Many of these are timeless bits of gold:

>Go to the back door (most salesmen go to the front door, a manoeuvre always resented by maid and mistress alike).

Being seen at the front door to imply to others that they are your guest is what gives salesmen a bad name. It's like when someone tries to talk to me about what "execs" want in my org. I've had engineers talk to me about "the business," and it's difficult to hear anything after that through the cringe. Sales people presenting themselves as peers makes them seem oily.

>If you add confidentially that the transaction will show you a profit, the prospect will prefer to buy her own fuel.

"the maintainance cost isn't that high, but if you were really budgeting that much, I may be in the wrong business, and I would consider hiring a subcontractor to deliver it for you myself at that price. It's really much lower."

>Learn to recognise vegetarians on sight. It is painful indeed to gush over roasting and grilling to a drooping face which has not enjoyed the pleasures of a beefsteak for years.

Is this person involved in security? There are some people who are just going to be negative without ever being a strong or valuable ally if even you convince them.

>Try and avoid being drawn into discussing competitive makes of cooker, as it introduces a negative and defensive atmosphere.

Apple does this probably the best of anyone. They sell the experience. They didn't even acknowledge security, viruses, and malware until recently because it wasn't a part of their brand. A different product isn't even part of the discussion because it's the enabler for a different vision.

I think the best ad examples are ones where people are doing something cool and powerful and not having to think about your product at all.

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AceyMan 2 days ago | parent | next [-]

>>Go to the back door (most salesmen go to the front door, a manoeuvre always resented by maid and mistress alike).

To most of us Yankees, this makes no sense. Many of not most of our single-family homes are built in areas that don't implement an alleyway, so the back door is really only for the residents to get to the back yard or carport, etc.

If a salesman knocked on the back door it's likely they'd have the police called on them / or worse.

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hnthrowaway121 4 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Out of curiosity what’s wrong with talking about “the business”? I hear it plenty but I have totally neutral feelings about it.

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motohagiography 4 days ago | parent [-]

it's a passive reference, and kind of a dog's eye view of why things happen. things have concrete causes, with people who want things for specific reasons.

in tech, if you have accepted that tech is inferior and what you have when you aren't valuable, then sure, you're a dog, but if you are engaged in delivering a product that delivers value, there is no separate "the business," just the concrete need that you are a part of, imo.

	▲	wavemode 3 days ago \| parent [-]
		When engineers use vague terms like "execs" and "the business" it's not (necessarily) because they don't care or aren't willing to understand concrete causes and concrete needs. Sometimes it's because the organization lacks transparency, so those causes and needs have been obscured from them (intentionally or unintentionally). To put it another way - they're being treated like a dog, so why is it surprising that they talk like one?