Have you ever wished that you had a crystal ball that told you what your customers were thinking? As salespeople, we can all benefit by understanding the customer's exact needs in order to make more sales.
If you're an effective salesperson, there's a good chance that it's thanks to an aptitude for understanding a client's frame of mind. The field of psychology offers several insights into why certain sales techniques are effective. If you can understand these insights, you'll be able to develop an even more impressive edge in selling.
So if you want to improve your sales technique, try these suggestions:
1) First impressions: Focus on emotions
Our brains are wired to focus on emotions before logic, and first impressions have a big impact on what your client ultimately decides about your product or service. This is why it's crucial to focus on making customers feel good on an emotional level first, before following up with facts.
2) Cognitive dissonance: Get clients on board early
Cognitive dissonance is the idea that people are committed to a certain perception of themselves, and that they will tend to avoid putting themselves in situations that negate this perception. In terms of sales, it's effective to ask questions that will get customers "on board" in small ways early in the interaction.
Having clients agree that a particular feature is useful, or that a service could save them time, makes them less likely to disagree later on.
3) Follow the crowd: "Here's what our other clients think…"
Humans are social, and your clients like to know that other people are benefitting from your product or service. Being able to share positive feedback from prior clients, or even simply starting a sentence with the phrase, "Here's what our other clients have done…" can go a long way toward reassuring clients.
4) Stories, not statistics: The power of anecdotes
Similar to the idea that emotions are more powerful than logic, anecdotes work better than statistics in convincing clients to purchase your product or service. In other words, telling the story of a single satisfied client can have more influence than citing statistics from hundreds of clients.
