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What are some "laws of sales" you've found to be true from personal experience?
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I've got two:
- A prospect's budget is often inversely proportional to their neediness. The lower their budget is, the more time they'll want to spend asking you questions about your product. (Also a correlation to a higher rate of emailing you a laundry list of question that have answers readily available on Google, your website, etc.)
- The chance of a prospect no-showing your meeting is directly correlated to how early of a meeting time they ask for. It's always the ones who insist that 8am is the best time for them that ghost you.
Top Comment: The cheapest customers are the biggest headaches. A lot of influencers don’t know what the decision maker wants
The 49 Laws of Sales (In Progress)
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In tribute to my favorite book, The 48 Laws of Power, I’ve made this post so you can all write YOUR 49 Laws of Sales (one better than the book) that give you leverage over the client.
But here’s the rule...
Once we hit 49 good ones, no more laws will be added. I might ask the mods to sticky this if they think it’s worthy.
How it works: Add your laws in the comments. If people like them, I’ll edit them into my Featured comment down below.
Use this format:
- Law #: ____
- Explanation: ____
- Reversal: ____
I’ll start with mine.
———————————————————
Law 1: Never Send the Proposal
Explanation:
- If you send a proposal before discovery and gap-building, the prospect will start price-shopping and ignore the value you bring. Value is perceived, not objective, and action must be supported. If you don’t create urgency and a reason to choose you, you won’t get chosen.
Reversal:
- This only applies if you’ve done deep discovery and gap-building with the actual decision maker. In that case, build a proposal, book a meeting, and say: “We’ll go over the proposal together to see if it makes sense for you.” Then show up ready to close. Bring your sales director to look serious.
Top Comment: LAW 3: Never Answer a Question Before Understanding Why It's Being Asked Explanation: Prospects ask questions with hidden agendas, not for intellectual curiosity. When they inquire about features, pricing, or timelines, they're setting traps or revealing deeper concerns. Answering prematurely gives away leverage and misses crucial intelligence. The sales amateur responds to the surface question; the master uncovers the motivation behind it. Just as a husband asking his wife if they have plans on Friday is really seeking permission for beers with his friends, a prospect asking about implementation timelines may actually be concerned about disrupting operations. By answering too quickly, you address the wrong problem and lose control of the conversation. Reversal: Shockingly, sometimes prospects can be genuine. When the prospect is genuinely seeking factual information to move forward and time is of the essence, provide a direct answer followed immediately by a gentle probe. There's a time and a place for answering simple questions, but it's when you've already done the hard work uncovering their needs. Even then, question gently and question intent. It's not over until the money is in the bank and even the most innocuous questions could be dabbed with poison.
New laws to ban sale of vaping products to under-18s
Main Post: New laws to ban sale of vaping products to under-18s
Top Comment:
This wasn’t the case already?
Fuck sake
The Laws of Human Nature is a total buy, and maybe his best work to date
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At the cost of upvotes, let me establish that I am not a blind Robert Greene fan. I do like how rereadable The 48 Laws of Power is and that you learn history alongside how to operate in the world. I do not like how The 48 Laws of Power have a Machiavellian theme throughout, and feel that it's leads to readers to become evil, mean, and paranoid others will take advantage of them, and the content is solid so this is totally unnecessary.
The 33 Strategies of War is probably one of Greene's most underrated works, and in some ways I like it more than 48. The Art of Seduction blows away every other pathetic book on the subject of how women think and behave. Now this will be the unpopular opinion of all, but it was painful for me to get through Mastery, and I think Greene should've not tried to model a book based on popularity trends set with Malcolm Gladwell, and he does cite Gladwell when discussing Mastery. Considering Mastery was Greene's last and most recent book before The Laws of Human Nature, I came into this new book begrudgingly, almost loathing Greene for exploiting his brand strength at this point to push product.
But I was pleasantly proven wrong. I'm still on the first chapter and Greene's writing is elevated to its best levels yet, his description about controlling your emotions, the historical examples of ancient Athens, the analogy of the emotional horse and the rational rider, it's all brilliant. In conclusion, if you think you're finding a shortcut by reading summaries, explanations, and free ebooks on The Laws of Human Nature, you are severely missing out on a masterpiece and a phenomenon of a book. Already I'm finding myself putting my daily activity under the lense of what I have read in the first chapter of his book and understanding how I can create something better for myself.
