Sales Psychology: Use 8 levers to close more sales

The topic of psychology related to sales, clientele, and strategies to close more sales can seem as complex as the answer to the question 'how to close more sales.'

I would like to examine these topics in a simple way, offering useful insights to those entering the world of sales or facing difficulties in concluding a deal.

A fundamental point to consider...

Have you ever experienced that moment when you win over your potential customer? It's the pinnacle of a sales negotiation, right? On the other hand, we all know the disappointment of losing a sale that seemed already closed.

These situations are deeply connected to the psychology of sales.

Here's the point: there's actually a psychology of sales that, if understood, can help anyone improve their sales skills. What surprises is how many of those involved in sales operations (salespeople, professionals, entrepreneurs) don't have a clear idea of what they're doing or why they're doing it.

I want to delve a bit deeper with you into the aspects of commercial psychology. Many people aren't sure if what they're doing during a meeting with a potential customer is effective or if they're making such serious mistakes that could lead the potential customer to reject the proposal, even if it could be highly advantageous for them.

If you're not achieving the sales results you desire and want to understand how to increase your closures, consider these

8 key elements of sales psychology

A valuable piece of advice is to pay particular attention to the initial phase.

Build rapport with the customer

Great salespeople, both professionals and entrepreneurs, excel in empathy and identifying with customers. They care about considering the purchasing experience from the customer's perspective above all else.

Have you ever stopped to think about what your customers think when buying from you? What sets their experience apart from their experience with the competition? Note well: we're not talking about marketing or what you're offering, but the complete customer experience.

Put yourself in their shoes

How would you feel? What would you appreciate most? What wouldn't you like at all? Try to understand from their point of view: what are the factors that influence the decision to buy from you or look elsewhere?

The psychological aspect of sales also involves the ability to think like customers. So, try to connect with them, consider their needs, and offer a unique experience.

Now that you've tapped into your customer's thoughts, how should you adjust your communication with them? What topics should you focus on to make the conversation more engaging for them? Considering this, if you want to discover how to increase your sales through psychological strategies, take some time to read the following lines carefully; you'll find various sales methods ready to use.

1 – Put your potential customer at the center

Every potential customer is solely focused on themselves. Regardless of how good you are at promoting yourself, they are primarily interested in solving a specific problem or fulfilling a specific desire. They want to understand if what you offer, be it your product, service, expertise, or experience, represents the best solution for them, from their point of view.

Even though you might believe that what you offer is the ideal answer, for the customer, it's the effectiveness of the solution that matters. This is because, just as they act, when you're a potential customer for someone else, you also look at your own needs.

The key questions in their mind are simple:

1. Does this proposal actually solve my problem or fulfill my desire?
2. Why should I choose you over others?

If you can't answer these questions, even if they're not asked directly, you risk not convincing the customer.

It's therefore crucial that your conversation focuses entirely on the customer: understand their concerns, identify what's important to them, address any doubts, and, above all, ask questions and actively listen, minimizing references to yourself.

When the customer perceives your total interest in them, they feel involved and more willing to collaborate.

Why?

Because people love talking about themselves. This is a crucial aspect of sales psychology.

Potential customers love to express their concerns, the goals they pursue, or the challenges they face.

If you focus your attention on their needs rather than your offer, you'll gain control of the sales process, significantly improving the chances of effectively closing the sale.

2 – Balance the dialogue towards listening

The key is to maintain a consistently two-way dialogue but favor listening.

When the potential customer speaks, trust in you increases. The more trust gained, the greater the engagement.

If you talk a lot and they listen little, your effectiveness will be compromised.

It's therefore essential to ensure that the dialogue always remains in favor of the customer. This means avoiding prolonged periods where you're the only one speaking.

During meetings or negotiations with potential customers, it's essential to maintain two-way communication, giving space for listening.

Using requests for feedback represents one of the most effective ways to achieve this result. It involves asking short and simple questions to continually involve the potential customer in the conversation.

Here are some examples: "What do you think about this aspect?" or "Do you identify with what we're discussing together?".

These questions, in addition to constantly engaging the potential customer and avoiding monologues from the seller, allow for short breaks in the sales process.

3 – Avoid boring presentations that push potential customers away

Analysis of real sales cases highlights one of the main reasons why potential customers avoid making a purchase: they believe that the seller hasn't fully understood their needs, requirements, problems, or desires.

This represents the true essence of sales psychology: the potential customer feels disconnected because the seller continues to focus solely on their product, service, or solution.

Potential customers want to be involved in a constructive conversation about what is meaningful to them. It's only after discussing their problems or desires that you can assess if they can be satisfied with what you offer.

Consider sales as a conversation between a patient and a doctor carefully interested in their psychophysical well-being. Make an accurate diagnosis of the potential customer's problems or dissatisfactions. Only when you've fully understood the situation can you present your solution effectively.

If you present your offer too early, you won't succeed in the sale.

4 – Generate Value Through the Art of Questions

If you've ever seen a movie where one of the characters played an eminent psychologist, you'll have noticed that they rarely offer a direct solution to the patient's problem.

For instance, if the patient expresses a concern, the psychologist's approach is to ask questions like: "Could you explain to me why you're saying this?" or "How does all of this make you feel?".

This kind of approach isn't effective solely in a therapeutic context but is also of great importance in sales psychology.

When a potential customer expresses a problem, it's essential to have a set of targeted questions to delve deeper into the situation.

