How to Sell like a Sith Lord
As a startup mentor at River City Labs, I have worked with technical founders to appreciate the "dark arts" of selling. With the anticipation of Episode VII, The Force Awakens, I wrote this fun piece about the selling skills of Senator Palpatine/Darth Sidious. 1. "Hard to see, the dark side is" - Yoda (Episode I, The Phantom Menace) The "dark side" like masterful selling is hidden to those buying. On the other hand bad selling [...]
How to avoid the “Poison Chalice” Sales Job
From the outside the organisation has a great brand and and displays the trappings of success. The company is keen to hire you because you are a sales gun with proven ability to meet and exceed targets. Your past sales success gives the company confidence you could be their gun. But its a trap! If you have not experienced a poison chalice sales job before, you will be in for [...]
Honesty and Trust
As a parent I often ask my six year old son if he has cleaned his teeth. Sometimes he's inclined to mislead me by saying, "hmmm....yes..?". With a big smile I like to remind him that Mummy and Daddy have Superpowers! We can tell when he's not telling the truth. He's not 100% sure about my claim. But its something we all laugh about. Throughout my career I have met [...]
What’s in a name?
Over my career I've had various job titles in sales: Account Executive Sales Manager Account Manager Business Development Manager Business Manager Client Management The names have changed, but the role of a sales person is still the same. Peter Thiel in his book Zero to One talked about how many people disguise the fact that they are in sales. He included sales people disguised in professions such as politics and [...]
Don’t oversell the first meeting
I've recently met with several startups seeking to meet with large enterprises. It can be frustrating when a potential client does not want to meet with you. Particularly if you strongly believe that your solution is designed to address their challenges. In my experience the biggest rookie mistake is overselling the first meeting. To get your first meeting with a potential client, consider the following approach: Raise a "topic" that you strongly believe [...]
It helps to sell if you like people
We have all met someone that has a force-field of contempt towards all other humans. They could be internal or external to our organisation. Similar to the character, Alice in Dilbert.com. Over my career I have seen many "Alices" across technical, accounting, finance and legal roles. When you ask for their help, you realise their world view is completely different to yours. You are asking for assistance. They [...]