To Sell is Human by Daniel Pink is a great book for integrating sales into your mindset by realizing how much of it you already do on a day to day basis. As a consultant engineer it's completely changing my mindset.
I'm an engineer that needs to sell my services. Any good books on sales?
21–30 of 83 posts
Re: I'm an engineer that needs to sell my services. Any good books on sales?
#22Winning through intimidation
https://www.amazon.com/Winning-Through-Intimidation-Robert-R...
Re: I'm an engineer that needs to sell my services. Any good books on sales?
#23Sounds a lot like where I was about twenty years ago, and today I sell stuff for a living... a few thoughts I wish someone had given me...
1) Productize yourself. That is, have several very clear services you offer at established rates. Brand yourself around a very clear idea that has people saying "hey, call the guy" when they need .
2) A lot of us in tech are shy and introverted by nature, which on the surface appears in direct opposition to the skills needed to sell. What I'm telling you is that you can absolutely learn how to be the life of the party - it just takes work and courage, just like any other skill.
3) Sharp branding can make you stand out. Good quality cards, website, etc. Speak well, write well. When you ask someone for a meeting, be very clear in communicating why it is a good use of their time. Figure out early if you are talking to the person with the authority to buy.
4) Small companies will often run you through the wringer of interviews etc, only to not actually have much money. Well-established companies will often be slow to pay and full of bureaucracy, but reliable income.
5) Time-boxing is your friend. It is hard to both do the sales and do the work. You need to really be aware of this as a potential problem.
6) Do sales by not doing sales - there is a lot to be said for meet up groups, speaking opportunities, providing "free" resources, etc. That is - be seen as an expert in your community and people will come to you and/or you will have already passed the social validation test.
Re: I'm an engineer that needs to sell my services. Any good books on sales?
#24Less technical but you might find Proximity principle by Ken Coleman to be helpful as well.
Re: I'm an engineer that needs to sell my services. Any good books on sales?
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
Seconded. All books by Gabriel Weinberg. Some books you read to reflect upon or be better informed. His books instead, are likely to change the way you conduct your business, or validate correct behaviors you adopted instinctively.
Highly appreciated book. But the author is Gerald Weinberg.
True dat, corrected my mistake. A great author indeed.
Re: I'm an engineer that needs to sell my services. Any good books on sales?
#26Value-based fees by Alan Weiss
I like and recommend this one, but I also think he pulls a lot of sleight-of-hand... a lot of it is based on the premise that the client is willing to share (or can even get, in big enough companies...) numbers that inform the value created. For a tech consultant bopping between companies and industries, it's really challenging to come up with these numbers. Likewise, I found that even if you can prove a number, getting a big company to bite on it (unless you are truly talking to a Cx0) is nearly impossible... case in point... a major west-coast health care company had a crisis. I found the problem and laid out a path for a few million dollars to solve the problem. It was somehow way easier to pay IBM $50MM to "solve" the problem rather than the $10MM or less by actually fixing the problem. You run into a lot of that at the Fortune 500, which makes it clear it isn't about "value". Weiss seems to gloss over a lot of this.
Re: I'm an engineer that needs to sell my services. Any good books on sales?
#27Sounds a lot like where I was about twenty years ago, and today I sell stuff for a living... a few thoughts I wish someone had given me... 1) Productize yourself. That is, have several very clear services you offer at established rates. Brand yourself around a very clear idea that has people saying "hey, call the guy" when they need . 2) A lot of us in tech are shy and introverted by nature, which on the surface appe…
Item 1 is key in my mind. As someone in a role that procures a lot of services the worst thing someone trying to get a foot in the door can do is “everything”. Especially if you can’t explain how you work.
It leaves all the burden of figuring out how I could potentially use your services on me, and I’ll try my best to avoid having to deal with that uncertainty on top of what I’m already trying to achieve.
If you want to be successful offering services be very clear about how you work.
Re: I'm an engineer that needs to sell my services. Any good books on sales?
#28Ive enjoyed the classical sales books like SPIN selling, Challenger sale, Fanatical prospecting, The Psychology of Selling.
Re: I'm an engineer that needs to sell my services. Any good books on sales?
#29The major lesson will be to ask for the sale. And work that into the conversation, so less "that'll be $99", but more like "So, would you like the blue or pink one?" If you don't ask for the sale, you won't get it. If you're solving a problem, making the sale is helping people. They came to you for help for a reason, so treat them well.
Yes, you should ask for the sale. But "So, would you like the blue or pink one?" might come across as a bit pushy. "would you like to discuss pricing?" is more of a soft close.
Less of a problem than not having sales
Re: I'm an engineer that needs to sell my services. Any good books on sales?
#30The major lesson will be to ask for the sale. And work that into the conversation, so less "that'll be $99", but more like "So, would you like the blue or pink one?" If you don't ask for the sale, you won't get it. If you're solving a problem, making the sale is helping people. They came to you for help for a reason, so treat them well.
Yes, you should ask for the sale. But "So, would you like the blue or pink one?" might come across as a bit pushy. "would you like to discuss pricing?" is more of a soft close.
There's a subtle difference there - the first is asking "past the close" but also is asking a pertinent question about it - people who want it will have a color they want, or need to pick one.
Nobody wants to discuss pricing. It's orthogonal to getting the desired end. You have to discuss pricing, but it is not on the list of things people want to do (if you give it to them free, they won't protest). The second is way too easy to say no to.