Being a techie, I would like to get better at selling enterprise software to small and medium businesses for my startup and selling in general. Do you all have any suggestions for good websites / books that outline the different approaches to sales and other things to look out for when selling?
I won't recommend any books, but I do recommend talking to your potential clients. Ask them to buy your product, and when they say no ask them "Why not?". Then figure out what you need to do to change that no into a maybe, or a yes.
Don't change everything you are doing to accommodate one customer, but the best way to sell is to talk to your customers and to be flexible.
People frequently say that sales is a numbers game, and it is if you never change your tactics. You need to refine them as you go. Just keep talking to them, but learn from each interaction.
1) to get better at selling, one of the first things to do is more practice [1] at selling.
2) there are some skills to learn, and these skills are "soft" ones - which typically receive disdain in techie culture [2].
Last year, I ran for public office. I discovered to my surprise that I interviewed [3] poorly. This explains why I've had difficulty getting hired in the past. I plan to join Toastmasters later this year (when my schedule opens up) to help correct this.
E-Myth revisited. We all have cultural baggage about what a business is, and isn't. And for many businesses, that baggage gets in the way of actually getting work done, or getting ahead as a business.
http://www.amazon.com/E-Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses-Abou...
Notes:
1 - If you've got a good feedback loop for yourself, then any practice, good or bad, will help (aka: practice makes perfect). If your feedback loop tends to the same sort of self deception that most people have, then I recommend finding a coach (aka: repetition will cement bad practices, only perfect practice makes perfect).
2 - translation: "dude, you're turning into a SUIT!" (with audible disdaining tone used for last word).
3 - While interviewing for a job, and interviewing in the media share the same name, they're different enough that books aimed at helping one tangentially help the other. But at least I now have a brilliant retort to "what is your greatest weakness?" A: I found that I interview poorly.
One of the best business classes that I ever took was from a retired VP of sales for a Fortune 500 insurance company. He highly recommended the Carnegie Sales courses: http://www.dalecarnegie.com/
Don't change everything you are doing to accommodate one customer, but the best way to sell is to talk to your customers and to be flexible.
People frequently say that sales is a numbers game, and it is if you never change your tactics. You need to refine them as you go. Just keep talking to them, but learn from each interaction.