Sales For Engineers, 1-50

In my capacity as a software engineer for the last 7 years or so, I’ve done all kinds of interesting things. Recently, I’ve dove into sales and sales engineering at my new gig. I found that acquiring customers and understanding their behavior is very challenging, and is also a lot of fun. The typical attitudes held by software engineers about sales are shitty at best, uninformed at worst. I’m here to tell a different side of the story and hopefully offer some advice that will get people excited. If you like this list, I’ll make another one.

Note that this list comes from my experiences of selling a Business-to-Business Software as a Service product. It may not pertain to everyone, but it should be entertaining and informative nonetheless.

  1. Sales matters. Embrace it now, you’ll be better off in the long run because you’ll understand how shit works.

  2. If you won’t put time and effort in to understand sales, how can you expect people to do so with technology?

  3. Don’t take being a “cost center” personally. Actually just kidding, that shit is offensive.

  4. Learn some statistics for the love of Edsger.

  5. You already know everything about computers, programming, software engineering, etc, so why not something new?

  6. Measure everything. I’m going to say this a couple times.

  7. Understand your customer because that is who you build your software for.

  8. Everything you build is in service of the customer, no matter how invisible to you they are.

  9. A qualified lead is a customer who is already interested.

  10. Following from #9, a qualified lead isn’t going to be annoyed when you reach out to try and help them.

  11. Following from #10, you should help them by figuring out if they’re a good fit for your product.

  12. The value in your product is in the eye of the customer.

  13. If you can’t confidently sell your product at the price you sell it for, either don’t sell it, or sell it for a different price.

  14. Sales and the interaction between human beings is the ultimate distributed system.

  15. You have an advantage in sales because you understand the product in a specific way.

  16. You have an advantage in sales because you breathe numbers and functions.

  17. You have an advantage in sales because you can see through the data.

  18. You have a disadvantage in sales because you understand the product in a specific way.

  19. You have a disadvantage in sales because you breathe numbers and functions.

  20. You have a disadvantage in sales because you can see through the data.

  21. You can make the data come to life.

  22. Use tools to determine who to speak to.

  23. Speak to them a lot.

  24. Use the telephone.

  25. Seriously, use the telephone.

  26. Get excited about knowing your potential customers.

  27. Put yourself in the position of the customer.

  28. Measure everything about everything.

  29. Make graphs, not too many, mostly 95th percentiles.

  30. How many trial customers do you have right now? You should know.

  31. How many trial customers are on the last day of their trial right now? You should know.

  32. Get my point? You should know a lot about your trial customers. As much as possible.

  33. How long is your trial? Why is it that long?

  34. Pricing is really hard, you will fuck it up at least once.

  35. Listen to your customers about pricing, but be confident in the value you provide for them.

  36. Cheap products seem cheap.

  37. Cheaper plans churn more quickly.

  38. Net churn vs. Gross churn – learn about them.

  39. There’s a lot of science in sales – check this out, for example

  40. Bruce Hardie is amazing. Learn about him.

  41. How do your competitors sell their product? Sell it better.

  42. Sign up for new trials all the time, see how other companies do it.

  43. Next time you get the opportunity to take a sales call, do it. See how it works from the other side.

  44. Assume that your customer is interested, and help them figure out if the product is right for them.

  45. Measure everything – had to say it again.

  46. Annual pricing is awesome, provide it when you can.

  47. How much does it cost you to acquire a new customer?

  48. How much does a new customer bring you in revenue?

  49. What is the typical amount of recurring revenue that a customer brings you?

  50. Sales is fun. Enjoy it.

Thanks to JD Maturen and Bryan Helmkamp for inspiration and James Golick for corrections.

If you like this article, please consider supporting my writing on gittip.

