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Ask HN: How to learn to sell?

355 points rasulkireev | 1 comments | 16 Oct 22 15:19 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source

Hey HN,

I am a solo founder that just finished writing code for my project (MVP) and am ready to find clients.

- for the sake of the question, my clients will be small physical businesses. Think, Family Doctor's Office, Local Cafe, Small barber, etc.

I will be developing a blog for SEO purposes and doing other things to promote my business online. However, I believe the key to success here will be "Cold Sales". I have never done that before. So, if you could recommend a book, a blog post, other online resources, or you just have a random advice that I could learn from, I would be very thankful.

Suffice it to say I will be starting out ASAP, even though I don't know anything. I believe practice is the best teacher. However, if there are any resources that could help me get up and running quicker that would be awesome. Thanks a ton in advance.

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fraaancis ◴[16 Oct 22 16:16 UTC] No.33224754[source]▶
* > I believe the key to success here will be "Cold Sales" *

100% correct.

1. Get a demo ready that you can show on a laptop. Focus on features.

2. Smile and dial. Set a meeting with the business owner or manager to show the demo.

3. Listen. The things they say (mostly objections) will guide your product development.

4. Accept rejection. You will get meetings from 10% of your calls. You will make sales on 2% of your meetings if the customer even needs the product.

Reading is a good way to forestall the heartache of actual sales, but that's it. Everything you need to know you'll learn in meetings.

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User23 ◴[16 Oct 22 16:18 UTC] No.33224775[source]▶
Don’t just accept rejection, but learn to thrive on it. That is the secret of sales.
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zomglings ◴[16 Oct 22 16:29 UTC] No.33224868[source]▶
How do you thrive on rejection? Genuinely want to learn.
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1. solatic ◴[16 Oct 22 17:57 UTC] No.33225651{3}[source]▶
General steps -

1. First, disassociate. Most of the time, rejection is about the subject (doing the rejection) being closed to something new rather than some notion of the object (of the rejection) being undesirable.

2. Gain confidence in the object. Understand that the object has its own merits. The object isn't undesirable, rather, you're looking for subjects who appreciate what the object has to offer. That a given subject doesn't appreciate the object, has no bearing on the object. Move on and find other potential subjects.

3. As potential subjects polarize and reject the object for reasons that are to be expected - because the object is what it is, and does not attempt to be what is not - recognize rejection as an affirmation of the object's qualities.

Most of the loop between (2) and (3) is about improving the clarity of communication, such that subjects do not make mistaken rejections, either because (a) the values of the object are not clear to the subjects or (b) the unsuitability of the subject is not clear to the object.