“Pull Selling” - How do you do it? Part II

There is only one way to sell today, and that is to get your customers’ blessing

In the second half of this in-depth article, I will continue with what the most important principles of selling in over-competitive, saturated markets are. These skills are vital if you want to success in difficult times.

2. Forget your arguments – that is NOT what makes the sale.
Have an honest look at your best argument as to why your customer should buy YOUR product - the one argument that would beat all. No matter how good or how strong it is, chances are that your competition is using the same argument! Today, when the market becomes more and more driven by the client’s “power of choice”, you can’t rely on any monopoly, or sense of, any longer. Now, what happens when the customer hears the same arguments, again and again, from different sales people? You got it: the customer gets confused and skeptical.

Relying on your best argument does not make you any different from the competition. So then what do you use to make the difference? There is one factor which is much more impinging on the customer’s buying process – or call it a major “buying factor”: the certainty of making the right decision - or the anxiety of making the wrong one (usually much stronger!).

Can your arguments help in either increasing his certainty or better yet, decreasing his anxiety/fear related to his decision? Absolutely not. So then, what do you need?
You need ATTITUDE. Because that is the first thing he buys. He buys your conviction and certainty in your ability and willingness to help him. He buys your dedication to find the right solution for his concern or challenge; he buys YOU first. Most salespeople fall in a big trap: they work the customer in a superficial zone: the zone of logic. They do not understand that the major buying factor has nothing to do with logic – where your arguments stand.

Buying is ALWAYS more emotional than logical, in any kind of field or industry. So using logical arguments usually do not trigger the desire; they trigger only “thinking” or counter-arguments (have you ever had a customer asking to buy right after you placed your best argument?).

You thus need to “convert” your arguments into emotional triggers by finding out what emotional subject can be related to your product – or service. For example: as a chiropractor you have a great superfood-based product, known to reduce fat AND environmental toxicity (two good arguments). Your patient is overweight and suffers from respiratory problems – besides having a chronic low back pain. How do these non-optimal body conditions AFFECT your patient in life? In other words, why could it be emotionally important for this patient to use such a product? Well, what impact can his weight issue have on his social life? Could you ask him that? Or how often does he feel tired during the day, unable to focus while choking on his coughs?

These are examples of emotional subjects related to the product. If you can find out what emotional subjects your customer will react to and if you can demonstrate that your mission is to help him handle or resolve these emotional issues, he will want to buy from you!

3. What is THE most important quality in selling?
We have heard it all: a good salesperson needs to be enthusiastic, convinced about his product, persistent, caring, honest, passionate, dedicated, etc. etc... And he must be able to listen too!

All these qualities are definitely needed and vital to succeed. But today there is one quality required, more than any other. Without that one, you will fail to create the desire to buy…

That quality is: curiosity!
Look up the word in a good dictionary: you will find out that the first definition of “curiosity” is INTEREST. Great salespeople are curious, they are interested. They want to know so many things about their customers or patients, about their need of course, but more importantly, about their personal desires, fears, concerns. They want to find out what makes the patient “go in life“. They want to find out all about them. They also want to know all about their past good and/or bad experiences with similar products or services.

In my research and evaluation of all these great salespeople, this is the ONE quality that I found. This is THE difference that I could detect between most sales people and the great ones!

Great salespeople are curious. They want to know. They do not try to bombard the customer or patient with arguments. They try to find out:

• Who is this person I am dealing with?
• What are his problems, concerns, and what does he like?
• What are his desires, concerns or fears, related to the subject of my product/service?

As a matter of fact, if you should remember one thing about this article, remember this: the more you know, the more you sell. It is not “the more I talk the more I sell”, as many of us have been educated into believing. Consider this: on average, a salesperson will ask 5 to 8 questions before starting to talk and argue (about his product). An observation of successful salespeople revealed that they would ask up to 5 times as many questions, before presenting and arguing about their product. They are genuinely interested.

So you could write a list of questions that would help you answer this one: “What do I want to know from this customer?” If you adopt this attitude, you will see a big change in your profession and your life. You will soon realize that “one is as successful as he can grant importance to others”.

And for your customers, guess who the most important person on this planet is? (Look for the part I articles in this series for more information on pull-selling.)