The sales process can be challenging at times, but when done right, a good salesperson can predict their customer’s next move. Having the right product on hand for the consumers is only half the battle. Joining Jim today is Jeff Shore, award-winning sales trainer, and keynote speaker, to discuss psychology-based sales training and how to sell the way your customers want you to.
As a front-line salesperson, Jeff was trained to be a product first salesman, and he found that it just didn’t work over time. The missing piece to his sales strategy was getting to know the customer, and really understanding their needs. Jeff’s interest in the psychology of a purchase decision played nicely to this concept as well. If we can figure out how customers think and how they make decisions, then we should be able to figure out how to make the process easier for them.
“Salespeople are so consumed with what the customer is moving to, that they neglect to really understand where the customer is coming from,” explains Jeff. Understanding your customer’s history and background is critical because it gives you context to work within.
Good salespeople are focused on the ‘what’. What are you looking for? What is your budget? What is your timeframe? However, great salespeople concentrate their efforts on the ‘why’. Why are you thinking about buying in the first place? Why is now the right time? The why questions will always be more important than the what questions.
Customers also make mental shortcuts during the buying process according to Jeff, and salespeople will try to exploit those shortcuts. Some of which are:
- Easy equal right: the easier it feels, the more correct it becomes in your mind
- Like equals trust: If customers like you, then they have a tendency to trust you
The more you build a trusting relationship with a customer, price becomes less of a determining factor in the buying process. When your pitch launches directly into the price, the danger becomes triggering a customer’s logical and analytical reasoning, and that doesn’t sell a product. The decision to buy something is 85 percent driven by emotion and 15 percent driven by logic. Tapping into your customer’s psyche is a much more successful sales strategy.