 

 

[转载自:http://michaelrbernste.in/2014/03/10/sales-for-engineers.html]

Sales For Engineers, 1-50

In my capacity as a software engineer for the last 7 years or so, I’ve done all kinds of interesting things. Recently, I’ve dove into sales and sales engineering at my new gig. I found that acquiring customers and understanding their behavior is very challenging, and is also a lot of fun. The typical attitudes held by software engineers about sales are shitty at best, uninformed at worst. I’m here to tell a different side of the story and hopefully offer some advice that will get people excited. If you like this list, I’ll make another one.

Note that this list comes from my experiences of selling a Business-to-Business Software as a Service product. It may not pertain to everyone, but it should be entertaining and informative nonetheless.

  1. Sales matters. Embrace it now, you’ll be better off in the long run because you’ll understand how shit works.

  2. If you won’t put time and effort in to understand sales, how can you expect people to do so with technology?

  3. Don’t take being a “cost center” personally. Actually just kidding, that shit is offensive.

  4. Learn some statistics for the love of Edsger.

  5. You already know everything about computers, programming, software engineering, etc, so why not something new?

  6. Measure everything. I’m going to say this a couple times.

  7. Understand your customer because that is who you build your software for.

  8. Everything you build is in service of the customer, no matter how invisible to you they are.

  9. A qualified lead is a customer who is already interested.

  10. Following from #9, a qualified lead isn’t going to be annoyed when you reach out to try and help them.

  11. Following from #10, you should help them by figuring out if they’re a good fit for your product.

  12. The value in your product is in the eye of the customer.

  13. If you can’t confidently sell your product at the price you sell it for, either don’t sell it, or sell it for a different price.

  14. Sales and the interaction between human beings is the ultimate distributed system.

  15. You have an advantage in sales because you understand the product in a specific way.

  16. You have an advantage in sales because you breathe numbers and functions.

  17. You have an advantage in sales because you can see through the data.

  18. You have a disadvantage in sales because you understand the product in a specific way.

  19. You have a disadvantage in sales because you breathe numbers and functions.

  20. You have a disadvantage in sales because you can see through the data.

  21. You can make the data come to life.

  22. Use tools to determine who to speak to.

  23. Speak to them a lot.

  24. Use the telephone.

  25. Seriously, use the telephone.

  26. Get excited about knowing your potential customers.

  27. Put yourself in the position of the customer.

  28. Measure everything about everything.

  29. Make graphs, not too many, mostly 95th percentiles.

  30. How many trial customers do you have right now? You should know.

  31. How many trial customers are on the last day of their trial right now? You should know.

  32. Get my point? You should know a lot about your trial customers. As much as possible.

  33. How long is your trial? Why is it that long?

  34. Pricing is really hard, you will fuck it up at least once.

  35. Listen to your customers about pricing, but be confident in the value you provide for them.

  36. Cheap products seem cheap.

  37. Cheaper plans churn more quickly.

  38. Net churn vs. Gross churn – learn about them.

  39. There’s a lot of science in sales – check this out, for example

  40. Bruce Hardie is amazing. Learn about him.

  41. How do your competitors sell their product? Sell it better.

  42. Sign up for new trials all the time, see how other companies do it.

  43. Next time you get the opportunity to take a sales call, do it. See how it works from the other side.

  44. Assume that your customer is interested, and help them figure out if the product is right for them.

  45. Measure everything – had to say it again.

  46. Annual pricing is awesome, provide it when you can.

  47. How much does it cost you to acquire a new customer?

  48. How much does a new customer bring you in revenue?

  49. What is the typical amount of recurring revenue that a customer brings you?

  50. Sales is fun. Enjoy it.

Thanks to JD Maturen and Bryan Helmkamp for inspiration and James Golick for corrections.

If you like this article, please consider supporting my writing on gittip.

 

 

[转载自:http://michaelrbernste.in/2014/03/10/sales-for-engineers.html]

周鑫宇北外演讲:读大学有什么用?

