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Sales for Nerds

The podcast for technical people who find themselves responsible for sales and marketing, because they started a company or got promoted. We interview experts and other technical folks who have figured out how to hack the sales and marketing world the way they used to hack code. Don't believe the myth that only natural sales people can sell. New episodes every 2 weeks.
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Now displaying: 2017
Dec 19, 2017

Rohan Kale left the typical grind of software engineering for a giant company in India. He headed to Germany, learned German, and started a video marketing company.

Find out how, including the coincidence that led to his company idea, how he got his first customers, and how you can use video to help grow your business.

Nov 27, 2017

MeetEdgar.com founder Laura Roeder talks about how she started her consulting, online training and software businesses, and how she decided to move on from earlier efforts.

Laura also discusses:

  • How to connect with thought leaders online
  • How she got her own panel at SXSW when she was just 29
  • How she got clients for her consulting business

And much more.

Oct 31, 2017

Would you take marketing and customer service advice from someone who spent a decade at a cable company? In this case, you should, as Michael Katz, Chief Penguin and Blue Penguin Development, talks about the series of happy accidents that led him to a career in marketing, helping small services companies position themselves more effectively.

Oct 2, 2017

Aaron Ross, co-author of "Predictable Revenue", along with Mary Lou Tyler from episode 14, is back with a new book, "From Impossible to Inevitable: How Hypergrowth companies create predictable revenue". Learn what Aaron had to learn the hard way about sales, and how he manages to write books, consult, and raise 12 kids.

Aug 28, 2017

Brennan Dunn wasn't always a whiz internet marketer. He started off pursuing a degree in electrical engineering, but switched gear to study Classical Languages (which did come in very handy later). 

Along the way, he learned how to do internet marketing, how to get sales without selling, and much more.

Jul 31, 2017

In this week’s show:

  • Building awareness of a growing medium
  • Systematization
  • The intake process is all about the business owner
  • Planning isn’t sexy
  • Interrogating a problem
  • Keeping it simple
  • Ben’s top 3 quick tests for your website
Jun 6, 2017

Anil Dash has done it all, except graduate from college. He's started companies, helped launch the social media revolution, served on President Obama's Office of Digital Strategy, uses Twitter prolifically, and is the CEO of Fog Creek Software.

In this wide-ranging discussion, Anil talks about:

  • how he first learned to sell (and overcome his distrust of sales reps)
  • how he didn't learn to do marketing until much later (and what he did instead)
  • how he tries to structure non-zero-sum incentives
  • the critical concept of "bus-proofing" that's expected on the tech side, but not on the sales side of the house
  • a simple way to encourage more diversity in hiring (and how this benefits the company)

And much more...

Apr 18, 2017

Author and productivity consultant Maura Thomas talks about how she got into the field (by accident), working with David Allen, where she agrees (and disagrees) with Getting Things Done (GTD), why time management is outdated, and how to manage your attention.

Apr 5, 2017

Best selling author and sales guru Jill Konrath details her own struggles with digital distractions and how to sell more in less time.

Mar 21, 2017

Marylou Tyler of Predictable Revenue and Predictable Prospecting fame discusses how she moved from writing code to sales success by using her engineering background instead of running away from it.

Mar 7, 2017

Few things cause as much stress as pricing. But it doesn't have to be that way. This episode looks at how to think about pricing, how to align better to customers' needs so you can price better, how to move from cost to value-based pricing (and why most people get this wrong), how to negotiate discounts, how to present price in your proposal, and more.

Feb 21, 2017

Caleb Sidel discusses how he got into consulting, why his company partners sell and stay deep in tech, the advantages of partnering with someone like salesforce.com, the simple way they train consultants to be effective sales people, and more.

Feb 7, 2017

Attorney (and mechanical engineer) Brian Spross on when you need a lawyer and how to protect yourself and your company.

Jan 24, 2017

Scott Ingram, host of the Sales Success Podcast, discusses his journey from networking engineering to sales success, including:

  • The importance of great mentors.
  • A great short cut for nerdy sales success.
  • His morning routine.
  • Why women are overrepresented in top sales performers, and what you can learn from them.
Jan 10, 2017
  • How he taught himself to sell, including the steps of the sale, how to turn features into benefits, and how to close.
  • How he taught his team to sell.
  • "People hate to be sold to, but people love to buy."
  • Why if you're doing too much "hard core selling", your message isn't right.
  • Why introverts have a long term advantage in sales versus most extraverts. (And how to take that advantage.)
  • Why he puts the message first, even before the audience.
  • Why you need to turn features into benefits, and benefits into stories.
  • Why stories are so important.
  • What can I do above and beyond the core functional skills/services/products to give my customer an amazing experience.
  • Why you don't want to spend tons of time writing "educational" proposals-- it not only wastes your time, it decreases your chances of winning. 
  • If you confuse the customer, you lose the sale.
  • Practical steps on niching, including a real world example (and a meta-example of Matthew's storytelling).
  • Why our brains are overwhelmed by input and we have to focus.
  • Focus on the people who love what you do-- not the people you can never make happy.
  • Most people have been motivated by fear of not having enough money for most of their lives. They have a set of goals that are driven from here.
  • Why if you do what you love, there's always more energy (as shown by Matthew in this interview after getting 4.5 hours of sleep).
  • The mistake people make in underestimating themselves.
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