When you try to persuade people to agree with your ideas, how do you begin? Sales training, often includes explanations about product, organization of the company, perhaps a little background on major accounts, but rarely is any attention paid to the part of selling that is truly its most important factor: persuasion. The ability to persuade people to agree with your ideas and propositions will bring you great success in sales, in relationships, and in life. It is a most important skill that must be acquired by all those who hope to yield great influence and succeed in the selling game.



In my many years in the sales profession, I observed human behavior, a subject that fascinates me greatly. I learned that a deep understanding of people's motivations is perhaps one of the most powerful tools any sales professional can use to persuade others. While I am ever a student of this subject, my experiences so far led me to record a process that created repeatable and predictable sales success throughout my sales career.

Take the following example: I recently helped a friend and colleague create some promotional material for a community organization that she runs. In need of funds, she had decided to approach local store owners for donations and showed me the first draft of her pamphlet. Ever the detail oriented and practical type, she had diligently created an impressive flyer that spoke about the organization, its purpose, its achievements, and its future plans. I could see that a great deal of work had gone into creating a flyer that would provide solid background information as well as the formal details of the organization. It was detailed, it was well organized, and it was far from persuasive.

My friend and colleague wrote the document from her point of view. She focused on issues that were important to her; issues that she was already interested in and paid little attention to the fact that those she planned to approach may not share her interest. In the dangerous fashion of those who do not consider their customer, she spent a great deal of time and effort creating something that many of them would never even read the whole way through.

A mental shift was necessary in order to create a persuasive pamphlet that would inspire local business owners to answer her call to action. Instead of beginning the pamphlet with an (almost lecture-like) paragraph about her organization and what it does for the community, the piece could have been more effective by opening with a paragraph that discussed why the vendors in question should keep reading. A headline that reads ?Be Known for your Community Contributions? would be more effective than one that reads ?Give Back to your Community.? The latter simply positions the request of donating funds as something the business owners should do. The former, tells the business owners what they will get out performing the requested action - their efforts will be publicized around the community making local consumers aware of their philanthropic efforts.

In trying to persuade you must remember that your prospects are always wondering how your proposition will serve them. Approaching a prospect with a formal lecture does not often inspire action because it gives few reasons to act. When you can understand your prospects? motivations and why they may benefit from following your call to action, you can communicate these benefits in your sales pitch. Approaching your prospects by clearly communicating what is in it for them is more likely to heighten interest in your proposal as well as your closing rate.