker by Jeffrey Fox (shortcuts to better sales techniques) -The Little Red Book of Selling by Jeffrey Gitomer (best first book for first time salespeople)

As mentioned in other posts, I would also add SPIN Selling, Mastering the Complex Sale and The Referral Engine.

"Smart" books in the sales space include Influence, Made To Stick, To Sell Is Human.

For motivation, read more Zig, Tony Robbins, and Dale Carnegie.

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

#70

Post by curiousjorge » Fri, Sep 18, 2015, 10:56 PM UTC

dkyc wrote: post #13

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. --- To…

Steli is great, love all of his podcasts but I have to admit it's a little lacking in depth, the sort you would find when discussing larger sales requiring multiple stakeholders and decision makers.

What I'd love is if close.io took another direction and dove deeper instead of the cliche 'hustle hard'.