Regarding the questions part. I used to work for a consulting company, specialized in sales training. We had a framework of 4 levels of questions that opened up conversations with prospects. level 1 was to ask about what results they wanted to accomplish 2 was asking about concrete tactics they were trying level 3 was about problems they were encountering and level 4 was about asking simple transactional questions. As you progressed through the levels you would first open up the prospect and by level 4 you could usually get them to commit to next steps (e.g. a proposal). It was pretty good and it has applications beyond sales (e.g. job seeking)
“We’ve all heard about the importance of persistence. But I had misunderstood.
Success comes from persistently improving and inventing, not from persistently doing what’s not working.
We all have lots of ideas, creations, and projects. When you present one to the world, and it’s not a hit, don’t keep pushing it as-is. Instead, get back to improving and inventing.
Present each new idea or improvement to the world. If multiple people are saying, “Wow! Yes! I need this! I’d be happy to pay you to do this!” then you should probably do it. But if the response is anything less, don’t pursue it.”
Thanks, Ryan! I really like this part of his book too. Have you read it? It’s fairly short! It’s crystallizing that most people stumble upon their idea by working on their own projects rather than actively searching for an idea.
Great post, I see some overarching themes between the main article and the three links:
The first theme I see is focusing on sales, customers, and things that drive sales and customer relationships forward, and try to do less of everything else.
The second theme I see is that the ability to do this well is a skill that's developed over time, so sometimes things eventually work because you improved at doing it.
Everything is downstream from sales is something I’ve heard a bunch. Honestly, I haven’t practiced it enough and I’m eager to go down that path. It’s a skill that’s always needed no matter the economic conditions!
Regarding the questions part. I used to work for a consulting company, specialized in sales training. We had a framework of 4 levels of questions that opened up conversations with prospects. level 1 was to ask about what results they wanted to accomplish 2 was asking about concrete tactics they were trying level 3 was about problems they were encountering and level 4 was about asking simple transactional questions. As you progressed through the levels you would first open up the prospect and by level 4 you could usually get them to commit to next steps (e.g. a proposal). It was pretty good and it has applications beyond sales (e.g. job seeking)
Oh that's pretty cool! Thanks for sharing, man :)
Nice! And great Sivers link:
“We’ve all heard about the importance of persistence. But I had misunderstood.
Success comes from persistently improving and inventing, not from persistently doing what’s not working.
We all have lots of ideas, creations, and projects. When you present one to the world, and it’s not a hit, don’t keep pushing it as-is. Instead, get back to improving and inventing.
Present each new idea or improvement to the world. If multiple people are saying, “Wow! Yes! I need this! I’d be happy to pay you to do this!” then you should probably do it. But if the response is anything less, don’t pursue it.”
Thanks, Ryan! I really like this part of his book too. Have you read it? It’s fairly short! It’s crystallizing that most people stumble upon their idea by working on their own projects rather than actively searching for an idea.
I've probably read it. I seem to read everything Sivers writes :-)
Great post, I see some overarching themes between the main article and the three links:
The first theme I see is focusing on sales, customers, and things that drive sales and customer relationships forward, and try to do less of everything else.
The second theme I see is that the ability to do this well is a skill that's developed over time, so sometimes things eventually work because you improved at doing it.
Very inspiring and motivating as always!
Thanks for the comment, Bill!
Everything is downstream from sales is something I’ve heard a bunch. Honestly, I haven’t practiced it enough and I’m eager to go down that path. It’s a skill that’s always needed no matter the economic conditions!