The hottest Sales Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Business Topics

Sales Qualification: Sales Discovery Calls + Qualification Frameworks + 21 Sales Discovery Questions

Startup Business Tips 🚀 • 8 implied HN points • 17 Feb 24
💼 Business Sales CRM Product Marketing
  1. Qualifying a lead involves determining if both the lead and your product are a good fit, making it a mutual decision to invest time in the sales process.
  2. Sales qualification frameworks like MEDDIC, SPIN, SUGAR, and SPICED provide structure for the sales process, improve pipeline quality, and help create a shared understanding internally.
  3. Sales discovery calls are crucial for properly qualifying leads, and using the right discovery questions in a 2-step sales process ensures a focused approach, personalized demos, and involvement of relevant stakeholders.

Sales Messaging - The 4 key elements that make your sales outreach effective.

Startup Business Tips 🚀 • 21 implied HN points • 27 May 23
💼 Business Sales Copywriting Lead Generation
  1. Having powerful sales messaging is crucial for business success.
  2. Running powerful outbound sales sequences involves finding ideal leads, getting their emails, enriching data, building campaigns, and creating personalized messages.
  3. The PAS framework (Problem-Agitate-Solution) is a popular copywriting framework that can be applied to various aspects of marketing.

Why Must You Pay Sales People Commissions?

Dan’s Substack • 2 HN points • 19 Apr 24
💼 Business Sales Compensation Company Culture Employee Motivation Organizational Behavior
  1. Salespeople being paid commissions is a common practice, but it can lead to various recurring problems like high turnover and internal disputes.
  2. Research suggests that higher incentives, like commissions, can actually reduce performance in some cases, which is a counter-intuitive result.
  3. The debate over sales commissions reflects two different views of worker motivation: Theory X, where employees are seen as lazy and need external rewards, and Theory Y, where workers are viewed as self-motivated and thrive on autonomy.

The Ultimate Guide to Sales Product Demos: Mastering the Art of Closing Deals.

Startup Business Tips 🚀 • 21 implied HN points • 21 Mar 23
💼 Business Sales SaaS Growth Strategy Startups
  1. A powerful SaaS product demo combines structure, value-focused messaging, and engaging communication.
  2. A successful SaaS product demo follows a 9-phase structure, from research and preparation to pricing and next steps.
  3. Key aspects of a strong SaaS product demo include keeping it engaging, focusing on benefits, and addressing pain points.
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Lessons On Advertising From Across The Atlantic

WriMoReMo • 7 implied HN points • 12 Feb 24
💼 Business Advertising Marketing Sales Finance Consumerism
  1. People around the world share common emotions like happiness, sadness, and fear despite playing life's game on different boards.
  2. America has a deep-seated culture that resists centralized power and favors institutional proliferation, with capitalism being a prominent 'god'.
  3. American business thrives on a combination of sales, service, marketing, value creation, and finance, shaping a society deeply rooted in consumerism and desire creation.

The 2 parts of a powerful ideal customer profile & how to personalize your message with Icebreakers.

Startup Business Tips 🚀 • 17 implied HN points • 06 May 23
💼 Business Marketing Sales Lead Generation Software Tools
  1. Focus on creating a specific market segment for better understanding and targeting
  2. Use non-obvious tactics on LinkedIn for lead generation like stealing followers from competitors
  3. Personalize your outreach with icebreakers by using trigger events like job changes or industry news

"Sell me this Pen"

Achee Alpha • 6 implied HN points • 16 Feb 24
💼 Business Sales Marketing Startups Books Product Development
  1. Stop selling and start helping when it comes to sales. Position yourself as an experienced guide to the buyer to win them over.
  2. Understand the buyer's problems, pains, and other solutions they have considered before making your case for your product or service.
  3. Don't just assume buyers know how to make the right decision. Teach them how to buy by presenting your solution as the best choice among their options.

Why Innovator’s Dilemma Doesn’t Apply to AI

Enterprise AI Trends • 2 HN points • 18 May 24
💼 Business Startups Innovation Sales Technology Market Trends
  1. Startups and big companies are chasing the same customers in the AI space, so there's no real advantage for either side. This makes it hard for startups to stand out.
  2. Sales cycles in enterprise AI are long, meaning startups can't quickly outpace large companies with new ideas. By the time they are ready, big players will have similar offers.
  3. Big companies often have better insights about customer needs and established sales channels. This makes it tough for startups to find new ways to reach customers.

How to market... your price?

Mehdeeka • 3 implied HN points • 21 Feb 24
💼 Business Marketing Sales Pricing Design Customers
  1. Positioning and displaying pricing on websites requires careful thought to avoid overwhelming visitors. Highlighting value propositions, using tier layouts effectively, and integrating FAQs can enhance clarity.
  2. Incorporating pricing details into sales materials like pitch decks and business case templates reinforces the value proposition and aids in presenting a clear investment summary to potential clients.
  3. For complex products, consider creating in-depth documents or web pages that outline proposed options with detailed inclusions, FAQs, and explanations to assist customers in making informed decisions.

