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How to sell

7 points by cujo ↗ HN
Having come from a programmer background and minimal business experience, I'm faced with a problem that I'm sure many of you have also faced: selling your goods when you aren't a trained salesperson.

Basically my problem is that I need to get out and sell my product, but I'm not pitching to VCs so I believe the technique to be quite different.

How does one go about preparing for this "phase"? How did people here handle it? Are there any resources to help with the preparation?

4 comments

[ 3.6 ms ] story [ 22.5 ms ] thread
jakewolf
Just do it. Read some books. I like Harry Beckwith's books, also The Ultimate Sales Letter: Attract New Customers. Boost Your Sales by Dan S. Kennedy.

Highlight the benefits over features of whatever you're selling such as "Increases sales" vs "1000 of x with the pro plan."

edw519
As a hacker, I prefer a system to do something outside my core strength. David Sandler has the best sales system I have found.

You may want to check out a current a book about Sandler for about 16 bucks:

The Sandler Rules: 49 Timeless Selling Principles and How to Apply Them (Hardcover)

http://www.amazon.com/Sandler-Rules-Timeless-Selling-Princip...

Here's the Table of Contents:

   1. You have to learn to fail, to win.
   2. Don't spill your candy in the lobby.
   3. No mutual mystification.
   4. A decision not to make a decision is a decision.
   5. Never answer an unasked question.
   6. Don't buy back tomorrow the product or service you sold today.
   7. You never have to like prospecting, you just have to do it.
   8. When prospecting, go for the appointment.
   9. Every unsuccessful prospecting call earns compound interest.
  10. Develop a prospecting awareness.
  11. Money does grow on trees.
  12. Answer every question with a question.
  13. No mind reading.
  14. A prospect who is listening is no prospect at all.
  15. The best sales presentation you'll ever give, the prospect will never see.
  16. Never ask for the order - make the prospect give up.
  17. The professional does what he did as a dummy - on purpose.
  18. Don't paint "seagulls" in your prospect's picture.
  19. Never help the prospect end the interview.
  20. The bottom line of professional selling is going to the bank.
  21. Sell today, educate tomorrow.
  22. Only give a presentation for the "kill".
  23. The way to get rid of a bomb is to defuse it before it blows up.
  24. Product knowledge used at the wrong time can be intimidating.
  25. When you wnat to know the future, bring it back to the present.
  26. people buy in spite of the hard sell, not because of it.
  27. You can't sell anybody anything - they must discover they want it.
  28. When under attack - fall back.
  29. You meter's always running.
  30. You can't lose anything you don't have.
  31. Close the sale or close the file.
  32. Get an I.O.U. for everything you do.
  33. On your way to the bank, key one eye over your shoulder.
  34. Work smart, not hard.
  35. If your competition does it, stop doing it right away.
  36. Only decision makers can get others to make decisions.
  37. All prospects lie, all the time.
  38. The problem the prospect brings you is never the real problem.
  39. When all else fails, become a consultant.
  40. Fake it 'til you make it.
  41. There are not bad prospects - only bad salespeople.
  42. A winner has alternatives, a loser puts all his eggs in one basket.
  43. You don't learn now to win by getting a "yes" - you learn how to win by getting a "no".
  44. When your foot hurts, you're probably standing on your own toe.
  45. Express your feelings through third-party stories.
  46. There is no such thing as a good try.
  47. Selling is a Broadway play performed by a psychiatrist.
  48. A life without risk is a life without growth.
  49. Leave your child in the car.
alanthonyc
I worked in a boiler-room type place once, while in college. I learned a lot from listening to these slick salesmen (some well past the sleazy stage) working to extricate money from old retired people. Think Glengarry Glen Ross.

I can see a lot of the principles they used listed here. One really obvious one, #12.

They made a game with each other of being able to answer any question with a question.

leff_f
Sell it first. Read books later.

The only difference between salesman and programmer is the first gets NO more often.