Successful selling is the art and science of influence. There are simple persuasion strategies that you should be using when you sell. Here’s one simple way to boost your sales results. Tap into commitment and consistency. A financial planner recently spoke to the engineering group that I lead. We spoke about his work before the meeting started. He uses dinner meetings to … [Read more...]
What a menu teaches you about persuasion
Who knew that restaurant menu words can impact the price of a dish? And, every letter counts. Author Dan Jurafsky wrote the book The Language of Food: A Linguist Reads the Menu. I was fascinated to learn that every increase of one letter in the average length of words describing a dish is associated with an increase of 18 cents in the price of that dish. Who knew? … [Read more...]
Avoid Lowering Your Price
Consultative Selling: The Questions to ask to avoid lowering your price Sales miracles do occur. In 1995, I was brought into a distributor’s account where they were having equipment problems. I planned to begin the sales call by discussing a product that could solve their problem. As I suggested the product and before I could go into any detail, my customer said, “Send me … [Read more...]
Why You Should Bring Bagels to a Sales Call
Did you know that a hungry, tired judge is much less likely to grant a defendant's request than one who has just eaten or taken a break? At least that's the finding of an ingenious new study looking at the rulings made by parole board judges in relation to when they had taken a meal break. Overall, prisoners saw a 65 percent success rate if their cases were heard early in the … [Read more...]
Are you selling or manipulating?
This is why salespeople get a bad name. In a recent study it turns out that when you make a superfluous apology (knowing you didn't cause the problem or it was beyond your control) it has the result of making others trust you. Here's where motives come into play. I have a problem if you are apologizing for inconveniences you know you didn't cause only because you want to get … [Read more...]
Are you making a sales mistake?
I see this over and over again with salespeople. They make the mistake of presenting too soon. How do I know? I ask them if their clients are saying, "I need to think about it" to make a buying decision. What's to think about it your customer truly needs what you are selling? It's your job to ask the questions that guide a customer to understand there is a need, it's an … [Read more...]
Make it easier for customers to buy
People make decisions by comparing one choice to another. The persuasion principle is known as contrast. Do you ever notice that off-white fabric looks dingy only when it’s next to bright white fabric? That’s contrast. Contrast is used in business to make decisions. When there are multiple choices, we compare one to the others. When in doubt, if there’s only one choice, it’s … [Read more...]
Great ideas to prove your point
Here's a great article with ideas on using persuasion and proving your point. https://www.digitalsparkmarketing.com/2013/02/03/combination-of-evidence/ Here's the column: Have you ever wondered how some people seem to be natural persuaders? Obviously good oral communication skills are important, but it takes more than good speaking skills for the best means of … [Read more...]
Tap into obligation to sell more.
If I gave you something, would you feel obligated to give me something back? Of course you would. That's reciprocity. We unconsciously feel obligated to give when we get. (If you don't believe me, ask any woman who hates to cook and is invited for dinner at someone's house. The first thing she thinks is, "Oh no. Now I have to cook!") Reciprocity is a very powerful selling … [Read more...]
Could you create copycat buyers?
Copycats are a good thing. Social copying is the phenomenon of looking to other people to show us what to do. That's what a TV track taps into. It shows us where to laugh and we feel better knowing that we’re part of the group. We also eat at crowded restaurants because it allows us to copy the other people who have chosen what we believe to be a good restaurant. Think of … [Read more...]