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...]
Sales Shortcuts to Start Your Selling Year
It’s been attributed to Einstein that he said the equivalent of “Everything should be as simple as possible, but not simpler.” That sounds like a shortcut to me. Here are some sales shortcuts for the new year so you can start your selling year off right and sell more. Learn how a prospect will buy. One of the most important questions to ask your prospects is how they’re going … [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...]
Do you want to make your next prospecting call less stressful for you?
I often ask salespeople how they customize their selling. I get nervous when they say that they sell the same way to every prospect. Why? Because customers are different and they prefer you to be like they are, not necessarily how you are most comfortable. That's why the most flexible salespeople are the most successful. Here are some ideas to start with if you don't know how … [Read more...]