What comes to mind when you hear the terms: ‘Salesman’, ‘Salesperson’ or ‘Sales’ ?
High-Pressure
Negotiation
Cold-calling
Telemarketing
Spam
If these are the type of words that come to mind, you have probably been dealing with some bad salespeople.
What is Sales?
I do not work nor have I ever worked in sales, but I have taken sales classes offered by my employer.
If there was one thing I learned about sales, it’s that the sales process is more about having a conversation than it is about buying or selling something.
How does this relate to programming?
Before you see how to this relates to programming, you must be able to think like someone who is motivated more by helping people rather than by money.
The Financial Planner
The scenario to understanding genuine salespeople is to look at a financial planners. If you are unaware of what financial planners do – they advise individuals in making major financial decisions such as retirement, taxes, investing, etc.
When you visit a financial planner, you could tell him or her that you want to retire by age 50 and you want to invest $100 per month. Without any further discussion, a financial planner could come up with a solution for your retirement, but is it going to be the best solution?
The Programmer
Any good programmer can take requirements and a design and develop a solution that meets the needs that are laid out. But is this what the end-user really wanted?
What if you actually sat down with the end-user and had a conversation with him or her rather than rely on some specs that a business analyst obtained?
You might be thinking to yourself, isn’t that the job of the business analyst? In an ideal world it would be, but like the Game of Telephone (or Chinese Whispers) something is going to get lost in translation going from end-user -> Business Analyst -> Programmer.
If you have the opportunity to have a conversation with the end-user, take it. Establish a relationship, listen to them to find out what they really need, negotiate possible solutions and close by building them a solution.
Listen Carefully
The most important part about sales and also with programming is: listening.
Don’t be the used-car salesperson who wants to sell the heap of junk on the lot, without understanding the true needs of the customer.
What Programmers Can Learn From Salespeople
Screenshot courtesy of: The Secret of Monkey Island™
What comes to mind when you hear the terms: ‘Salesman’, ‘Salesperson’ or ‘Sales’ ?
If these are the type of words that come to mind, you have probably been dealing with some bad salespeople.
What is Sales?
I do not work nor have I ever worked in sales, but I have taken sales classes offered by my employer.
If there was one thing I learned about sales, it’s that the sales process is more about having a conversation than it is about buying or selling something.
How does this relate to programming?
Before you see how to this relates to programming, you must be able to think like someone who is motivated more by helping people rather than by money.
The Financial Planner
The scenario to understanding genuine salespeople is to look at a financial planners. If you are unaware of what financial planners do – they advise individuals in making major financial decisions such as retirement, taxes, investing, etc.
When you visit a financial planner, you could tell him or her that you want to retire by age 50 and you want to invest $100 per month. Without any further discussion, a financial planner could come up with a solution for your retirement, but is it going to be the best solution?
The Programmer
Any good programmer can take requirements and a design and develop a solution that meets the needs that are laid out. But is this what the end-user really wanted?
What if you actually sat down with the end-user and had a conversation with him or her rather than rely on some specs that a business analyst obtained?
You might be thinking to yourself, isn’t that the job of the business analyst? In an ideal world it would be, but like the Game of Telephone (or Chinese Whispers) something is going to get lost in translation going from end-user -> Business Analyst -> Programmer.
If you have the opportunity to have a conversation with the end-user, take it. Establish a relationship, listen to them to find out what they really need, negotiate possible solutions and close by building them a solution.
Listen Carefully
The most important part about sales and also with programming is: listening.
Don’t be the used-car salesperson who wants to sell the heap of junk on the lot, without understanding the true needs of the customer.
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