I don't have a ton of experience selling and haven't closed any deals for our company yet, so take this with a grain of salt, but... the sales approach that I am very fond of, and think has a ton of potential, is Jeff Thull's system, as outlined in Mastering the Complex Sale, Exceptional Selling and The Prime Solution.

Thull's approach is rooted in a developing a deep understanding of how you can create value (real value, mind you) for your customers, and to communicate with them in a way that conveys a very honest and sincere approach. As opposed to the old "Always Be Closing" mantra ala Glengarry Glen Ross, Thull advocates an "Always Be Leaving" approach, where you leave as soon as it's obvious that your solution isn't good for the customer. He would have you recommend a competitor's product if it's actually the better choice, etc. The idea is, as I understand it, two-fold:

1. Trying to sell a solution to a customer who doesn't really need it / has better options, is wasting your time

and

2. The more honest relationship you develop doing this this way will benefit you down the road when the same customer has new needs and your product is the best solution, or when they recommend you to their friends because you treated them with respect, etc.

If I had to summarize it in a way that is probably grossly over-simplifying, but which still captures a lot of the spirit of the thing (I think), I'd say it comes down to:

1. Develop a very deep understanding of your customer, their business, their market, etc.

2. Be hyper-honest with your customers.

I think this approach has a lot going for it, but again, I can't say from real first-hand experience because I haven't spent enough time in the field actually working it. Ask me in a year and hopefully I'll know a lot more.

My favorite book on sales tactics is Chet Holmes, the Ultimate Sales Machine. Here is a summary:

https://capitalandgrowth.org/articles/893/book-summary-the-u...

I'm a big fan of Chet Holmes and The Ultimate Sales Machine as well. He did a series of videos as part of some conference thing with Tony Robbins, and those videos have some really good stuff in them. I'm not necessarily a huge Tony Robbins fan per-se, but the stuff he did with Chet was solid.

Useful stuff, but some of it is rather... unstartupy?

The suggested ad text for a "superstar" employee (what kind of advice is that anyway? "Hire smart people"? Eh thanks!) reads like the most generic job ad ever.

And having "How much would you pay to save your own life?” as a health insurance advertisement? That's some /r/LateStageCapitalism material

Checkout the Salesman Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL5m7amy0FXEAe9WxhXTI_A Huge amount of great content here.

Indeed. I thought it was going to be a one off video but pleasantly surprised by the comprehensive coverage of all parts of sale thats relevant to a solo founder.

These kind of stuff are the rare gems you get once in a while from HN.

I imagine it would depend a lot on what type of service you are offering and whether sales and marketing is something you can automate digitally for your business.

Jordan Belfort's straight line persuasion sales training video series offer an interesting analysis of how to perform direct to consumer telephone sales: http://jordanbelfort.com/order-straight-line-persuasion/

One book I really liked on the topic is Pitch Anything by Oren Klaff.

I’m just reading it now and I must say it’s a rarely honest book and has actionable models and tactics for the sales non-“naturals”. It has opened my eyes.