Customer reviews: bop or flop?

Mehdeeka • 3 implied HN points • 01 Feb 24
💼 Business Marketing Reviews Sales Branding Customer Engagement
  1. Reviews can be a powerful marketing tool for branding, pipeline growth, and higher conversions.
  2. To get more reviews, consider running campaigns, both by G2 and vendors, and use passive review strategies.
  3. Reviews have the most impact in the middle of the sales/marketing funnel and can be amplified across marketing assets like websites for increased trust and conversions.

1 simple habit to be more persuasive

Stream of Consciousness • 1 HN point • 23 Feb 24
💼 Business Marketing Behavioral Economics Sales Persuasion
  1. Offering only one option reduces the perceived value of that option. Comparing it to alternatives makes it more appealing.
  2. When presenting a product, service, or idea, always contrast it with other options to enhance its desirability.
  3. The decoy effect showcases how introducing a less desirable third option can shift preferences towards a more expensive choice, highlighting the power of comparison.

Interview with the vampire (I mean, 🦇sales person🦇)

Mehdeeka • 2 implied HN points • 13 Mar 24
💼 Business Sales Marketing CRM Lead Generation
  1. Understanding your ideal customer and market segmentation is crucial in setting up an effective outbound sales motion.
  2. In outbound sales, incorporating multiple communication channels like calling, emailing, texting, LinkedIn messaging, voice messaging, and video can significantly increase conversion rates.
  3. Having a clear path for follow-up, being ready to pivot strategies, and testing various approaches are key to success in outbound sales.

Lessons from going Multi-Product; Why positioning fails to make the jump from Marketing to Sales; How to get buy-in for your Marketing work internally

Femstreet • 2 implied HN points • 03 Mar 24
💼 Business Marketing Product Development Sales Entrepreneurship Startups
  1. Embarking on multi-product development is like exploring new territory in business, offering growth opportunities but also requiring strategic decisions for success.
  2. Internal marketing is crucial for getting buy-in on marketing efforts within a company, ensuring that the value of marketing work is effectively communicated and understood.
  3. Pricing is a powerful tool for growth often overlooked by product teams, and running willingness-to-pay studies can provide valuable insights for sustainable business growth.

Developer to Solo Founder: The Books That Built My Path

Navaneeth’s Newsletter • 1 HN point • 22 Sep 24
💼 Business Entrepreneurship Startups Venture Capital Leadership Sales
  1. Reading can provide valuable insights when transitioning from a technical role to a leadership position. Important books can help navigate challenges and focus on new responsibilities.
  2. Understanding the venture capital world is crucial for founders looking to attract investors. Books can offer guidance on pitching, financials, and maintaining relationships with investors.
  3. Positioning your product effectively in the market is key to success. Learning how to communicate value to customers and refine your messaging can make a big difference.

Hook Me Up With Some Chicken

We're Gonna Get Those Bastards • 2 implied HN points • 26 Jan 24
💼 Business Finance Sales Retail
  1. Sales of the book 'NO WORRIES: How To Live a Stress-Free Financial Life' have been strong, leading to Amazon running out of stock.
  2. Purchase a copy of the book from Barnes & Noble and consider leaving a review on Amazon to help promote it.
  3. The book aims to challenge traditional personal finance advice and start a revolution in financial thinking.

What I'm Building: Substituting Sales Reps With AI

The 1993 • 3 HN points • 15 May 23
🕹 Technology AI Startups Sales Automation Challenges
  1. Challenges faced by human telesales teams include scalability, transparency, and motivation.
  2. AI telesales reps offer benefits like immediate scalability, conversational control, and automated quality assurance.
  3. Concerns for AI sales reps include customer acceptance, competition from data replication, and potential undercutting by established companies.

How to design a one-person business around yourself

The Ask Newsletter — by Ellen Donnelly • 2 implied HN points • 05 May 23
💼 Business Entrepreneurship Marketing Sales Financials Coaching
  1. Design your one-person business around your unique contribution, creating your dream career and life.
  2. Focus on positioning your business, designing unique offers, and standing out from the crowd to attract clients.
  3. Choose marketing activities that align with your strengths and interests for long-term success in your one-person business.

B2B loyalty/referral/rewards programs

Mehdeeka • 1 implied HN point • 26 Oct 23
💼 Business Marketing Sales Customer Loyalty Rewards
  1. Different programs like referral, loyalty, and rewards have specific goals and criteria.
  2. B2B loyalty programs have unique characteristics, including personalized experiences and complex purchasing relationships.
  3. B2B SaaS companies face challenges in determining suitable rewards for customers, with options like industry events, product influence, and educational content.