The Science of Selling

As a small  business you need to sell, whether it is your products, services or information. Why is is that some people are much better at this that others?

There has been some research done on the science and psychology of selling and it seems that there are 6 main principles that you can use to improve the results of your marketing and sales. Read through these six ideas and see whether your recognise yourself and whether you can apply them to your marketing and sales techniques.

• Reciprocation : People feel as if they are indebted to those who have already done something for them or given them a gift.  A good example of that are the charity envelopes that come through the post with a pen in them – you didn’t ask the charity for a pen but many people feel that they “owe” the charity and send a donation.You can apply the same principle in business, maybe offer a free report or a free sample – use this to establish the “indebtedness” and then subtly cash in on that feeling.
• Commitment and Constancy : People like to do what they have said they will do and having made a decision they like to stick to it.
  Aim your marketing and sales at gradually increasing the commitment by your customer – don’t go all out for the sale on the first meeting.  If you tread carefully you will find that many people get to a point where they feel committed to buying from you and will then do so.
• Social Proof :  People will do thing such as buying your products or services if they feel that other people like them are doing so.  It makes it easier to justify the purchase (“Fred Bloggs down the road uses this company”, or” all the large companies in my sector are using this service”) and people feel more comfortable with that.It is this idea that makes testimonials such a powerful weapon – however make sure that any testimonials are real or you could get into serious trouble not only with prospective customers but also with the law.
• Liking : People buy from people they like – this is a simple fact that is so often overlooked.  This idea is simple to put into practice – just be nice to your customers and prospects.  The author tends to remember the simple quote “Kindness, like a boomerang, always returns.”, even if he is not sure who said it.
• Authority : Deep down many people respect authority so if possible try to get endorsements from the leaders in your area.  The list can include business leaders,scientists, academics, politicians (if they have a good reputation), doctors or even sportsmen and women.  Do you remember the advert here in the UK for patio awnings, garage doors and shutters,  and how safe they were, that was fronted by the ex Assistant Chief Constable of the Greater Manchester Police John Stalker ?
• Scarcity : This one is one that  you will see often in advertising and marketing.  Persuade people that what you are offering is scare or rare.  You can, if true, use phrases such as “limited edition”, “only xx left”, “sale must end Sunday” and so on.This idea feeds the human need to have something that others cannot have.

Now that you have read the six ideas above, think about how many apply to you (or have applied in the past).  Then think about how you can apply them to your marketing, even if you don’t use all of them all the time.

And, yes, this article is given to  you as a gift, other people are reading it and applying the ideas, but this page may not stay on the Internet for ever 🙂

The image on this page is courtesy of Francesco Marino / FreeDigitalPhotos.net