By Mo Kanjilal, Sales Director at Kiss The Fish
Every salesperson has their own personal style and there are many different ways to close those deals. Talk to any sales person and they will tell you about the things that work for them, and the stories of how those things have worked. The art is in scaling this, in figuring out how you can teach others what you know so that you become a trained and professional team of sellers. Those fish swim in the same direction to find those wins.
In the end, most of these processes and ways of selling come down to the psychology of people. It’s about working out what people’s motivations are. Here are 7 tips for them to tap into using psychology to sell.
1. People make buying decisions based on their emotions
Whether it’s a new house, a new phone, or a new piece of software, key buying decisions are motivated by emotions – what you are about to buy either brings you emotional joy, or because it solves a problem for you it brings you the emotional feeling of relief. Tap into those emotions when you are talking to people and that is what will make people buy from you. Think about this in how you talk to your prospects and in how you present information to them.
If you are reading this and questioning this, think about it:
• New iPhone = Joy
• New printer with wireless connectivity = problem solving
If you can understand this and base each of your sales conversations around it, the way you sell will be different based on your understanding of the reason for their potential purchase. Are you solving a problem for them? Or are they going to be really happy with the experience of what they buy from you?
This approach can only work if you do your research and identify the reasons behind their potential purchase.
2. People mostly think about themselves
Generally, people like to hear how great they are. That sounds like a sweeping generalization, but think about it – if a salesperson flatters you or even comments on something about you, you remember them because they concentrated on you and made you feel good about yourself. So, when you’re selling, you need to complement people, but in an authentic and insightful way. You need to notice things about the people and the company, so they feel a connection with you. This builds their trust. People are more likely to buy from you if they feel that the attention is focused on them so that they feel seen and understood. This links to point No. 1 about doing your research about them. You need to listen carefully to what they say in each interaction and mention things they have said, using the language they have used each time you speak to them to show them you have concentrated on them and remembered things about them.
3. People like to be challenged.
If you have read ‘The Challenger Sale’ you will be familiar with this concept. In their study their research showed them that salespeople who challenge their prospects and ask them to think about things in a different way are the most successful. Their mantra of ‘Teach, Tailor, Take Control’ is about taking control of the conversation with the customer.
Think about it, if a salesperson is talking to their prospect and says things like
“Our solution will allow you to grow according to your forecasts”
Compared to:
“If you use our software combined with the skills in your team you can open up 6 new markets in the next 12 months instead of the 2 new markets you are currently forecasting”
The second approach is far more likely to make an impact on the prospect because it’s a challenge.
This approach also requires doing extensive research on your prospects to identify how you can help their business. Armed with that information, go ahead and challenge them, ask them to think bigger and they will remember you and want you to work with them.
4. People always like learning
When people learn something new, they feel good about themselves and feel that they have improved their knowledge. As that is the case, teaching is the key to successful selling.
Just telling people why your product or service is the best is not enough. People need to hear stories, learn from examples, and feel educated by the things you are telling them. They want to hear about your market knowledge, what you know about how their competitors operate, and what you have learned about their business. Make sure you cover these aspects in your emails and pitches to make an impact on your prospects.
And guess what? You have to do your own work and research to be able to do this well
5. People trust their friends and peers
Think about how many times you have bought something based on recommendations by friends or family. And not just about a product, those times when someone has told you about amazing service by a company which makes you want to buy from them. Or if you have experienced great company, I expect you’re very likely to tell your friends and family right?
So, think about how to turn your customers into marketers for you. Word of mouth is responsible for as much as 50% of all purchases, yet very few salespeople have an actual plan to generate it.
No matter what you are selling, make sure you create your business’s story for people to market for you. Selling becomes a whole lot easier when word-of-mouth marketing does the initial work for you.
6. People are more likely to move forward when it is their idea
Most people like to feel they have contributed to a new idea, so they can take some credit for it. The way to include this in your sales approach is by guiding your prospect in the direction that you want them to head, but not telling them what to do. A really simple way to do this is by asking them lots of questions and making suggestions along the way which lead to your products and solutions without telling them what to do. Help them sell internally so they can take credit for the solution.
7. People like a taste of what is to come
When you are considering buying anything whether it’s a new phone or a new piece of software, what makes it even more exciting is getting to try it out before you buy. People love feeling like they are getting a ‘free’ sample or getting something before they have had to commit to the purchase.
Think about how you can replicate that in the digital space. What can you offer prospects to entice them in? Think creatively about this, it’s not always about demo access to software, it could be an invitation to an exclusive, customer-only webinar, it could be inviting them to an event, or giving them a unique insight into a new development coming up soon.
Teaching and providing value to your audience is the best way to do this. The end result is the customer thinking that if your free content is this great, the paid content will be even better. Plus they will feel privileged to have got something for free.
Bringing it all together
There is no magic formula to make every sale go smoothly, but if you think about the psychology and really do your research on your prospects and concentrate on them, it’s likely to bring you better results. Over to you – what do you think?
