Thread by @nonmayorpete

The most formative experience I've had is 2-3 years sitting next to amazing salespeople, passively listening into how they do their job.

Truly a lot of fun to hear them do/say something, then apply it in my own work the next minute.

Great salespeople know how to engage people from minute 0.

At best, the average meeting starts with sparse and terrible small talk.

You know when the small talk dies out and people decide to be quiet instead? That's you *mutually agreeing* that everyone is being boring.

For the best salespeople, the sales call starts long before they dial in.

They do their research on EVERYTHING - the people, where they're from, what they worked on, what the company is doing as of late.

Detail and personal context make you interesting. The weather does not.

So what if you took 1 minute before your big group meeting to think about how you'll break the ice more deliberately?

What if you consciously decided to ask about something you heard one person mention casually earlier in the day?

Sales asks challenging questions, probably more challenging than you'd think to ask.

They ask about money, which you probably don't because it's sensitive. They ask about decision-making processes, which you probably don't because it's weird to call out such a meta process.

Who's better at negotiating their comp? The people who are afraid to talk about money, or the people who talk money all day every day?

It's a business. You pay me to deliver more value than I cost you. I'm delivering this much value, so I think I should get this much pay.

Great salespeople can do all this because (1) they LISTEN REALLY CLOSELY and (2) sales is, in some form, supposed to add value for both sides.

If you do both, it doesn't feel sales-y. It's consultative. You're solving a problem together.

I've interviewed dozens of sales candidates. People hate salespeople because yes, many suck. They ask you a question and they don't listen to the answer. What's the point?

When you get someone who adjusts their agenda to fit what you're saying: "This person gets me."

LISTEN. CLOSELY.

Are you actually hearing what they're saying? Points to you if you can hear their words. But extra kudos if you can figure out the stance that they're not saying out loud.

Great salespeople are excellent project managers.

They know their deals in and out. They can review their entire pipeline and recite: momentum, risks, things they need help on. No notes.

They follow up. They don't let things die just because they didn't want to "bother someone"

Write down the deadlines, then say them out loud for the people who need to hear them. Be extra clear.

Tell them you're going to check in on this date if you don't hear from them.

Then do it.

Truly cannot overstate how useful it is to be near sales if you can't do the job itself.

Sit next to them. Ask to shadow a call. Ask for a recording.