Top Comment:
I just finished chapter 12. Yes, this book produces a real-time upgrade effect that you can't get with a synopsis.
I said it before, this book almost makes Power, Seduction and War obsolete. But not quite.
CMV: Blue Laws surrounding the sale of liquor and beer are old & antiquated, and have no purpose other than to uphold the status quo.
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I live in Texas. A state that has extremely outdated Blue Laws that prohibit the sale of liquor past 9PM (M-Sat), and require all liquor stores to be closed on Sundays. Not to mention, you can only buy liquor at a designated liquor store (although you can get beer and wine at grocery stores, convenient stores, etc.)
It makes no sense in a free market, capitalist society (especially in a Red State) that these laws exist. They prohibit the sale of goods to a market that clearly exists, and it feels borderline unconstitutional considering many blue laws have religious origins and/or influences.
This pious paternalism by blue law states has given way to a ridiculous protectionist argument. Look no further than the owners of various liquor stores (or chains) who worry that competition will force them to work harder without guaranteeing a commensurate increase in revenue. Which is bullshit.
It appears the only thing Blue Laws want to protect are the establishment, not the consumers. We can still walk into a bar on Sunday (past noon) and get rip-roaring drunk, etc. So please, challenge me here. Change my view. Why are Blue Laws good? How is this a free market concept? I can vote. I can get drafted. But God forbid I want to buy a bottle of Pappy on Sunday. THE HORROR.
Top Comment:
> They prohibit the sale of goods to a market that clearly exists
This is, surprisingly, actually a misperception.
It's often not conservative, puritan people who want liquor sales outlawed on sundays, but the liquor stores themselves which exist in what they understand as a conservative area. If it were legal, then to compete with large grocery chains, small liquor stores would have to be open on Sundays and lose money as a result.
You could actually argue that these laws protect small businesses from losing to big ones.
What do you think of your state's alcohol laws?
Main Post: What do you think of your state's alcohol laws?
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In Florida, as in many states, packaged liquor can only be sold in dedicated liquor stores. I'd find it more convenient if it was sold in other locations, such as in grocery stores. But it's not a big deal.
Florida has no statewide restrictions on operating hours for bars and restaurants selling alcohol, which is nice. Though municipalities and counties have their own rules.
The USA’s Bird Laws: A Curious Question
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I was thinking about this late at night while scrolling through various pages of taxidermy for sale, just looking. My question refers to laws in the US surrounding the ownership of owls, eagles, and hawks. Namely, that you can’t own them. If I remember correctly, if a licensed institute wants it a taxidermist can apply for a federal permit to mount it for them but, still no private ownership. Also, there might be some exceptionally old pieces that are “grandfathered” in, but don’t quote me on that.
However, my question is about foreign birds. You see, when I was poking around online, I stumbled across a foreign seller who was selling some mounted owls and raptors, newly mounted- not antique. Some of the species listed are not native to the US and only have a range in Europe and parts of Asia. The seller also claimed to have CITES paperwork for them and could ship. Now, I will clarify that I have no intention of buying one of these mounts as I don’t wish to so much as even tempt the law, I’m skeptical about how these birds were first acquired, and I couldn’t afford one even if I did want it. This is just a question from curiosity.
Would the US laws on possessing birds of prey extend to non-native species?
Top Comment: Lucky for you, I'm well versed in bird law
How is alcohol sold in your state?
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I know rules differ state to state and even drink to drink, so what wacky regulations do you have to put up with in your state?
Top Comment: In South Carolina: Beer and wine are sold in convenience and grocery stores. Sunday sales are restricted state wide, but individual counties and cities can opt to allow sales (both in restaurants and stores). Alcohol is sold in separate liquor stores, and is restricted to Monday - Saturday sales, and they can only be open until 7 PM. No non alchohol items can be sold in liquor stores (including low ABV wines), so things like mixers and bitters aren't available in a liquor store. Attached liquor stores must have separate entrances (like at Costco or Total Wine). One thing I haven't seen here is grocery stores with attached liquor stores (they may exist, but I haven't seen them in Upstate SC). These were prevalent in FL.