
The best salespeople have expensive hobbies - ciscoriordan
http://www.quotacrush.com/index.php/2009/08/12/the-best-salespeople-have-expensive-hobbies/
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edw519
_...we are trained at the core to manipulate conversations, control the
direction of conversations, get you to feel good about what we are saying, and
convince you that the things you are looking for are not what you are looking
for - but you are instead looking for the things that are good in us._

Fortunately, he does not speak for all salespeople. Good technical salespeople
are trusted advisors and business partners working toward mutually beneficial
solutions.

If OP's "Sales 101 for entrepreneurs" lecture was about manipulation and
control, I'll pass.

Whether it's building or selling, I prefer to do what is always in my
customer's best interest.

~~~
dschobel
Yeah, I had never heard of the author before this article but he certainly got
me to dislike him very quickly.

Must not be a very good salesperson...

~~~
three14
I felt likewise, but maybe he's still a good salesperson. Ever have the
experience that someone made you feel too embarrassed to walk away without
buying something?

I feel like he's hinting at a technique that would work with me. "What? You
don't want to buy our database software because there's no support for
transactions? I'll get the coders to write it for you _special_. How could you
say no if I'll do that for you?" I never feel good about those transactions
afterward.

~~~
DTrejo
Boiler Room (the movie) has many examples of that kind of manipulative sales
technique.

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brezina
i thought he was going to say people with expensive hobbies hang out with
other people that have money - and therefore rub elbows with potential buyers
or people who are connected to other buyers. I think this would be a good
secondary effect. You are much more likely to meet the owner of the bay area's
biggest XYZ company skiing at Squaw than fishing at the docks in Alemeda

~~~
timcederman
I always met far more interesting people in random places in the Valley than
skiing at Squaw.

(amazed at the mix of ex-pats who played touch rugby at Stanford, including
some VPs and a referee who had officiated at State of Origin)

~~~
andreyf
_I always met far more interesting people..._

But what about people with whom you're likely to close a sale?

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lionhearted
Tangent: Scubadiving is not so expensive. You can get your open water license
for a few hundred dollars, and go out diving for a day for $50 including
renting all gear, wetsuit, etc. I mean, it's not really cheap, but it's not
much more expensive than going out to the bar drinking, or even to dinner and
a movie. And it's one of the most enjoyable, transcendent experiences on
Earth. Buoyancy over the ocean floor, with clear visibility in warm water, and
a school of brilliant colored fish swimming around you - it's better than sex.
And it's not so expensive, really. It just scares a lot of people that didn't
grow up "upper class", the way tennis, golf, etc. scare people. You need
someone to introduce you to it, and you'll be in love. I do my best thinking
underwater. It's that good.

~~~
evgen
If you rent all of your gear then diving is not really a hobby, it is just
something you know how to do. After the last cycling thread I will try to
avoid looking like a purist, but rental gear usually has a poor fit [esp. fins
and mask], is not of great quality, and unless you are going to overpay by
renting at the water's edge you need to deal with the hassle of filling out
forms, picking it up, dropping it off, etc. Once you know that you like to
dive you are better off putting together your own rig.

I can rent a bike, but if I don't actually have one sitting in my garage I
would have a hard time claiming that biking is a hobby.

That being said, you can get a good basic rig for a reasonable amount of money
(~$500) and just rent tanks. If you really like diving you will save that much
money after 15-20 dives over renting all your gear and you will end up with
something that fits you and your diving style better.

~~~
herval
I play paintball every single weekend, although I _always_ rent everything
(including jacket). I even have a team I play on... but it's not a hobby since
I don't buy the stuff on my own? Or does it only apply to biking and diving?

~~~
andreyf
_it's not a hobby since I don't buy the stuff on my own?_

In everyday speech, it's a hobby, but not in the definition that the author
uses as a heuristic for "good salespeople".

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chubbard
This sounds like the best way to find the stereotypical sales person. The
sales person who turns everything into a competition. A person who'll race you
to the water fountain then brag about how much more they can drink than you.

Are those really the types of people I have to have in order to win? I know
I'd want to kill them after a month of them being there. And, I bet my
customers would feel the same way about them.

~~~
holygoat
I've known three types of sales person.

The first is perhaps the most obvious: Mercedes, slicked back hair, always on
the phone. They work by having a kind of primal desire to win: they never
stop, they keep calling, they play hard, they give 100%. It's distasteful, but
if I had to get 100M in sales, these are the people I'd try to attract. I've
heard them called "lions". You need these if you're trying to win big
contracts against competitors, because they can go from no foot in the door to
a contract by sheer persistence.

The second is I think (hope?) more common in tech. Smart, fairly technically
inclined, and long-term thinkers. They don't come off as slimy, but they do
somehow remember your name. These people keep clients by learning
requirements, keeping track of them, keeping relationships warm, and keeping
the tech/product people loosely coupled with the customers. You need these if
you're a tools company, because you live by long-term customers.

The third is more subtle, and I've only met one. This is the technically
minded, completely non-conniving leader. By apparently completely honest,
clear technical dialog with customers they build _trust_ and _confidence_ ,
which are the root of sales. It just happens that it's genuine. This works
really well, but you sure can't fake it.

~~~
chubbard
Ah man I wish I'd seen this when you wrote it. I think this is great break
down of the personalities of sales people. There are different types, and they
have different skills sets as you so eloquently pointed out. I think, if I may
interpret a little, what your saying is you need all three, or at least a
mixed bag. You can't use the 3rd to steal contracts away from big customers
because building trust takes a long time. If it is time sensitive the lion is
important. But, remember everybody's got lions. They aren't unique. If you
want to keep that business you need one of the other two because customers
won't jump ship because they trust the other type of sales person.

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GiraffeNecktie
A successful advertising sales manager once told me that he always his
encouraged his salespeople to buy expensive things - big tvs, fancy cars, nice
houses. The more they indulge themselves, the more they have to sell. Sounds
like a miserable life to me, but apparently it works.

~~~
evgen
Yep. One piece of advice I have received multiple times is to never hire a VP
of sales who is not mortgaged to the hilt and living beyond his/her salary.
The incentive to cover a large nut is what drives a lot of them to go out and
close the deal.

~~~
mattm
Man, these comments are depressing

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holygoat
Sales as a profession is slightly depressing.

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sx
Very short-sighted. You need confidence as a sales person so that you avoid
wasting your time when the customer is not going to buy but if you
"manipulate" someone into buying something that is not useful for them, then
go back to sell to them again...

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gaius
A heronie habit?

Guess you don't need to proofread if you're God's gift to salesmanship.

~~~
dgabriel
Comic books _are_ an expensive habit.

~~~
falsestprophet
So are children

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dgabriel
I know! I have 3 (I'm the lone woman in the news.yc survey stats with more
than one kid).

