The Beginner's Guide to Sales

I have some concerns about some of the advice they are giving, especially in "Chapter One". This idea of making compensation for sales people so commission driven, and having the big "leader-board" and everything, seems so "Glengarry Glen Ross" and 1990's to me. At least a few firms are starting to experiment with paying sales people a flat salary, combined with regional and company-wide bonuses (or something along those lines) to try and align the incentives the the sales-person with the company as a whole. Because, as we all know, not every sale is a Good Thing.<p>That older model also risks creating a situation where your sales people are competing with each other and not acting in concert as part of a team. I can't help but wonder if there isn't a better way.

Really wish this were on a single page so I could Instapaper it.

Ugh, I hate the attitude on display in this article.<p>The idea that everybody will benefit from your product, and that you just have to help them see the light is false and patronizing.<p>I would not benefit from a new iphone because my current phone does everything I want my smartphone to do.<p>"Uncovering problems for your customers" is newspeak for "selling a solution in search of a problem"

As an engineer, the most soul crushing aspect of sales process is when people simply ignore your calls and emails. I hesitate to follow up because I do not want to seen spamming people and eventually all hope inside of me just shrivels up and just dies.I find rejections to be emotionally devastating.<p>I would gladly pay for a sales guru/therapist who would listen to what I have been upto and tell me what I am doing wrong , what I am doing right and what I should be doing more.

This reminds me of Daniel Pink's To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others. Worth a read if you like this.

Nice! Thanks for sharing this. You should include some more sales anecdotes if you have any to add. They're a really useful way of communicating a sales strategy being applied to a unique scenario.

Great post, alot of good stuff here. Its all about understanding your customer and bringing them True Value!