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很高兴有机会到这里发言。组织论坛的同学几次跟我联系,都叮嘱我一定要生动幽默一些。(笑)我想生动的话,就先从题目开始。然后我报了一个题目叫做《责任有什么用?》。这题目听起来比较雷人,但是确实有感而发。

 

我 是教国际关系的老师,我们国际关系研究的核心问题是战争与和平问题。于是我就经常被问到有用和没用的事情。比如说我有一位研究生,她非常的能干,做事儿也 很踏实,但是每次我们在做项目、做报告、写东西的时候,她有一个习惯,就是她会不停地说:“这些事跟我有什么关系啊!”。

是啊,巴勒斯坦和以色列的冲突、中国和美国要建立新型大国关系,这些事情跟我们的生活相距非常遥远。而且,如果我们仔细一想的话,我们现在生活中有许多迫切的需求(都还有没得到满足)。比如说,我们学了战争与和平的这些问题,对我们找工作有什么帮助呢?

 

今 天我们找工作,其实跟古代的时候地主招长工是相似的——区别不大,对吧?站到面试官的面前,古代是说你会洗衣服吗?会。嗯那跟我走吧。你会做饭吗?会。那 行。今天(这种问题)就变成了你会开车吗?会外语吗?或者你学会计的,你会不会做假账呢?(吱吱唔唔不好说),没关系没关系,缺人,你先来,回头慢慢教 你。(笑)

我们学国际关系的同学如果去参加这样的面试,找工作(的时候),该怎么说呢?别人问你会什么呢?我们的同学说:我的专长是战争与和平问题!这个时候面试官——用你们的话说——就只能“给跪了”,同学你还是到人民大会堂去试试吧!

 

总之,像我们这个专业的同学很迷茫,总问我说:老师,我们工作都找不到,我们学这个有什么用?这个时候我觉得他们说得挺对的, 然后我就会跟他们说:确实没什么用。然后他们挺就高兴的,觉得遇到一个比较实在的老师。我的师道尊严又得到了提升。(笑)

 

但 是,并不是所有类似的话题都可以让师生关系这么融洽。因为这个话题我们再往下深入的话,矛盾就会凸显,我再不能通过说实话来让同学们满意了。因为你仔细想 一想,你觉得国际关系这门学科没有用,那么在大学里面的人文社会科学这些学科,哪一门是有用的呢?文学、哲学、史学有用吗?政治学或者是社会学有用吗?当 然,牛华勇院长在下面,有的同学说,经济学有用!天知道,经济学教材里面没有一个字是为了解决你个人的经济问题。所以说也不要轻易被牛院长骗去了。(笑)

这 就提出了一个问题:我们读大学有没有用?有的同学说你刚说的都是人文社会科学。文科就是没用,理工科有用。但是,前一段时间我读了一个故事,感触挺深的, 是报上的一则新闻。陕西有一位农村里面的孩子,他考上了大学,是他们村里面唯一的一个大学生。他成绩很不错,到西安一个一本的大学选了一个很好的专业:通 信工程。父亲非常自豪——一辈子的农民,非常自豪——于是他就跟着(去了)。儿子读书没有钱嘛,在农村里种地是不可能支撑起这个学费的。因此他就跟着他儿 子到西安去打工。他儿子在西安读了四年的本科,这位父亲就在西安打了四年的工,把钱攒下来给儿子交学费。每天记日记,上面写着教子心得,全是励志的话,儿 子以后你要为大用啦,我们家族就靠你怎么样发达啦。

 

这 个故事非常感人,就被一位纪录片的导演拍成了纪录片,叫《父亲》,在香港获奖了。故事到这里本来是一个很励志的故事。但是到后来,四年以后这位大学生毕业 了,当记者在去深入采访这个故事的后续的时候,就发现他毕业以后不好找工作。最后他去了西北的一个地方。通信工程嘛,就是要去修那个通讯电缆,每个月的工 资刚开始只有600还是800块钱,反正就是以百计数。而他们家里还有一个姐姐,初中毕业就辍学了。因为可能也要为了供弟弟上大学,就到深圳去打工,现在 在深圳工厂里面已经一个月能赚3000多块钱。这个时候,记者就问那个伟大的父亲,那个农民的父亲,说您觉得读书还有用吗?读大学有用吗?这个父亲沉默了 一会儿说,现在看来还真是没什么用。这就是理工科,也没什么用。(笑)

