event management

How to Help Develop Persuasive Skills in Your Sales Team

Persuasion is critical to sales and it has always been so, but the strategies for persuasion have changed with time. Today, for instance, direct persuasion (AKA had sold) doesn’t work. (When was the last time you’re convinced by a nagging salesperson?)

The truth is – persuasion is a skill and your salespeople need developing/updating it from time to time. If that requires booking training room rental or seminar room rental, so be it. Without effective persuasion, your sales endeavor would never come to fruition. Here are some tips on how to train your salespeople to be more persuasive.

1. Do the planning

In the planning stage, you need to know more about the individual or organization you want to persuade. Know their needs, wants and pain points. If possible, research their buying history, purchasing behavior and decision-making process. When you’ve enough information about a potential buyer, it would be easier to plan an effective persuasive strategy for each customer.

2. Win their trust

People do business with people they trust. But how would you go about winning the trust of your potential buyers? One way to do so is by showing them that you care more about helping them and less about selling a product. For instance, you may consider offering free trials or discounts for first-time buyers. Offering them value first is a proven way to win the trust of your customers.

3. Create scarcity

Demand soars when the supply plummets. Scarcity makes things desirable. You can use this as a strategy for persuasion. Most effective sales pitches create a sense of urgency. It is like telling the audience, “If you don’t act now, you’ll lose.” Nothing works better than the fear of losing. However, make sure that the product you’re selling does offer value to your customers. Otherwise, your persuasion skills would not help give you long-term results.