Psychology of the Sale: 4 Critical Tips on Messaging that Converts

Sales and Business Development is all about conversations and building rapport, and the best reps know how to leverage both to create action. Whether it’s on the phone, via email, or in person, these tips should help you make people move.

1) Pay very close attention to the way you frame things

Think about this for a second. If we’re partnering on a project, and I tell you you’re going to have a lot of responsibility, you may see that as daunting and high-pressure. If, on the other hand, I tell you that you’ll have a lot of control, you may see that as liberating. Either way, we’re talking about the same project, but the way that I pitched it to you caused two very different reactions — one positive and one negative.

Pay attention to the words you use and think about what sort of emotion they might stir. Make sure you’ve considered your prospect’s potential reactions before engaging in conversation.

2) Keep it short and dumb it down

Nobody wants to hear or read your long-winded jargon-filled sales pitch. Even worse is when salespeople start using big words to sound smarter or more knowledgeable. In the end, you lose people. You’re not making it easy enough on them.

Keep things as easily readable as possible so prospects can digest the information and take action quickly. Imagine that your recipient is reading your email on their smart phone on the bus ride home after a long day at the office. The only hope you have of them reading it through and taking action is if your message is short, scannable, and easy to read.

Be sure to highlight key points and preferred actions. Make them bold or use bullet points. Try adding more spacing by keeping paragraphs short.

Don’t use abbreviations unless they’re universally well known in the industry, like CRM or ROI. Make your message simple enough for an eight year old to understand.

3) Don’t be afraid to challenge people

Two of the most valuable things you can have in sales are a thick skin and a short memory. There will always be people who respond to you with poor attitudes. Just keep pushing, and do it the right way. Remember, you’re just doing your job, and know that for every one person who responds negatively, you’ll sign up 50 more.

That said, don’t ignore those people, either. Sometimes a great way to reply is by challenging them.

At Udemy, we would get poor replies from experts all the time. As we refined our process there were fewer and fewer negative replies, but it still happened once in a while. If you could read the situation well, and knew a little bit about their background, sometimes you could flip them. Here is an example of a challenge I would use citing two big-name experts in the prospect’s space I was confident they would recognize:

Hi [First name],

Sorry to have bothered you. [expert 1] and [expert 2] are both doing extremely well on Udemy so I figured you would too. I guess I was mistaken.

I will make sure you do not receive another email from us.

Again, I apologize.

Best,
Max

In this case, you’re challenging them by suggesting if they do not see the value, they must not be such a big expert. Some people will call your bluff and not respond, and others will respond with a simple “thanks.” But sometimes, and more often than not, you’ll get the response you’re looking for — “Oh I didn’t know [expert 1] and [expert 2] were on Udemy. Maybe I have a few minutes to chat this week.”

4) Sell to the individual, then the employee, then the company

First and foremost, the person on the other end of your message is an individual. He or she is a human being with feelings, emotions, wants, and needs. Appeal to the individual first, making them feel like they’ll be more special or important if they listen to you. Explain how your solution is going to make them look like a hero to their team. Then appeal to their career side. How will your product help them be more productive, generate more revenue, and look good to their boss? Lastly, appeal to the company side by providing them with the tools they need to sell the rest of the company on your product.

Bonus: Inflection

When telling a story or pitching a product on the phone, make sure to put extra emphasis on voice inflection, especially when leaving voicemails. John Marcus, CEO of Bedrock Data, describes this as putting make-up on your calls. By adding inflection to the right words, you can sound more passionate and articulate and, in turn, more convincing. This might sound trivial but try it. People want to hear passion in your voice. It can make or break the conversation.

You can check out more hacks, tips, and tactics on the entire sales process and over 150 sales and BD tools in my new book Hacking Sales: The Playbook for Building a High Velocity Sales Machine out on Amazon now.


Photo by: Jonathan Velasquez