The Psychological Side to Selling

At first thought, you may be thinking “how does psychology have anything to do with sales?” But after thinking about it for a while, you may realize that the answer is… a lot. Selling is all about getting into the mind of your prospect and persuading them (or better yet – letting them come to the conclusion themselves) that they need what you offer. Learning about how people think is a great way to better understand your prospect and it will become helpful to arm yourself with the tools to understand and sway your prospect’s thinking. Here are some tips on how you can use psychology to sell during your next sales call:  

Use leading questions  

When trying to sell your product or service to a prospect, leading questions are great tools to keep in your back pocket. A leading question is a question you ask in way that will result in the response you are looking for. According to sales coach, Tom Hopkins, “By asking questions, rather than spewing facts, figures and details about your products, you will engage buyers rather than pushing them away.” Leading questions allow the prospect to use less brain power to engage with you. For example, in the qualification prospect with a receptionist, instead of asking, “who makes decisions on XYZ?” you can ask, “I’m looking for the person that makes decisions on xyz, typically it’s the Facilities Director or HR director, who would be the best person to speak with?

Another example- if you are, hypothetically, selling office furniture to a small business, you might ask something along the lines of, “Comfort and durability are qualities of an office chair you are looking for, aren’t they?” By adding “aren’t they?” at the end of your question, you are prompting your prospect to agree with you and what better way to get the prospect closer to a Yes on the sale itself, then getting little yes’s along the way!  

Take prospects off of objections by asking questions  

Objections from your prospect can be expected, but there are ways to move your prospect away from these objections in a way that helps them realize the value your product or service brings.  

Many objections stem from factors like price. If your prospect says something like, “I am not sure there is room in our budget for this,” you can respond by asking, “What qualities are you looking for when it comes to this product/service?” By doing this, you are taking the prospect’s focus off of the objection and shifting their focus towards your company’s value proposition. This may help your prospect see that the quality of what you offer is worth the price. 

Alternatively, ask a question after you rebut the objection to move the prospect back to the flow of the sales presentation. If the prospect on the intro call says, “I’m not ready to set an appointment. Send me an email instead”, a good rebuttal may be, “Well I could certainly send you something, but if I’m gonna email you, I just want to make sure that it’s going to be specific & pertinent to what you’re trying to accomplish over there, so let me ask you some questions…” and go back to the Probing questions to move things along in the discovery. 

Create a sense of urgency   

Nothing gets people to act quicker than limited time offers – if your prospect thinks that they may lose out on a deal if they don’t act quickly, they will be more likely to close a deal with you on the spot.  

According to Entrepreneur, “By creating scarcity, notifying users you only have a limited number of items left, for instance, or creating urgency with a one-day sale, you can convince users that the only time to buy is now. So, try holding a flash sale or offering a coupon for a limited time only.” Even if it really isn’t an urgent manner, convincing your prospects that it is will discourage them from pushing off the decision to buy.  

Show your prospects that companies, just like theirs, love what you offer  

Other people have a lot of influence on our buying decisions. Your prospects will be more likely to close a deal with you if they see that other companies, similar to their own, have benefitted from what you offer. This is why testimonials and case studies are so powerful – if we see that others have seen a favorable outcome, we are more intrigued to try the product or service ourselves.   

According to HubSpot, to activate “social proof,” the psychological factor that comes into play in these situations, “you can reference your past customers by using phrases such as “most clients we have in your same industry…,” or by offering customers’ names or organizations.”  

Even the best salespeople could benefit from learning about how psychology and sales relate to one another. There are many psychological sales techniques that can help you close your next deal– including asking leading questions, taking prospects off of objections by asking key probing questions, creating a sense of urgency and showing your prospects social proof.  

Here at MarketReach, our lead generators are taught how psychology plays a role during the prospecting calls. Could your sales team use some help getting more at-bats with their prospects? Contact us today!