5 ms·
Ask HN: Sales book recommendation?
I've been working as a freelancer web/software developer for almost a year now; however, I feel that my sales cycles are long-stretched at best.
I have no intention whatsoever to "blame the economy" (as it seems to be fashionable nowdays); I'll take full responsibility for this, and thus turn to the entreprenour culture blooming around here:
What books, blogs, or fundamental understanding has made the biggest impact on your sales, and bottom line?
(No cliches, please.)
- melvinram 17y ago* SPIN Selling by Rackman * The Sales Bible by Gitomer * Selling to VITO by Parinello * Lead Generation for the Complex Sale by Brian Carroll * http://www.marketingsherpa.com/ http://www.marketingsherpa.com/ * http://blog.startwithalead.com/weblog/ http://blog.startwithalead.com/weblog/ * http://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=35771&trk=anet_ug_hm http://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=35771&trk=a... This one is a linekdin group that sends out a good email news letter
- ericb 17y agoIf you had to pick just one?
- feverishaaron 17y agoI would pick SPIN selling from this list, especially if you are selling custom work in an enterprise software market.
- melvinram 17y agoIf I had to pick one, I'd pick SPIN Selling as feverishaaron said. It's a lot more how to and broken down into steps. Selling to VITO is also step by step, but SPIN Selling approach makes more sense to me.
- mooders 17y agoGeoffrey Moore's Crossing the Chasm Bosworth/Holland's Customer-Centric Selling
- davidw 17y agoCrossing the Chasm is a good book, but as a sales book for a freelancer?
- mooders 17y agoDefinitely - if you don't understand the market, the motivations for purchasing, the product development lifecycle and so on, how can you possibly sell anything beyond brute force and willpower?
- davidw 17y agoIf you're selling your time, you are pretty much selling 'brute force' by definition, rather than a product.
- deleted 17y ago[deleted]
- AlleyRow 17y agoThe 100 Best Business Books of All Time has a list of 12 Sales/Marketing books on this page: http://100bestbiz.com/more-on-the-100-best/ http://100bestbiz.com/more-on-the-100-best/ The list as a whole is pretty solid.
- melvinram 17y agoSelling the Invisible by Harry Beckwith from the list is a good one.
- dangoldin 17y agoReady, Fire, Aim: Zero to $100 Million in No Time Flat by Michael Masterson is pretty good.
- access_denied 17y agoBob Bly.
- sachinag 17y agoAre your rates public on your site? If not, I'd start there. If your sales cycles are long, there's nothing that will qualify leads faster. If Brian Fling can do it, so can you: http://www.flingmedia.com/contact/ http://www.flingmedia.com/contact/ (drop-down under New Project Request)
- kashif 17y agoHighly recommend - Selling the Wheel!
- mrduncan 17y agoHow to Win Friends & Influence People (http://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People/dp/0671723650 http://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People/dp/06...) - Seriously.
- oomkiller 17y agoBe sure to keep your mentality, don't adopt the sales mentality where you just try to make as many sales as possible. If you're not making enough, maybe you should charge more for services, while at the same time improving the quality of work. In web design and programming, I always put quality above quantity. If you do a great job, your service will sell itself by word of mouth.
- iainduncan 17y agoThis is totally true, with one giant caveat: how much you are worth will not sell itself. You will get referrals, but you need to make sure that you are negotiating properly or you can wind up swamped with work that you aren't charging enough for. Sooo, even if you feel like you have all the work you need, you owe it to yourself to do some sales reading. ;-)
- wallflower 17y ago"Go for No" Incorrect model: Success <--- Me ---> Failure Correct model: Me ---> Failure ---> Success More about the book: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=415531 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=415531
- iainduncan 17y agoI'm a freelancer in web dev and show biz and have done a lot of sales in that area. Brian Tracey's "Advanced Selling Strategies" is probably the best single book out there for individual one-on-one selling, especially if you also read "How to Win Friends and Influence People" 80% of reviewers on Amazon gave it 5 stars, and the rest 4. That's saying something for a business book! I would also highly recommend finding good books on negotiation too. Balancing relationship sales with negotiation and estimation is IMHO the hardest and most far-reaching aspect of being a freelance web dev. Iain Duncan
- antiform 17y agoIf I could choose one book on sales, it would be Non-Manipulative Selling by Tony Alessandra. This is a diamond in the rough among sales books. Many other books on sales, at least in the few that I've read and others I've skimmed, seem to be full of subtle and not-so-subtle psychological manipulation that always gave me an uneasy feeling in my gut once the conversation ended. This book is different. However, even if you believe in the "hard sell" philosophy, you should read this, since at the very least, you learn many tips to prevent negotiations from getting hostile.
- farout 17y agoI have been sales for years - the books mentioned are good not great. If there was one that was my favorite out of the 200+ ones I read, "let's get real or let's not play" by khalsa. It is good for you for several reasons: 1. based on consultative services not product sales 2. the audio is hands down the best. It brought tears to my eyes that I had to learn by hard knocks what he shows you to do. 3. it is greared to setup a win win situation and define precisely the value you are providing at the core of the business.
- edw519 17y agoThe best I've ever seen: http://www.amazon.com/Cant-Teach-Ride-Bike-Seminar/dp/0967179904/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240094794&sr=8-1 http://www.amazon.com/Cant-Teach-Ride-Bike-Seminar/dp/096717...
- thehickmans 17y agoI'll second a few that have been mentioned already: * http://blog.startwithalead.com/weblog/ http://blog.startwithalead.com/weblog/ (Brian Carroll's blog) * http://www.amazon.com/Lets-Get-Real-Not-Play/dp/1883219507 http://www.amazon.com/Lets-Get-Real-Not-Play/dp/1883219507 you can read more from Mahan Khalsa at: http://www.ninetyfive5.com/default.aspx http://www.ninetyfive5.com/default.aspx I found both of these very helpful in building my understanding of the sales process and for the tools they provide you with. The biggest shift in thinking they provided for me was that selling is about asking questions, finding a connection between what you're offering and what your customer is looking for and then asking for the business. They also showed me that selling is about focusing your activities on the right things to meet your goals, not just spending time "busy" selling.
- rivo 17y agoInfluence: The Psychology of Persuasion http://www.amazon.com/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-Business-Essentials/dp/006124189X/ http://www.amazon.com/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-Busine... The Definitive Book of Body Language http://www.amazon.com/Definitive-Book-Body-Language/dp/0553804723/ http://www.amazon.com/Definitive-Book-Body-Language/dp/05538... +1 to How to Win Friends & Influence People
- csbartus 17y agoThe Richest Man in Babylon: http://www.amazon.com/Richest-Man-Babylon-George-Clason/dp/1607960664/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240163748&sr=8-1 http://www.amazon.com/Richest-Man-Babylon-George-Clason/dp/1...