The Psychology of Selling: Increase Your Sales Faster and Easier Than You Ever Thought Possible pdfdrive com

Training Makes the Difference
It turned out that he had worked for a Fortune 500 company when he was
younger. That company had spent sixteen months training him intensively in the
process of professional selling. With those skills he could then go to work for
any company or industry and sell any product or service in virtually any market.
Because he knew how to sell, he could sell circles around people like me, even
though he was working half the time or less. This discovery changed my life.
When I asked him what he was doing differently, he said, “Well, show me
your sales presentation, and I’ll critique it for you.”
That was my first problem. I had no idea what a “sales presentation” looked
like. I had heard that there was such a thing, but I had never seen one myself.
I said, “You show me yours, and I’ll show you mine.”
He was patient and polite. He said, “OK, here is a basic sales presentation
from beginning to end.” He then walked me, step-by-step, through a sales

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from beginning to end.” He then walked me, step-by-step, through a sales
presentation for our product.
Instead of using a “speech” or clever one-liners to get attention or to
overcome resistance, he asked a series of logical questions, from general to
specific, that were ideally suited to a genuine prospect. At the end of this series
of questions, it had become perfectly clear to the prospect that he could use and
benefit from our product. The final question was simply to close the sale.
Take Action Immediately
I wrote everything down. Fortified with this new approach to selling, I went
out and started calling on prospects once more. But this time, instead of talking,
I asked questions. Rather than trying to overwhelm the prospect with the features
and benefits of my product, I focused on learning about the prospect’s situation
and how I could best help him or her. With this new method, my sales went up.
Then I learned about books on selling. I had no idea that some of the best
salespeople in the world had written some of the best ideas on selling in books. I
began reading everything I could find on selling, spending the first two hours of
every day studying and taking notes.
Next I learned about audio learning. It changed my life. I began to listen, hour
after hour, to audio programs as I walked from office to office. I listened to them
in the morning; I listened to them in the evening. I rehearsed and practiced the
best sentences and phrases from the best salespeople until I could recite them in
my sleep. And my sales went up and up.
Then I discovered sales seminars. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I
had no idea how much you could learn from a sales seminar. I began to take
every seminar and course I could find, even if I had to travel long distances,
which I did, and which I could eventually afford to do. And my sales continued
to increase.