The sales function is the revenue engine behind most businesses, compelling prospective buyers to purchase products and services.

Step #1: Learn itStep #2: Apply itStep #3: Stay up-to-date

Access the following free resources from across the web. Note that Bootstrap Ed does not own any of the resources featured on this page. 

Sales Overview

  • FitSmallBusiness – Sales Funnels: The Ultimate Guide
  • Spiro – 7 Lessons: The Comprehensive Sales Guide to Closing Deals
  • HubSpot Academy – Sales Trainings: Supercharging Business Growth
    • 12 videos, approximately 5-60 minutes each
    • Playlist
  • Tyler Bosmeny – Lecture 19 – Sales and Marketing; How to Talk to Investors
  • Sales Hacker – 260 Sales Terms From A – Z: The Updated Glossary of B2B Sales Definitions

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Prospecting and Lead Generation

  • HubSpot – The Ultimate Guide to Sales Prospecting: Tips, Techniques, & Tools to Succeed
  • TalentEgg – Lead Generation 101: The Basics You Need To Know

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Follow-up

  • Infusionsoft – A Complete Guide to Sales Follow-Up
  • HubSpot – 23 Follow-Up Sales Email Templates to Send Instead of “Just Checking In”

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Communication, Persuasion, Negotiation

  • HubSpot – 15 Communication Skills That Are Crucial to Sales Success
  • Winning by Design – The Anatomy of a Perfect Discovery Call
  • HubSpot – The Ultimate List of Sales Discovery Call Questions
  • Danny Ertel – Getting Past Yes: Negotiating as if Implementation Mattered
  • Matt Abrahams – Compelling and Confident Communication with Matt Abrahams
  • Robert Cialdini and Steve Martin – Science Of Persuasion

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Sales Operations and Enablement

  • Sales Hacker – Sales Operations Demystified: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How To Do It Right
  • Insight Squared – The Definitive Sales Ops Handbook
  • HubSpot – Sales Operations: The Ultimate Guide
  • Highspot – The Definitive Guide to Sales Enablement
    • Reading
    • Scroll to the bottom of the page to access all 12 chapters
  • Sales Hacker – Demystifying Sales Enablement: What Is It, Why It Matters, And How To Do It Right
  • HubSpot – Free Sales Enablement Certification Course
    • Course page
    • 12 modules, approximately 4 hours of content

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Careers

  • HubSpot – Which Type of Sales Job Is Right for You?
  • SalesHQ – SalesHQ’s 10-Step Guide to a Career in Sales
  • Career Sidekick – A Career In Sales – Everything You Need to Know
  • Sales Hacker – The Complete List of Sales Interview Questions (and How to Answer Them Like a Boss!)
  • The Balance Careers – Sales Interview Questions and Best Answers

Complete the following exercises to apply your newly acquired knowledge.

Writing Assignments

  • COLD EMAIL SCRIPT (1 page double spaced at most)
    • Write a sample email you might send to a prospective customer. Carefully consider the information you are trying to convey, including the pain you are trying to surface on the part of the customer and your call to action.
  • COLD CALL SCRIPT (1 page double spaced at most)
    • Write a sample call script you might use when calling a prospective customer. Carefully consider the information you are trying to convey, including the pain you are trying to surface on the part of the customer and your call to action.
  • MANAGING OBJECTIONS (1-2 pages double spaced)
    • Identify the most common 3-5 objectives prospective customers have to the product or service you are selling. Write a sample script for how precisely you would address those objections.
  • FOLLOW UP PLAN (1 page double spaced)
    • Write a plan for how you would follow up with a prospective customer who had a positive “discovery” or informational interaction with you. Include the modes of communication you would use to keep yourself top of mind, the content of your communication including any collateral you might use, and the timing of your communication.

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Other Activities

  • ELEVATOR PITCH
    • Perfect your elevator pitch for the product or service you are selling. If you do not have a product or service yet, practice your personal elevator pitch (who you are, what you do or aspire to do, and why). Your pitch should capture the most important takeaways for your audience in no more than 30 seconds. Be sure to practice delivering this pitch out loud, ideally with another person like a friend, family member, or coworker.
  • SELL ANYTHING (with a partner)
    • Find a partner and practice selling common items (pen, paper, sunglasses, etc.) or services to one another through a conversation. Focus on listening skills, identifying pain, body language, and verbal communication. Debrief the conversation and switch.
  • ASK FOR DIRECTIONS
    • Go to a public place and politely ask passersby for directions. The purpose of this exercise is to get comfortable interacting with strangers, making clear asks, and managing rejection.

Engage with the field on an ongoing basis. Note that Bootstrap Ed does not own any of the resources featured on this page. 

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