And while these questions may at first appear to have clear yes or no answers, in reality, there are no definable correlations to them. All of these questions have exceptions to the rule. “It depends,” is the best practical answer. And yet, all answers you came up with in your head may have value if you’re in the sales and management profession.<\/p>\n
Let’s take a look at some of these questions more closely. With regard to left-handed people and power: George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama are all lefties. Power hungry? Maybe.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Ok, the left-handed piece hits close to home for me since my wife and son are left-handers.\u00a0 Yet you see the point \u2013 discovering the prospect\u2019s correlation is important for persuading them.<\/p>\n
Here are the most recognizable persuasive elements we experience in society:<\/p>\n
Habitual patterns.<\/strong> Trigger words or fixed action patterns, automatic behavior patterns, and biases help people organize thoughts and actions.
\nConsistency and commitment.<\/strong> MacDonald’s hamburgers taste the same from Russia to Denver.
\nReciprocation.<\/strong> “I love you. Will you buy my guitar?” The person may be more influenced to buy the guitar as a way to return the gesture of the stated love. Guilt falls under this category.
\nLikeability.<\/strong> We like people like us. First impressions, and all.
\nSocial proof.<\/strong> Everybody is buying, saying, eating, reading, etc., so I must also.
\nAuthority\/power. <\/strong>Law is law and rules are rules.
\nScarcity.<\/strong> The more we want something and can’t get it, the more valuable it can appear.
\nFear or gain.<\/strong> Research shows fear of loss is stronger than the desire for gain.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nThe last two are critical to successful selling.\u00a0 Scarcity is a strong motivator for moving prospects through a qualifying process.\u00a0 The beauty of it is this \u2013 it creates demand in the prospect\u2019s mind in spite of the salesperson.\u00a0 I have seen some grossly under-developed salespeople thrive based on the perception of scarcity of their solution.<\/p>\n
Fear of loss is similar to pain.\u00a0 The same principle applies here \u2013 people move faster to remove pain than to gain pleasure.\u00a0 The importance of this principle cannot be overstated.\u00a0 This fact is why features\/benefits selling is wasted if the benefit does not remove pain or create the fear of loss.\u00a0 If your salespeople can combine scarcity with the fear of loss in their qualifying, you will have one highly-developed sales team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I was a psych major in college which seemed to be the perfect preparation for a sales career.\u00a0 I believe it was.\u00a0 To this day I am still intrigued by the psychology of selling which could truly be described as persuasion. That background helps explain why I found this ManageSmarter.com article completely gripping – Mastering the Psychology of Persuasion.\u00a0 You will have to read the entire article to appreciate the depth of it, but let me pull out a couple of points. First one of the set-up questions: \u2022 Are left-handed people more prone to some mental illnesses, accidents, or seeking positions of power? And from later in the article:… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"bgseo_title":"","bgseo_description":"","bgseo_robots_index":"","bgseo_robots_follow":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[14,9],"tags":[184,212,267,551,187,211],"class_list":["post-2006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-communication","category-sales-techniques","tag-qualifying","tag-sales-ability","tag-sales-approach","tag-sales-communication","tag-sales-qualifying","tag-sales-skill"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5Oho-wm","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1709,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2008\/08\/persuasive-tips\/","url_meta":{"origin":2006,"position":0},"title":"Persuasive Tips","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"August 18, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Persuasion is a key ability of any successful salespeople.\u00a0 Think of the worst car salesperson or door-to-door salesperson you have encountered and you will know why this ability is so critical to success.\u00a0 CNNMoney.com's article - How persuasive are you? - interviews an individual who runs the Persuasion Institute who\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Aptitudes"","block_context":{"text":"Aptitudes","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/assessing\/aptitudes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1754,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2008\/10\/ask-the-tough-questions\/","url_meta":{"origin":2006,"position":1},"title":"Ask The Tough Questions","author":"Lee Fratzke","date":"October 15, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"In talking with sales managers over the past month or so there is one reoccurring statement that I am hearing - their sales cycle has been extended in this economy.\u00a0 It isn't that they are not closing sales, it is just taking a bit longer.\u00a0 Buyers are certainly more deliberate,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sales Management"","block_context":{"text":"Sales Management","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/sales-management\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2105,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2009\/09\/q-is-for-qualifying-questions\/","url_meta":{"origin":2006,"position":2},"title":"Q Is For Qualifying Questions","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"September 15, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"I come across this often \u2013 a company wants to hire a superstar salesperson and the hiring manager\u2019s first instinct is to find a loquacious talker.\u00a0 Perhaps you have seen this approach too?\u00a0 Clearly no readers of the Hire Sense would administer this approach in their hiring. Right? Ok, maybe\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Hiring Salespeople"","block_context":{"text":"Hiring Salespeople","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/hiring-salespeople\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1140,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2007\/08\/selling-with-style\/","url_meta":{"origin":2006,"position":3},"title":"Selling With Style","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"August 17, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"We'll close the week with an article from ManageSmarter.com titled Building Client Relationships: Use Sales Psychology to Create More Lifetime Clients.\u00a0 The thrust of the article is how to use DISC styles when selling.\u00a0 This tool is one of four assessments we incorporate into our hiring process. The author is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Assessing"","block_context":{"text":"Assessing","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/hiring\/assessing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1519,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2008\/04\/from-closing-to-coaching\/","url_meta":{"origin":2006,"position":4},"title":"From Closing To Coaching","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"April 17, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Selling Power.com's Sales Management newsletter provides an excellent article that addresses a common issue in sales management - how do you move from salesperson to sales manager?\u00a0 One important aspect of this move is becoming a coach for your sales team. The suggestions in the article are worth the read,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Communication"","block_context":{"text":"Communication","link":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/category\/communication\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1472,"url":"http:\/\/selectmetrix.com\/blogs\/2008\/03\/candidates-that-do-not-wow\/","url_meta":{"origin":2006,"position":5},"title":"Candidates That Do Not Wow","author":"Derrick Moe","date":"March 17, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"We've been on this topic a bit lately, but it is mission-critical to successful selling.\u00a0 Asking questions...asking the right questions is tantamount to qualifying prospects.\u00a0 Most sales managers know this, yet we often see them displaying selective amnesia when it comes to interviewing sales candidates. 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