How do I sell my expensive niche software w/ no sales background?
njl: My partner and I built a product, and we're currently selling to higher ed. He's been selling to higher ed for seven or eight years now, and I've been peripherally involved in selling to higher ed for four or five. I'd love a chance to chat about it, and my email is in my profile.Without knowing more details, your price feels reasonable. You need to put together a solid, total package, and don't forget 18%/year in maintenance. If your clients are getting funding from an outside source on this, you need to grease the skids. There are people who do nothing but set up and administer grants. If you can hook up with one of them, you're golden.The best way to learn to sell is to do it. Try to find yourself a mentor you can talk to about it, and just go for it. If you can learn how to effectively cold call, you can rule the world.There are lots of crappy sales books, but there are many good ones. I like SPIN Selling by Rackham; it's researched, reasonable, and most other solution selling books that came out afterward just repackage Rackham's results. I like Jeffrey Gitomer's Little Red Book of Selling. It's mostly about maintaining a positive attitude while people are telling you no. This is necessary, because selling is a goddamn emotional roller coaster. Watch out for books aimed at the hard sell. You can't hard sell a university.Good luck!