Unfortunately, most "sellers" in similar situations, happy to have identified the customer's problem, rush to propose the solution and corresponding proposal... and that's a mistake!

Instead, it's necessary to slow down and enhance your role as a consultant through specific questions.

Here are some examples, to be adapted to the situation:

• "How much does this problem represent to you in terms of costs?"
• "Have you previously tried to address this problem?"
• "What negative consequences has this problem brought you?"

These types of questions allow you to address what in the context of professional sales is defined as "pain" (the customer's pain or problem).

In addition to this, the real strength lies in creating value through the answers obtained, highlighting your professional competence

5 – If You're Focused on the Customer But They're Not… Communicate It!

During a conversation with a potential customer, if you sense something amiss, ignoring it won't help. Instead, use sales psychology.

If the customer doesn't seem engaged or distant, without causing conflict, you could simply say, '[Name], I'm grateful that you've agreed to this meeting, but you seem concerned. Maybe this isn't the best time to talk?'

You might be surprised by their reaction; they might say something like, 'I'm sorry, it's not...,' and you'll get their full attention. Alternatively, they might confirm that they're not interested, which is equally useful.

You might wonder, 'Celebrate? Why? That doesn't make sense...'

The reality is that many salespeople and professionals spend a lot of their time trying to avoid rejection.

In fact, a 'no' doesn't necessarily mean rejection of your product, service, or expertise. Statistically, a percentage of potential customers might not perfectly fit your proposal.

On reflection, you should celebrate every 'no' obtained from a prospect unsuitable for your ideal target.

The best salespeople spend time with qualified potential customers, and the way to do that is to quickly 'disqualify' others.

Do you want to demonstrate top sales performer courage?

Faced with an unsuitable prospect, ask: 'Excuse me, but I feel like I can't offer the best. Can I better understand the situation?'

Such a question will alleviate the pressure of the sales negotiation.

The prospect, who wouldn't have become a customer anyway, will feel at ease, allowing you to focus on other potential clients.

One of my mentors always used to say:

'In sales, don't waste time with those who can't buy what you offer.'

It's invaluable advice that I've always followed because it saves time and allows focusing on real opportunities.

6 – Avoid Excessive Pressure: Always Get a NO

Today, it's absolutely discouraged to exert pressure during a sale, even if that doesn't mean avoiding closing the deal.

When pressure becomes excessive, especially if the potential customer doesn't seem convinced for some reason, we only risk receiving a firm and clear 'NO.'

Excessive pressure, without a basis of trust, annihilates any chance of closing a sale.

In these moments, instead of persisting to persuade the customer, it's wiser to step back slightly from the sales process. It's essential to understand what unresolved doubts exist or what we haven't understood because an unconfident or unconvinced customer presents significant obstacles.

Every potential customer reacts negatively to excessive pressure due to a specific psychological reason: the phenomenon of reactance.

This principle states that in sales, whenever we overtly try to push someone in a certain direction, they will naturally resist and tend to go in the opposite direction.

On the other hand, we're attracted to those sincerely passionate about their work, capable of professionally and convincingly exposing all the benefits, advantages, and results that the proposal could offer.

7 – Managing the Budget: Crucial Timing

Addressing the budget issue during the sales process is essential, but it's equally important to do it at the right time. It's unwise to start a conversation directly about prices and budget, just as it's inconvenient to present a project or an offer without first discussing costs with the potential customer.

The budget discussion is essential to avoid investing time in projects or proposals only to later discover that the customer can't afford what you're offering.

However, it's vital to choose the right moment for this dialogue, after identifying the best solution with the customer and fully understanding their needs.

8 – Associate Value with Customer Objectives Before Presenting the Proposal

This step represents a crucial point in sales psychology.

The fundamental approach consists of deepening the conversation to fully understand the objectives and challenges of your potential customer in achieving them.

Many 'sellers' limit themselves to identifying surface-level needs, immediately offering solutions without digging deeper.

The key is to consider the initial information surfaced during the dialogue as the tip of an iceberg. These data are usually easily discussed with many, including your competitors.

The difference is made by delving deeper. By going beneath the surface, you get unique information that others don't have. This allows you to associate specific value with this information, on which to base your winning proposal.

The technique is simple. Imagine understanding the actual impacts and benefits the customer would get in achieving their goals.

To illustrate, consider my marketing consulting work. Let's suppose my potential client tells me, 'Our marketing strategies aren't producing the expected results. I'm not even getting a fraction of the contact requests I expected.' Now, since the dilemma is evident, I could begin to outline what I could do to increase the number of requests, but I prefer to inquire first, trying to understand their goals.

For instance, I could ask, 'Alright, I understand your need. To determine what might be the most suitable option, let me ask... if it were possible to reach the desired number of requests, how would it reflect on your revenue?'

My goal here is to allow my potential client to recognize or visualize a number, an amount, or a specific value significantly higher than what they are currently achieving. Follow me? Great, let's continue...

Suppose they respond, 'If we could increase requests as I want, we could finally reach a revenue of X00,000 euros.'

At this point, I've succeeded in getting them to associate their goals with a tangible and precise value - from that moment, my solution and proposal will be connected to achieving the maximum goal they'd like to reach.

Do you understand how this strategy influences their perception? This is the heart of sales psychology!

Conclusions

To increase your sales and enhance your business skills by leveraging all the tools of sales psychology, it's essential to fully understand what it is and how a professional sales process can be applied.