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You are here: Home / Archives for Blog / Persuasion

Use More Persuasion When You Sell

April 14, 2016 By maurasf

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

October 26, 2015 By maurasf

menus and persuasive words

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

December 13, 2013 By maurasf

Can you avoid lowering your price when you sell?

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

November 5, 2013 By maurasf

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?

October 28, 2013 By maurasf

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?

October 15, 2013 By maurasf

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

April 22, 2013 By maurasf

bi directional selling

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

February 12, 2013 By maurasf

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.

January 30, 2013 By maurasf

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?

August 31, 2012 By maurasf

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...]

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*What was your last “mistake?” Did you make it before? There’s nothing wrong with making mistakes in sales provided you are making different mistakes. (You are learning from them!)

About the principal

Would you take auto mechanics classes when you buy a car? Maura did because she wanted to be able to work on her car. She takes that same approach to selling. She can show you how to get below the surface of selling to learn why and how different strategies work. She will show you which skills to implement that will shorten your sales cycle and increase your sales. She was Mobil Oil's first female Lubrication Engineer in the United States and one of Chevron's top 5 salespeople in the country. She knows what works for sales.

"I would recommend your work to other sales organizations who want to get better results from improved selling strategies."
Jamey Rootes
President
Houston Texans

Sales Expert at Allbusiness.com

Selling is the easiest job in the world. Just ask anyone who is not in sales. Read Maura’s ideas on “more brain…less mouth” selling to make your selling easier and more successful.

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