Persuasion: THE Critical Sales Skill
Selling is easy—partner with your client, find a need and fill it, right? Sure, this is the antiquated, long standing formula for success in today’s sales arena—but it’s incomplete. The truth is, to sell effectively, we must get clients to make a decision to act—now!
So how do we do that? Simply put, there are three approaches we can use:
- We can force them.
- We can negotiate.
- Or we can persuade.
But which is best?
Well, as most of us know by now, force doesn’t work these days. The hard sell is a dinosaur.
Negotiation is a give-and-take process that requires time, skill, and lengthy preparation. Some people describe it as a process in which two people get what neither wanted! Authors of negotiation books suggest negotiating only when no other means for agreement are available.
Persuasion is the key to gaining agreement, cooperation, compliance, and desired sales results from an enthusiastic partner!
Persuasion is a process of partnering with people to achieve mutual goals and benefits.
Those who are skilled in persuasion close more sales, with less effort, in less time, and with fewer resources. In fact, we’d go so far as to say that persuasion skills count more towards your success than your I.Q., your education, your creativity, or your technical competence!
Smart companies are just beginning to recognize how important persuasion is. For them, the good news is that researchers have recently determined how people process decision-making information, and how persuasion can lead people to the right decisions.
According to a piece in the Harvard Business Review, "Persuasion is grounded in basic scientific practical and learnable principles."
The evidence is clear: Persuasion is the critical sales skill. And fortunately for those seeking to excel at this skill, research shows that persuasion can be taught—and learned!
August 29th, 2010 at 5:36 am
Petites annonces…
If u happen to travel to France, don’t forget to visit Paris….