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

When the prospect agrees to meet with you at a specific time, you have made your first sale,
the sale that makes the real sale possible.
Face-to-Face with the Prospect
Your first selling task is to get the prospect to listen to you. Before the
prospect will relax and listen to you, she wants to be sure of five things. She may
not say it or ask for these five factors by name, but they are essential if you want
to get a fair hearing.
First, she wants to be sure that you have something important to
communicate. That is why you go straight to the result or benefit of what you
sell in your first sentence. If what you are offering is relevant to her life or work,
you will have her complete attention.
Second, she wants to be sure that you are talking to the right person. Since
your product or service usually solves a problem of some kind, she wants to be
sure that she is the one with the problem or need that you can solve or satisfy.
Fortunately, you have already qualified this prospect when you got through to
her via the receptionist. You already know that you are talking to the right
person.
But if you have any doubts at all, ask her, “Are you the person that I would
talk to about increasing sales in your organization?”; “Are you the one with
whom I should speak about cutting your costs of information processing?”; or
“Are you the person to talk to with regard to [the specific need or problem]
within your organization?”
Remember, you do not sell a product or a service. You sell a solution to a
problem or the satisfaction of a genuine need. You must initially find the person
who has the problem or the need. Only then can you begin talking about helping
her get the benefits of what you are selling.
There is no point in doing a wonderful sales presentation to someone to whom
your product is of no interest or who is not in a position to make a buying
decision. Always be sure you are talking to the right person.
Third, at least initially, the prospect wants to be assured that your visit will be
short. People are extremely busy today. They are often overwhelmed with

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problems and responsibilities. They become nervous and negative if they think
that someone is going to take up a lot of their time. You must therefore assure
them right away that you are only going to take up a couple of minutes to tell
them about the benefit you have mentioned in your opening question.
Fourth, the prospect wants to be sure that she will be placed under no
obligation if she meets with you. This is why you say, “I have something to
show you, and you can judge for yourself.” This takes the pressure off the
prospect and often determines whether you get the appointment in the first place.
Fifth, the prospect wants to be sure that you will not use high pressure. The
two most common fears of prospects, with regard to salespeople, are the fear of
being pressured and the fear of being taken advantage of. By approaching the
prospect with a positive, polite, and friendly attitude, you take these fears away.
You cause her to relax and listen to you more closely.
You have to accomplish these five goals at the beginning of your
conversation, and often on the phone with a new prospect, just to get the
appointment. There is a method for doing this that I have taught to thousands of
salespeople. When they have used this method, it has often revolutionized their
results in getting appointments either by telephone or while cold-calling.