How to Sell More by Upping Your Persuasion Game
The art of persuasion is a big thing, especially for salespeople. It’s a pivotal part of being successful. Learning to be more persuasive in sales leads to more revenue generation, and allows the salesperson to add value and make a difference in the lives of their buyers. Lee Warren, interviewed by John Golden, discusses persuasion in sales.
This expert sales interview explores:
- Defining persuasion in sales
- Techniques for becoming more persuasive
- How to shift your mindset to achieve sales success
- Adding value through persuasion
What is Persuasion?:
Persuasion is a very ethical thing. Many people think it’s a shady tactic that involves convincing people to do things they don’t want to do, but it’s actually quite contrary to that. Persuasion is all about getting emotional engagement with other people. If someone feels like what you’re saying to them is fun, or worth their time, or going to make them look good in front of someone else, or make them money, then you’re setting yourself up to be persuasive in sales.
How to Become More Persuasive:
It’s likely the goal of most salespeople to become more persuasive in sales. There are some simple, actionable tips that are easy to integrate in order to take the role of the expert persuader. The first is that you must listen more, and understand people’s words more. Have your hand on your heart with every client. Many people, especially in sales, are good at talking about what is interesting to them. Salespeople are often good at the spiel, but no one really wants to be sold to. People push back against the spiel. Learning how to really listen and understand what your buyer’s real needs are shifts the seller into a position to persuade with empathy. “This is something that you can learn to do in a minute, but it takes a lifetime to become good at,” said Warren.
More Techniques to be Persuasive in Sales:
The second technique for becoming more persuasive in sales is to restructure how you think about language. When you meet people who are genuinely good at being persuasive, they often speak with very visual language and use lots of imagery. They might say things like, “imagine if…” Successful persuaders are also very good at looking at what the future could be like for all of us, together. “They really do want everyone to have a solution, and everyone to win from what they’re proposing,” said Warren.
Shifting Your Mindset:
A mindset shift is often required for those who want to increase their persuasive abilities. “You have to go genuinely believe that what other people have to say, and what’s in their mind, is genuinely as valuable as what’s in your own mind,” said Warren. “Often times, we’re not really listening to people, we’re just waiting for our turn to speak. We must genuinely view other peoples world as being as interesting as our own.”
The Importance of Value:
Many salespeople focus on the product or service itself, and not the value that the product or service could bring to their client’s lives. “Be obsessed with value. Focus on the value that it brings, rather than the thing itself,” said Warren. A persuasive sales conversation is really, at its root, about the exchange of value. One top technique is to fill in the second half of these sentences: “At the heart of what I do is a simple idea…” and “At the heart of our service is a simple idea…” What that gets you to do is to focus really precisely on the value that you bring. This organically and naturally gets you to use a better kind of language that matters more to clients and to the people you’re selling to and illustrates the value that you, and your product or service, can bring to the table.
About our Host:
John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.
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