
Sales Advice - ca98am79
http://firstround.com/article/The-39-Best-Pieces-of-Sales-Advice-Youll-Hear-This-Year
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tomelders
"Paying a bonus, not a commission... because people leave at the end of the
quarter and you can save a ton of cash"

I'm not sure I'd be comfortable with that kind of policy. A fair days pay for
a fair days work.

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ianhawes
Completely agree, especially when it comes to commission. The best salespeople
will quickly sniff out the optimal commission/bonus structure, and I'd wager
that they'd perform better under a commission versus a bonus.

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notahacker
_Everything_ about this article is geared towards hiring fresh first-jobbers
and hoping at least 25% of them won't be shit[1]. The best salespeople would
run a mile rather than work for him.

That said, the best salespeople would probably be happy with their commission
being paid quarterly provided it was high enough.

[1]For some markets this volume-based approach actually works; for others
it'll make you a laughing stock.

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dang
It's sometimes amusing what you're left with when you strip the various
linkbait devices out of a title.

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mindcrime
Some of this sounds pretty good, but a lot of it sounds like it's geared
towards a _Glengarry Glen Ross_ or _Boiler Room_ style environment, and
towards selling low-value, high volume commodity products.

What I mean is, there doesn't seem to be anything about diagnosing customer
needs, researching the customer, creating a tailored value hypothesis, and/or
helping the customer understand the value you'll be delivering. There are the
kinds of things I've been taught to do in terms of selling complex, high-value
B2B solutions.

Maybe the "have a script, make the script perfect, and call enough people"
approach is right in some environments, but I wouldn't expect it to be
universally applicable.

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louwrentius
I was reading this advice and it really sounded like you are advised to create
a horrible, horrible place to work.

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free2rhyme214
8 ways to success. 6 traits of effective leaders. 5 key habits of
billionaires. These articles get old. Good advice here and there but old.

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TheBiv
Awesome list!

One thing I would've loved for him to explain more of, was how he crafted his
sales script in the beginning. Basically how he did his guess and check work
and what sort of revelations/things he learned while crafting the sales
script.

He really just mentions that it's hard to create a script. :(

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soneca
I have a trick for creating a sales script. After every sales
pitch/conversation/call/meeting write down the _tough questions_ the prospect
asked.

Do this for your first 10, 50, 100 sales. Along the way you will find out the
best answers, the ones who move the process forward. After a lot of
experience, you will have a fairly good sales script adressing the most
important common points.

But also create a complete FAQ for the tough questions, with all the best
answers written, print it and read all of it before leaving for each sales
meeting. This will help a lot.

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btrautsc
Great advice

