61–70 of 81 posts
And pay up for a top-quality mentor. An experienced sales exec can coach you and help you navigate the process. Have a call at least once every two weeks, and pay a lawyer-like rate. Who knows, they may become the VP of Sales as the company grows.
Think less about pushing your product, and more about aligning your product to a stated need. Instead of "how do I get Product X into Company Y," ask "how can I help Company Y accomplish their mission with my product in a way they are currently unable to do?" The flipside of this question is "if I were CEO of Company Y, why should I want to buy Product X?" Instead of "how do I convince Buyer Z to go with Product X,"…
Okay, one more piece of advice: One of the most important skills in sales is follow-up. Don't assume someone is not interested if they don't respond. That might be the reason...but it also might be because they were busy and they forgot to respond to your email. Keep following up with them until they tell you to stop. I've closed deals after sending emails and making phone calls every week for months.
Oh, and thick skin. You need really thick skin because people treat salespeople like s*.
Disclosure : I'm a 3-time technical founder with 1 abject failure, 1 IPO and 1 private sale exit who wishes somebody had told him this 30 years ago.
I'm a technical consultant so the business isn't the same but I do have to do a ton of sales and I've done multiple six-figure deals and generated multiple six figures in revenue per year, so I am able to sell to some regard. I'd recommend just reading a ton of books. There's a formula to sales that is well documented, you just have to adapt the pieces that work with your personality. The ones I'd recommend reading a…
Granted, the title is pretty cheesy. And some of the content is, too. And yet I found it super actionable and straightforward. You can usually find used copies on Amazon for a couple of dollars.
Learn to develop a deeply secure emotional attachment style. Once I unlocked this, my close rate and inbound referrals went through the roof. Literally closing 95% of leads and 100% of leads are from referrals. Granted, this is in person 1 on 1 work but isn’t sense is that will translate into the other work you do.
I'm a technical consultant so the business isn't the same but I do have to do a ton of sales and I've done multiple six-figure deals and generated multiple six figures in revenue per year, so I am able to sell to some regard. I'd recommend just reading a ton of books. There's a formula to sales that is well documented, you just have to adapt the pieces that work with your personality. The ones I'd recommend reading a…
The way I learned was by watching those who are good at it, tagging along and assisting where I could, then striking out on my own.
If you have a little extra money for a commission on early sales, I would highly recommend this approach. There is a lot to be said for seeing someone work under the specific set of conditions your product and domain entail.
The biggest piece of general advice I have is to set aside some time before sales meetings to fully get your head out of the technical details of your product. When you're making the product your mind is focused on what the product is and all its faults and inadequacies. Your customers need you focused on what their problems are, and the capacity your product has to solve them.
You may need serious wall clock time, maybe a couple hours, to transition completely. Remember why you made this thing, remember what the world looks like without it, that's where your customers are and you need to understand their point of view.
Learn to develop a deeply secure emotional attachment style. Once I unlocked this, my close rate and inbound referrals went through the roof. Literally closing 95% of leads and 100% of leads are from referrals. Granted, this is in person 1 on 1 work but isn’t sense is that will translate into the other work you do.
Any pointers or info or starting points on where to learn about this & how to develop that kind of style?
To embody it and get it somatically the best way is to work with a coach or therapist and to get into more intimate relationships (romantic or creative) with someone who has a more secure attachment style.
Doing embodiment work, trauma work, practicing empathy and learning how to hold space.
Note -- you'll also have to be selling something you believe in and that is in integrity with your values -- otherwise you'll be working against yourself.
DM me if you'd like.
Learn to develop a deeply secure emotional attachment style. Once I unlocked this, my close rate and inbound referrals went through the roof. Literally closing 95% of leads and 100% of leads are from referrals. Granted, this is in person 1 on 1 work but isn’t sense is that will translate into the other work you do.
Can you expand on what you mean by that?
I’d just say this: Know your customers, know the market, know their needs, know their challenges.
Ask yourself: what are you solving for?
The answer is your value proposition.
Your value proposition depends on the customer, but you should be targeting a market with similar needs.
“SPIN selling” is a good framework.
You must establish “common ground” with customers. It’s how you build rapport and show you understand their needs and demonstrate your competency and expertise.
Technical sales is all about problem solving. It’s idenitfying problems (known or unknown to your customers) and introducing solutions that add value to their organization, the product, or the person. Understanding your customer, their environment and needs, and establishing common ground is essential for identifying and introduction technical solutions.
Feel free to email if you’d like to discuss the philosophy of technical sales in more depth: tranchms@icloud.com