Master salespeople are adept at utilising powerful
psychological strategies to influence people. Here are three from my personal
top ten:
1) People
will buy from people they like
Extensive psychological research demonstrates
the importance of ‘liking’ in persuading people. Master salesman Joe Girrard (In the Guinness
Book of Records as the world’s “greatest car salesman”) credits liking as one
of the most important factors in closing sales.
The fastest and most effective way to encourage people to like you is to
use the rapport building strategies of "postural echoing" or matching and mirroring body language and other observable behaviour. People like people who are like them. Matching the behaviour of your customers will
enable you to establish deep levels of liking.
2) People
will buy if other people are buying
The impact of other people’s behaviour
on our own is powerful. We will view a specific
behaviour as correct to the degree that we see other people doing it. It is
possible to encourage someone to take a specific action by demonstrating how
other people are taking that action. Utilise
this persuasion strategy by making frequent use of testimonials from existing
customers, and by using stories about how existing customers made the decisions
you want your prospective customer to make.
This strategy is particularly effective when people are feeling
uncertain. When people are feeling
uncertain they are more likely to use the actions of others as guidance.
3) People
will buy if the decision is consistent with previous commitments
The drive to be and look consistent
is a powerful motivator of human behaviour.
Utilise this strategy by getting your prospect to commit to something
early in the selling process and then use it to leverage a decision later in
the sale. Far too many salespeople have
far too many customers “thinking it over”.
Early in the selling process I
get a customer to commit to “taking a look at what I have to offer and then
deciding ‘yes’ or ‘no’ if you want to go ahead”. At an appropriate time in the sale I remind
them of their earlier commitment and ask them for a decision. This bold approach results in far more closed
sales. It filters out timewasters, which
maximises my selling time with people who are actually going to spend money. This
approach is not for wimps. If you feel more comfortable wasting your time
re-contacting all of the people who are allegedly “thinking it over”, then
please don’t use it!
Simon
Hazeldine MSc FinstSMM is an international speaker and consultant in the areas
of sales, negotiation, performance leadership and applied neuroscience.
He is the
bestselling author of five business books:
- Neuro-Sell:
How Neuroscience Can Power Your Sales Success
- Bare
Knuckle Selling
- Bare
Knuckle Negotiating
- Bare
Knuckle Customer Service
- The
Inner Winner
To learn
more about Simon's keynote speeches and other services please visit:
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