The power of persuasion in the Sales Process

Buyers buy or don’t buy for all sorts of reasons. Great sales people are subtly persuasive. How do they persuade their prospects in a subtle fashion to accept their advice and close the sale?

Here are 5 ways to subtly persuade your prospects to bring them across the line.

Visual Stimulation

The power of sales visuals can never be under estimated. As children we learn by visual stimulation through colour and simple pictures. Guess what? It still works with adults! Developing pictorial relationships between objects and ideas is a great to emphasize a point and leave a lasting mental imprint. You will also get people to a decision making point in your sales relationship quicker

Sales visuals help you to hold the attention of purchasers and lead them to own the mental picture of your offer. When buyers understand visually what you are trying to tell them then they are easier to convince to act.

Have The Courage To Ask People To Buy.

Strange as it may seem many people will not actually make a decision to buy unless they are asked to or expected to! So often people walk away from the table without ever asking. They don’t make a sale or put the other person in the position of making a decision.

Often people are hesitant to ask for the sale. They think they are being “pushy”. The worst thing a prospect can say is NO. Many people wimp out of asking for the sale by saying things like “Why don’t you think it over” or “I’ll give you a call next week to get your opinion” or even “Let me know when you are ready to do something”.

People expect you to ask them to buy. That’s your job. If you have put the time, effort and energy into getting the appointment to show your proposition, is it not eminently sensible to ask for the order?

One particularly successful advisor always asks the question “May I have the privilege of your business?” He asks this no matter what the state of the interview or length of the relationship. Guess what? He gets a lot of business simply because he has the courage to ask. He puts people in the position of having to make a decision.

The beauty of this is that many people who may not have been going to make a decision actually have to consider it right then. Now you will either win, lose or find out the other persons time frame or reason for making a decision.

This is foreign territory to a lot of people. Yet think about this. If your proposition is good, can help the prospect and a decision has to be made sometime then if you don’t ask you will never know the answer that people will give you.

The Use Of Action Packed “Hinge” Words.

“Hinge” words are words of action that demand the client do something. These types of words suggest to people to build in actions to their thoughts.

Words like “make”, “need”, “require”, “act now”, “opportunity”, “cause”, “since”, “eminently sensible”, “help”, “concern” and “definite” can be linked to product features, prospect time frames to act and real purchaser benefits.

• If you act now we can get all the paperwork done before June 30th, if that would make you happy?

• This idea is eminently sensible as it does all the things you asked me to do for you in your original brief, doesn’t it?

• Since we first spoke you have really convinced me of the need for this service to (insert your benefit) and how it will help you solve the problem you are so concerned about

A combination of these hinge words makes them even more powerful in eliciting positive action from the client.

The Art Of The Silent Close.

So many people in the advisory business keep on talking and talking and talking. So often the prospect requires some mental and verbal quietness just to reach a decision. The “silent time” in the sales process is so often forgotten and ignored.

What happens when the sales person shuts up? The prospect has to ask something or do something to continue the dialogue, don’t they? This can get them saying things like “What happens now?” “What do you want me to do?” “ Where do we go from here?” All these are buying questions, aren’t they?

The strength of the sales person to invoke the silence technique is a mark of their confidence in them self.

It allows the client time to ask themselves or seek clarification about what does actually happen next. It is like half time at the football. Everyone can rest a little and take stock.

Silence is a good sign in the sales process. Many people intuitively know that they will be asked to buy. So let them have a chance by simply shutting up your mouth and opening your ears to the buying signals.

To effect this follow these rules

• Close any visuals or pamphlets
• Simple draw your chair up close to the table
• Put your hands on the table lightly clasped,
• Have both your feet on the floor
• Lean just slightly forward toward your prospect in anticipation
• Have a pleasant smile on your face
• Wait

Don’t speak. Give them have a chance to ask you about anything.

Return To The Past To Secure The Future.

Never lose sight of why your prospect originally agreed to see you and talk to you. They had a problem, clarification issue or situation that they wanted resolved. You were seen as a potential source of the solution to those issues. That is why they came to see you, let you make an appointment to see them , were referred to you or sought you out for an appointment.

Ask this question “Have we been able to deliver a solution close to what you wanted when you first came to see me? If I remember correctly you asked for (state the benefit or outcome requested). That is what we have been able to arrive at for you, isn’t it Mr. Jones?”

Then get an agreement in principal or on the main issues.

When they agree on the original premise to discuss the issues, ask for the business. At worst they will tell you why they are not ready to do business. But, then that’s good because you can then find out what else it is they need to know before you use the Clarification Close.

Most people have an original reason for wanting to see you. Always remember to confirm that original request in the early stage of the close.

Paul Davies

We have access to a large range of tools and services to help you increase your sales and offer other products such as insurance to clients. Contact me for more details.

For more tools on how to implement sales strategies into your business, visit www.financialservicessalesacademy.com.au