 

我 们抱着“有用”的态度来读大学,就发现这么一个问题。读完本科希望能找一个好工作,比别人都强,比别人初中或者高中去深圳打工强一些,对吧?但发现你不比 别人赚钱多。于是我们就读研究生。研究生总比别人强一点儿吧?今天我们读研究生快毕业了,一看,还是不行。那怎么办?再往上看:博士?还是算了吧。(笑) 这个时候就迷茫了。

 

我把刚才西安的那 个故事,在我们本科班上讲给同学们听。然后我就做了一个民意调查。我在课上经常做民意调查,一般来说投票率都很低——比日本大选还低。(笑)但是这次举手 的人很多。我就问,我说你们觉得读大学有用吗?同意有用的举手?全班齐刷刷地都举了手。我有点不敢相信自己的眼睛。因为你知道,在课堂上做这种投票有很多 稀奇古怪的事情会发生。因此我为了确认一下,我又问:同意没有用的举手?真的没人举手!所以这是一个很科学的调查结果,(投票)全部都有效。

 

当 时我就说了一句:你们既然这样的话,我就来唱个反调吧!我说,读大学就是没用的。这个时候,下面的那个反应非常好玩。有一个女同学,我印象很深,她一般上 课都坐前排,很认真。她就一下听到这句话,脸就涨红了,很生气。然后她就这样拍了一下桌子——她是那种很含蓄的女孩——拍了一下桌子,轻轻地拍了一下,然 后说,那你别读啊!很小声地说,但是很气愤地说:那你别读啊!

我 看到这个反应后,就哈哈大笑,因为我心里非常开心。我很高兴,因为实际上你们在内心中可能意识到了一个问题,那就是读大学即使没有什么用,但是我还是要 读。或者反过来说就更清楚了:我来读大学的原因,本来就不是因为它“有用”!如果你们想到这一步的话,就比较清晰了,对不对?。

 

大 家都知道复旦大学是我们国内最好的大学之一,复旦大学现在的校训——也不能叫校训吧——学校提倡的一种精神,叫什么呢?“自由而无用”。如果你们觉得复旦 大学还不够高端大气上档次的话,(笑)你们还可以去看看美国的常青藤大学。这些全世界最好的高校里面、最牛的专业,或者在这些高校里面最受欢迎的专业,全 是那种我们看起来“无用”的专业。比如说你到耶鲁,可能读历史;到普林斯顿,读政治学——这能有什么用?但是,那就是培养世界上最精英人才的地方。

 

所 以说我前面讲了很多故事——主要是主办方要求我生动幽默——现在我来总结一下我的想法,就是其实人生分为两个维度,有用的维度和无用的维度。它就像一只鸟 儿一样,是两个翅膀,缺了哪一个翅膀,都飞不高,而且会飞得很累。你们读研究生也一样。你为什么要读研究生呀?当然我的学生就告诉我说:我就是为了混个学 位。这很好,这是有用的维度。

那没用 的维度呢?你拿到学位,只是你在三年以后的那一刻,你实现了这个有用的维度。但这三年的时间,你做什么?这三年的时间是你皮肤最好的三年,(笑)是你头脑 最好的三年。你如果以“有用”的标准去要求的话,你在这儿就觉得慌了。你觉得我怎么天天在荒废?你就紧张,你就迷茫,你就乱。

 

(其实),这三年就是你们无用的维度。无用同样是你们生命的一个维度。我说了它是两个翅膀,你只用一个翅膀你是飞不远的。有的同学太注重那个有用的维度。有用的维度说到本质上就是吃喝拉撒那点事情,就是养活你自己而已。

