[jp1989]

I think sales is a skill that mystifies plenty of HN'ers, and engineers in general. Learning to become a better salesperson is the best "growth hack" for your company. You'll need it for users/customers, journalists, potential hires and investors. Many of the tips/tricks are useful across those disciplines. Look forward to seeing what happens here.

[at-fates-hands]

After spending a good chunk of my time in sales before I became a developer, this is one of those skills which can set you apart from everybody else.It's such a valuable tool and one of the reasons I've been hired multiple times out of large pools of candidates.

The other great thing is it doesn't take a lot of time to master. Oh sure, if you want to close multi-million dollar deals it takes some time, but if you just want to learn the basics of closing and how to read people, it's pretty easy.

Also, a lot of these techniques never get old, they're still the same methods people have been using for decades, so it's not like tech where tools and techniques are quickly outdated.

If anybody's interested, I can post some resources.

[nodata]

Spoken like a true salesman, not giving the goods away immediately :)

[mailshanx]

I'm not much of a salesman, but i strongly recommend Robert Cialdini's Influence. The author created the scientific field that studies how to influence human behavior - he is a sociologist and embedded himself within multiple sales teams. The book itself contains lots of references to scientific trials, and has plenty of actionable, practical advise.

[jp1989]

Spot on. It really does help in all aspects of company-building, and like you say - it's not an extremely steep learning curve, the basics will take you a fair way.

[lzy]

Please do. Thank you.

[donw]

I think Dan Pink summarized it nicely in "To Sell Is Human": Sales is an activity we do all the time. Every time we want to get something, and have to offer something in return, that's sales.