The psychology of selling
How to sell ice to an Eskimo, sell oil to an Arab.
This is selling 101
1. Drop the enthusiasm.
It’s time to get rid of the excitement when you’re in front of prospects.
Your prospects hate enthusiasm because it doesn’t seem real.
So stop the enthusiasm, and just be real and genuine instead.
2. Stop pitching.
Instead, think of it as a doctor-patient conversation.
Diagnose what’s wrong with the prospect and then, once you have a full understanding of their challenges and needs,
Present only the solution that will solve their problems.
3. Pressure is a no-no
Grown-ups are always telling kids that bad behavior is a “no-no”—and this is exactly how I feel about pressure in sales.
Never, ever apply pressure to your prospects in a selling situation.
You can't force me to part with my money!
4. It's about them, not you.
All prospects think about is "What’s in it for me"
All prospects care about is themselves.
They don’t care about you.
They don’t care about your offering.
And they certainly don’t care about how great you think your service is.
5. Step into their shoes
When’s the last time you really thought about the experience your buyers go through?
We’re talking about starting to think like our prospects.
We need to understand what they care about, and craft our conversations around those top concerns
6. Create value through questions.
Take a step back and create value through the questions you ask. Here are questions to add to your repertoire:
- What would you say this challenge is costing you today?
- Can you help me understand how this problem affects you?
7. “No” isn’t bad.
Most salespeople spend their careers trying to avoid any type of rejection.
But in reality, “no” isn’t a bad thing at all.
If you can get “no” from an unqualified prospect early on in the sales cycle, then you should consider it a victory.
8. Make it a two-way dialogue
When people are actually speaking, they’re the most engaged
When they’re listening, they may still be engaged in the conversation, but it’s less likely
Make sure that you’re having a two-way dialogue with your prospect, even when you’re presenting.
9. Don’t be afraid to push back.
On the surface, it seems like the job of the salesperson is to make the prospect feel comfortable and never rock the boat.
Prospects will respect you more, and listen to you as an expert, if you share your opinion and disagree thoughtfully.
10. Give them options.
While the majority of sales proposals only give one option, this is a huge lost opportunity.
First, give a basic option as a less expensive choice that provides the bare essentials to solve the problem at hand, but is still profitable for you.
Next, give a middle option that’s your core offering for the majority of your prospects.
And finally, offer a third, premium option that’s more expensive and has more deliverables.
That's how you win at selling.