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The Business Guy vs. the Programmer
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[quote][b]David[/b] wrote: I've actually had the chance to work on both sides of this, and maybe I can give some insight into the culture clash here. In terms of the business-guy/programmer spectrum, I'm probably skewed toward the business-guy. I manage a product for a reasonably large company and do some development in my spare time or on an as-needed basis. But before this role, I decided I was going to get some perspective by working in sales and business development for a couple years where I really cut my teeth. The first lesson they taught me when I started doing sales was how to "handle" rejection. Not in the "your girlfriend just broke up with you" kind of way, but in the "if your girlfriend tries to break up with you, take these steps to convince her otherwise." Listen to the person's tone of voice, ask a ton of questions to dig deeper into what they need, make them question their questions, and when they do, start proposing ways to address their concerns. This all has to be done live on a call - all of the techniques used require you to handle any hesitation they have faster than they can come up with new ones because, by default, people don't believe a damn thing you have to say and want to get back to their work. All of this falls apart as soon as you try this by e-mail, so rule #1 of sales: don't try to sell by e-mail beyond the initial introduction. Ever. This actually works quite well when the person you're speaking to to work on a deal is a 'business' person themselves, and is very effective. As much as you might hate getting a 'cold call', they are proven to work in the field. The issue comes when the buyer or the person you need to convince is more technical and likes to communicate by e-mail. All those techniques are ineffective. Now, a smart salesperson knows to adapt to the person they are talking to and engage them on the channel of their choice, but the ratio of smart and thoughtful sales people to the brute-force type is pretty skewed, so the odds are you're going to get many more of the latter. Still, even the smart/thoughtful type will eventually find a way to get you on the phone as in reality it is better for both parties: the sales person has a better ability to plead his or her case and handle issues immediately instead of letting them fester in your mind (developers are especially good at finding holes in things, which can kill genuinely good deals early), and you - the person being sold to - can get a much better read of the nature of the person you're speaking to, and what kind of person they are and what they value. As a buyer then, I recommend doing your own research in cases like this. If they reach out to you and are being a bit brutish and not giving you information, look into their company and try to figure out for yourself why they might be reaching out to you. If something piques your interest or you see a fit, suggest it to them in an e-mail to see if that's the angle their going for. And if you think there's a fit, take the time to get on a call. If not, and they continue to hound you to get on the phone without giving you a reason, tell them to bugger off. There's a good chance what they're selling isn't worth buying.[/quote]
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