If you’ve read my two previous posts — Everyone Sells and Convince Me! — you should be starting to get a good feel for what I’m talking about.
I’ve helped you realize that you do sell and given you a few ideas to change how you sell. Now let’s look at the five principles of convincing.
To begin re-building HOW you sell your product, service, or point-of-view, there’s no better place to start than YOU.
You are the foundation. You can have the best materials, the right tools, and strong skills, but to become a master craftsman you need to live and breath these principles.
The five principles of convincing:
During the 1992 presidential race, candidate and former Arkansas governor Bill Clinton used the phrase “I feel your pain.” While it may seem like a rather trite commitment, it is EXACTLY the first empathetic thought that should jump into a seller’s mind. Every buyer has some type of pain — some problem — that they are trying to solve. What is it for your buyer?
“Think like a buyer” … you’ll hear me keep saying that over and over. When you start thinking like your buyer and not a seller it becomes easier to feel their pain. Why? Because for a brief moment it’s your pain too. I’m not saying you have to become your buyer, just think like them for a while. When you do a whole new world of ideas will begin to open up.
In manufacturing there is a quality standard known as ISO 9000. To summarize the standard, it says “Document what you do and do what you document.” In selling there is a corollary: “Say what you do and do what you say.” Call it commitment, call it dedication, call it whatever you want, but TRUST is a key value that every buyer and seller need to share.
A SMART buyer trusts you. When they trust you, they’re inclined to buy again. You don’t want a one time transaction, you want a long term relationship. Remember the four phases of selling? You want to keep making that cycle smaller and smaller. When you have your buyer’s trust, you’ll spend less time finding, educating, & closing — and more time Fostering the relationship.
Buying invokes both logic and emotion. Logical deciding relies on facts and figures. Can your buyer afford (the time, money, or risk) to buy what you’re selling? Will they get a good return on their investment? Will this one purchase completely satisfy their need or want … or will it take more than one? When they do the math the numbers need to add up.
When the numbers don’t add up — and a buyer still buys — emotion has made the decision. Every purchase is emotional. However, if a buyer can’t logically support an emotional decision, you end up with buyer’s remorse. You want a SMART buyer (recall the R in SMART is for Remorseless). Before your buyer decides, make sure you both have done your homework.
Buying is an emotional experience. The higher the cost (money, time, or risk), the more emotional the decision. Buying a gallon of milk at the store might not seem like an emotional event. It would though, if you were out of a job, had your last $20 in your wallet, and a 2 year old clutching your leg who was crying and hungry.
As a seller, understand that buying can be painful, joyful, or both. Granted, if you’re the dairy selling the milk, you couldn’t predict the scenario I just described. (Or could you?) Emotion is stronger than logic. It can be the best tool in your toolbox, or it can be a weapon of mass destruction, devastating everyone and every aspect of a sale. Treat it with care.
Every buyer wants the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. When you build your story, examine it well. Are the facts the facts — or did you stretch some to the point of fiction? Can you prove what you said is true? Can you demonstrate it without resorting to “smoke & mirrors” trickery? When your buyer experiences it, will they still believe you?
Truths are paving stones that can build a road of trust. As you move your buyer from their point A to your point B, it needs to be along that road of trust. Every “truth” you add makes it a more trusting journey. But stumble across a “half-truth” and you’re likely to fall. And if you fall — even once — there’s a good chance you’ll never make it to your destination.
. . . . .
| Getting Started 5/10. | Previous/Next |
| Enjoy the story? Tell Google! |
 | And if you really liked this, why not subscribe to our email list? |