 

有 的同学不同意,说怎么(就只是)养活我自己呢?我有钱啊!我找了好工作,我赚了钱,我就买漂亮衣服,那个时候我得到了精神上的享受。但是大家都知道,像漂 亮衣服这种精神上的享受,实在是稍纵即逝。凡是物质带来的精神享受都稍纵即逝。你穿件漂亮衣服是挺高兴的,(想着)我买的这衣服2000多、一万多或者怎 么样。但你知道吗?一瞬间,很多小事就让能你的这种快乐立刻消失。比如说你回去看到你宿舍里面另外一个人也穿了(同样的衣服),你立刻觉得这种快乐消失 了!对吧?(笑)

 

那么反过来说,在无 用的维度上能给你带来持久的幸福。比如说我们说到人的这种幸福感,都知道颜回。他被称为颜子,是孔子最喜欢的学生。说他有一句话,“一箪食,一瓢饮,(在 陋巷),人不堪其忧,回不改其乐”。这种快乐是从根本上来的、难以磨灭的、没有人可以动摇的快乐。不管你有新衣服没新衣服,都很快乐。因此,无用的维度是 你人生一种很重要的维度。知道你们现在为什么迷茫吗?就是因为你们太忽视了无用的维度。

 

回到我们今天讲的主题:“责任有用吗?”责任当然属于没有用的那个维度。但是对于我们青年人来说,没有用的维度呢是很重要的一个维度。它可以给你带来真正的快乐。

我 们很羡慕有的有钱人,觉得他赚了钱。但如果你只用有用的角度,你无法理解他。你说像李嘉诚这种,(已经是)老头了对吧?那么有钱了,每天怎么还那么认真辛 苦地工作啊?你看好多人,要什么有什么了,怎么还那么辛苦地工作?因为工作本身,它不只是因为有钱或者改善你的物质条件。我遇到一个企业家,他工作得很辛 苦。我问他,你为什么那么辛苦得工作,你干嘛不去旅游啊?我觉得你太苦了。他说我要去旅游了,我剩下公司下面二十几个人怎么办?这个时候,他想的不再是自 己,而是二十几个人,而是别人。你只有在为别人、为社会创造价值的时候,你才能带来真正的、成熟的自信。

 

我们讲工作有三种境界,第一种境界,是工作。养活自己,每个月有人给你发工资,吃饱了,不会饿死。第二种境界是事业,我干了很大一番事儿,我帮助别人,我把一件从无到有的事做成了,我创造了就业,或者我怎么样。

 

其 实还有第三种境界,就是叫做责任了。比如说有的人,他可能就是街边一个扫地的清洁工,但是他很快乐,他很自豪自己这份职业。你要从“养活自己”来说,他很 贫困、很清苦;你要从事业来说,他也谈不上什么事业。但是他为什么还能满足于自己这份工作,得到快乐呢?就是因为责任。他觉得,我不扫这个地,地就脏了; 大家都脏,就会得“甲流”。(笑)工作的最高境界还是这第三种境界。这个时候你不管在做什么——你是像比尔盖茨一样,你还是一个清洁工——都可以有这第三 种境界。

 

同时,责任不但带来真正的自 信和快乐,带来幸福、充实感,责任还给你带来魅力。比如之前我看了一个韩国的“国家形象片”,韩国是一个从发展中国家演变过来的,现在是个中等国家。那么 在这样一个国家:以前很贫穷,经过自己的努力变好了。他的国家形象宣传片,按照我们的思路应该怎么做呢?我们的思路可能是:我以前很不好,但我现在已经很 不错啦!你们千万别再觉得我穷啊或者怎么样的。对吧?而且我们有很多名人啊,金妍儿什么的。(这种思路可能)很好。但是我看了那个片,觉得立意更高——比 我们现在习惯的这种思路立意更高。它里面的第一句话:n年前某个外国人到韩国说了,这是我在世界上见到的最没有希望的民族。这个开头好像跟我们刚才的那个 思路是一样的。(到片子的)最后一句话——它中间有一个过程,我没时间讲了——最后一句话是说:我们韩国人相信我们能为人类变得更好、为世界变得更好做贡 献。这中间讲的就是韩国人为世界做了什么贡献,而不是说我怎么改善我自己这个国家,让这个国家我从穷到富。

