The key to increasing sales is to develop a presentation that taps into your prospect’s psychological needs. Each phase of the sales process fills a need that brings your customer closer to the sale.
In a telemarketing presentation, tapping into your prospect’s psychological needs allows you to overcome the disadvantages of not having eye or face-to-face contact. Several keys to unleashing your selling power are hidden in the attention, interest, test, and closing steps of a sales call.
or Curiosity.
Human nature makes people curious; therefore, you can instantly capture prospects’ attention by designing your opening to focus on the information need.
One way to accomplish this is with the use of a profit hook. A benefit hook asks the prospect if they want a particular need addressed. It is asked as a rhetorical question and obviously your product can help solve the problem.
For example: If there was one way you could help protect the environment for your children, would it be important to you? If you could increase repeat business by 38%, how important would it be? In each case, the prospect knows it’s a sales call, but the benefit is significant. The prospect is intrigued. Curiosity makes them want to learn more. It is essential that the prospect is hooked on a possible benefit immediately from the beginning. Getting the prospect curious about a benefit before they talk about your product is crucial to sales success.
o Use RADAR to increase sales.
A technique I call RADAR meets many of prospects’ emotional needs during the interest step.
The R stands for relationship. People are much more likely to buy from someone they like. Most prospects want to be helpful, polite, and friendly. It feels good. We can create that mood by showing interest in the customer as a person simply by asking questions about him as an individual. Questions like: how did he get into the advertising business or what made him go into business on his own?
AD stands for Ask About Difficulties. People are programmed to avoid pain. The greater the pain, the faster they will move to avoid it.
What’s your biggest struggle with discount long distance calling plans? Or what is your main concern when selecting an insurance company? These are questions that get the prospect to notice a difficulty (pain) that they should consider changing. The difficulty question also guides us on how to target our presentation to what is relevant to the specific prospect.
The second A represents affirmation questions. One of our greatest desires is to be heard. People love to be heard and understood. When asking “If I understood you correctly, what you said is ____________, isn’t it?” This little question will excite the client because he shows that you were listening to him. This is an experience we all enjoy, and unfortunately many prospects don’t experience it often enough. You benefit by showing the prospect that you are different from other people and also by confirming that you are focusing on the right topic.
Results: Another essential psychological need is to feel in control of our lives.
People are moved to action when they feel that those actions create results that will move their lives forward. Ask your customers what benefits they want to experience by eliminating their problem. Try to learn how that will specifically improve your life. When you know your key motivation, you can easily show the prospect how they can take control of their life and make it better. The emphasis shifts to your buying rather than your selling.
RADAR taps into many of our perspectives on psychological motivations. To get the most benefit, be sure to use open-ended questions where the customer usually gives you an explanation rather than just a yes or no answer.
Psychological selling skills require you to know your prospect, therefore we have spent the first part of the sales process learning about the individual rather than focusing on a product. It is not until completing RADAR that we start talking about our product. In the proof-of-value phase of the sales process, top producers focus on selling benefits, not facts.
o Satisfy the ego.
People need to be smart and they love to be right. When we demonstrate the value of our product, the customer has many opportunities to be smart and correct. For example, he may ask them to calculate the savings benefits of using his product. You can have the prospect point out how your product features solve their problems and concerns. When you let them see the benefits that come from your product’s features, you move toward the sale. When the prospect declares it as their idea, you come very close to making the sale.
Many reps often make sales like this without even realizing it. When the client stops the presentation and says I’ll take it before I ask a closing question, the representative has brought the prospect to this state.
o Buying is the prospect’s idea.
Another key to psychological selling is letting the prospect feel like they’re buying rather than being sold. In the closing phase of a presentation, a customer should never feel compelled to buy. Prospects hate being pushed and will resist if they feel like you’re selling for their benefit. When you move them through the sales process and take advantage of each of the techniques discussed, the prospect will decide to buy because they see it to their benefit. They are excited and feel good about this.
By focusing on building rapport, uncovering the prospect’s pain, and resolving it with the right benefits, you’ll have ample opportunity to guide the prospect toward a buying decision.
By using the techniques described here, the prospect will feel confident in their purchase. They won’t feel sold or coerced when you meet the prospect’s psychological needs. The sale will be strong, your customers more loyal and more likely to share referrals and recommendations.
Consistently high telemarketers do more than focus on what they say to their prospect. Top achievers also take a close look at themselves and their selling habits.
o Set goals.
It is not enough to want more sales. You should have a specific $ or unit amount in mind for a given period of time that requires you to do your best work while remaining realistic.
When you put your goal in writing, your mind begins to turn your intangible dreams into reality. The mind needs a specific direction. All professionals know where they are going. Give your brain a detailed goal and the world’s most powerful computer will automatically guide you to peak performance.
o Reap rewards.
Sell yourself benefits for both you and your prospect. As you set goals and achieve positive results, consider how your growth benefits you and your family. Be specific. Will you win an incentive trip for your family, get a bonus that allows you to go to your favorite restaurant or the additional commissions will allow you to buy a new car?
When your mind sees the benefits that come from your extra efforts, your abilities will rise to the level needed to bring those benefits into your life.
o Enthusiasm and Smiles.
Enthusiasm is contagious. If you are excited about your product, you will be more successful. This is crucial in telemarketing. Your voice is your greatest asset to convey the attributes of your product or service.
If you’re excited, your prospect will feel like there’s something good here. It is his passion that brings a script to life.
Smiling is one of the most natural ways to bring your enthusiasm to the surface. When we smile we are more friendly, energetic and enthusiastic. Even when you don’t feel like smiling, do it. Your mind will automatically activate in a happy state of being.
o Script and Block.
Even the simplest of presentations needs to be written.
A script allows you to select the most appropriate wording to move your prospect through the sales process and use that wording on each and every call.
Even more important, having a script in front of you allows you to put your energy into listening to the prospect instead of thinking about what to say next. When you discover a potential client’s important need, problem, or interest, write it down. Writing it down ensures that you will remember the point, work it into your presentation, and clear your mind to hear more vital information.
o Average number of calls.
Reluctance to call is a problem that affects even the most enthusiastic telemarketers. Put the emphasis on the average $/call rather than the calls that result in a sale. That way, every dial becomes profitable for the representative, including interruptions and non-interruptions.
For example: If a rep makes a $100 sale every 20 calls, it might look like 19 no sales and one sale or 20 $5 sales. When telemarketers see every dial as a sale, they make more calls. This approach offers several benefits. First, it takes the pressure off each call. Helps eliminate “selected leads” and the deferral of unattractive leads. Lastly, it lets a telemarketer know exactly how many calls she needs to handle each day to reach her financial goals.
As a telemarketer takes stock of their selling skills and develops the habit of designing their presentations to meet the psychological needs of the prospect, they will build strong customer relationships and increase sales.
Sales success can be further enhanced if each sales rep reviews their own motivations and habits. When the sales process meets the needs of all parties involved, telemarketers become true professionals.
If you need a quick reference table:
Unleash your selling power
How many of these psychology selling tools do you use on a daily basis?
o Create curiosity
o Build Report
o Ask about difficulties
o Affirm understanding of needs
o Results approach
o Satisfy the prospect’s ego
o Let the prospect buy
o Set goals
or reward yourself
Smile