When I first opened my computer store, I envisioned myself behind a desk or workbench and building, selling and repairing PCs, but not necessarily in that order. To be honest, I mostly thought about building and repairing them. I really didn’t think much about the selling part at all. In fact, the whole concept of actually selling the computers was limited strictly to the part where they give me the money after I built or repaired the machines. There was no initial sales or marketing pitch included in my little fantasy.
Imagine the rude awakening when I finally realized that when I opened my store, I had to be a salesman and that my first and primary job in my business was not fixing stuff, but actually selling it.
I was not a salesman. On the contrary, I was someone who was typically put off by salespeople or the notion of sales as an actual, serious career. I didn’t consider myself particularly gifted for it and the fast-talking, classic used car salesman stigma I attached to the word when ever it was applied to any industry (or, worse, think Mr. Haney from the TV show Green Acres) was somewhat distasteful to me. Yet I knew that if I wanted to build computers, I had to sell them first.
So I did.
I never had any formal training in sales and the mistakes I made were many. But I realized that if my business was to survive at all, I had to learn how to be a salesperson and I had to learn to not only to accept, but embrace that role as a vital part of the operation.
This is one reason why a lot of techs don’t make it on their own. They are techs. Sales requires social networking and people skills. The personality of the typical tech isn’t geared for that type of interaction with others. The typical tech (think geek) is more analytical, more aloof to many of the social skills that others may master. This isn’t a slam on techs (or geeks) of course; I consider myself a member of that tech group as well. It’s just the way it is. It’s simply who we are.
It doesn’t mean those skills can’t be acquired or learned, either. Take Bill Gates, for example. He’s a classic symbol of geekdom, yet he built a software empire and is one of the wealthiest and most successful men in the world today. He sold the world on Windows. Now his software is another window to the world.
Then there are those who are born with a little of both. Is Steve Jobs a tech geek or a marketing genius? I guess it depends on how you look at him. Yet the story of Apple speaks for itself. When Jobs speaks, he’s speaking for Apple, and it seems like one big sales pitch. That’s Apple. It develops technology, but it’s really a marketing machine.
These skills can either be born within or they can be learned. The key is that they must be developed and utilized. Techs in the tech business must be techs, but unless they have their own sales staff, they must be salespeople too. As the tech needs tech training and, where necessary, certification, they need sales training as well. Without sales savvy you won’t have many sales and without sales you won’t have a business.
I know many in the business who are techs and don’t like playing sales person and don’t want it. But they need it. I did. We all do. But where can we find sales training on the fly without having to retrain ourselves for something completely different from what we learned as techs and without investing a lot of time, money and effort to do it?
Here are a few tips and resources for learning and channeling sales skills without sacrificing a lot of time and energy away from your workbench:
1. Vendor reseller and partner programs.
You know I am very pro-partner, and this is one reason why. Aside from the marketing tools, spiffs and product support vendor partner programs offer to resellers, Many of them offer sales support and training as well. A lot of it is FREE training.
For instance, Microsoft has a partner program and offers free sales kits, tools and training for its partner members. Trend Micro has a sales certification program that involves only a minimum of study and testing. It is free. I became a Trend Micro Certified Sales Representative in their TSEP (Trend Micro Security Education Program years ago. I completed the course in a couple of hours and not only learned specifics about the products, I learned a few things about selling security software to SMBs that came in handy later.
2. Online vendor sales seminars and podcasts.
I’ve attended many of these over the years. They are generally free and provide tips on selling vendor products to specific target markets as well as offer insight into industry sales and market trends. Some of them give out free prizes for attending the video seminars. You can’t beat that.
3. Trade publications.
You’ve heard me promote them ad nauseum, but amid all the ads and self promotion inside industry trade publications, there are some good articles in many of them, including tips on selling in the IT marketplace as well as case studies of other successful IT companies and how they sell products and services to their customers. Learn by example. They are free too. Here is a list of FREE trade publications you can subscribe to.
4. White papers.
Like trade publications, white papers geared toward the reseller often contain strategies or “best practices” for selling specific lines of products or services to clients in targeted markets. Like trade publications, white papers are usually FREE. You can sign up for free white papers here .
5. Books about selling.
Okay, these are generally not free, but books are one of the oldest resources available. A good book on sales by a qualified author is a tried and true resource that you can keep handy to read at your leisure or keep just for reference. No time to read long books? Buy them as audiobooks and listen to them en route to or from the job or on your mp3 player.
6. Organizations.
Join your local Chamber of Commerce. Many will offer sales training seminars, networking opportunities and other events to help you gain education and experience. There are many small business organizations on the net that offer similar resources. Join NASBA , ASCII , ACRBO and any others you can find and utlilize their resources. ASCII isn’t free, but the others mentioned are.
7. The Force Field.
Hey, we can’t forget where we are now, can we? Listen to The Force Field podcast, join the site, browse the IT Business Resource Directory and join the forums. You can enjoy yourself and perhaps learn something along the way.