 

我们讲全球化的责任,什么是全球化的责任?一个国家的形象怎样才能好?不是说你怎么把自己变好了——这当然是一部分。这是有用的维度。还有一部分就是:你能为别人做什么?你能为这个世界、为人类做什么?

 

这 是一个国家,到人也是一样的。国家是这样,个人也是这样:确实你的形象、你的魅力,是跟你有没有责任感、你靠不靠谱是有关系的。你即便出去相亲,人家也希 望找一个靠谱的人啊,对不对?我们现在“剩男剩女”很多,研究生尤其严重,到了博士简直就成了一种痛了。(笑)为什么老是“剩下来”呢?是不是有可能是你 的权利感太多了、责任感太少了?或者说你“要什么”想的太多了,你“能给什么”想得太少了。我前两天还指导了我的一个老同学(谈恋爱)。他跟我一样头发都 快掉了一半了,却还没找到(女朋友)。我知道他现在追一个女孩,比较烦恼,约她出来看电影老不出来。(笑)我说,你换一种思路。这个女孩——其实人都一样 ——你别约她看电影,你给她寄两张电影票,然后留一封信,信里说:“我刚去看了《少年派的奇幻漂流》,我觉得这部电影很好,给你两张电影票,你找朋友一起 去看看吧,会有收获的”。我只给你,我不要,你不用陪我去。(笑)这个时候,她没准就会觉得这人好靠谱,好感人啊,然后她就会给你打个电话说:“要不你陪 我再看一次吧?”(笑)

 

所以说不管是你内心的快乐还是你外在的魅力,你的格局、境界,都是跟你“无用”的这种责任、这种付出、贡献是有关系的。

我(发言)的时间也到了。我每次讲完,好多同学说,我每次听你讲很有意思,但是一出门,一想他讲了什么?记不起来了。一个字都记不起来了。(笑)所以说,今天我决定总结一下(笑),提几点比较实在的建议。

 

我 知道大家现在都是在食堂喝着免费汤,然后仰望星空、思考战争与和平问题。用网上的话说,就是赚着卖白菜的钱操着卖白粉的心。(笑)但是我希望你们珍惜今天 这个无用的时刻,好好思考一下超越你们生活的吃喝拉撒,超越于你们找工作、谈恋爱、结婚、生孩子、买房子、买车子、评职称或者升职或者怎么样,超越这些你 们自己事情之外的东西。从现在开始,在这个时段,思考一下、关注一下一些(大的)问题,好好享受这种无用的生活;从现在开始,对一些大的东西进行思考,提 升你思考这种事情的能力、这种情怀;关心别人和社会,不要只关心你自己。

 

如果一旦有一天有机会,——也许大多数人都没这种机会——你在青年时候种下的这些种子就会生根发芽,你就会去改变这个社会,你会去推动这个社会的进步。这个社会的进步只是靠那些能够改变它的那些人来推动的,是靠那些——刚才领导也讲了——有志的人来推动的。

 

另外,从最后来说,全球化对于中国的责任就是我们不但要改变自己——我们是一个不断在改变自己的国家——而且我们还要改变世界,要为人类做贡献。大家也可以思考思考:你未来可以在这项事业中贡献什么呢?

 

我大概就是讲这么多。感谢大家到北外来参加这个会。外校来的同学中午可以到我们的食堂去吃个饭。我们(食堂)有地下一层,“豆花牛柳”非常有名。(笑)我们地下一层的窗户就开在天花板下面, 这个时候特别适合你们仰望星空。谢谢!