Persuasion Skills

In today’s competitive marketplaces, customers have a choice in where they will take their business. Persuasion skills are the tools that you can use to encourage the customer to choose your product or service over the competition.

The most important skill in persuasion is understanding the point of view of your customers and providing information on the benefits of your offer. As salespeople, we tend to focus on the features of our offering, when what we truly need is to focus on how the customer will benefit from our product or service. Let’s imagine that we sell alarm clocks – a simple example, certainly, but it will help you to see the difference between features and benefits in below.

Features Benefits
Dual Alarms Lets you set a back-up to be sure that you don’t oversleep, or lets you set different alarm times for different people.
Large, Illuminated LED Numbers Makes it easy to see the time without turning on any lights. Easy to see even if you are sleeping without glasses or contacts.
AM/FM Radio Allows you to enjoy music at any time, or to set your alarm to activate on the music station of your choice.
MP3 Player Jack Turns your alarm clock into speakers for your MP3 player for use at any time of day. You can also program the clock so that you wake up to your favorite songs on your MP3 player.
Durable Plastic Casing This clock can withstand those early morning slaps to turn the clock off.
One Year Manufacturer’s Warranty Protects your investment. With any malfunction of the clock, you can get a replacement in the first year.

The most important skill in persuasion is understanding the point of view of your customers and providing information on the benefits of your offer.

For more complex offerings, you’ll need to consider what the benefits of your product are, and focus on them in order to help persuade the customer.

Here are some more tips on how to persuade your customers:

  1. Demonstrate Your Understanding : Putting yourself in your customer’s shoes lets you look at the scenarios they are facing and helps you to concentrate on finding the best solution for their scenarios. When you work with your customer, the interaction is not about you – it’s about them. Ask questions that demonstrate you are well-informed about their business their needs, and how your organization can help them to be more successful in their own business.
  2. Generate a Friendly, Responsive Environment : Don’t underestimate the impact of being friendly and responsive. Your attitude in working with the customer, meeting their needs, and handling their requests says a great deal about you and your organization to the customer. Plus, your responsiveness – how quickly you respond and how well you meet their expectations – will be an important decision point for any customer. One good rule of thumb is to under-promise and over-deliver for your customers. You’ll be demonstrating an exceptional level of customer service that they will want to experience again in the future.
  3. Provide Evidence and More Evidence : You need to be able to demonstrate to your customer that you, your organization, and your product or service are the best choice for the customer. Be able to explain precisely how your offering will benefit the customer in ways that the competition cannot. Give the customer testimonials from other customers and show them before and after scenarios that prove how your product or service has made a difference for other customers and how it can do the same for them. No matter what you do, be sure that anything you share is fully verifiable.
  4. Demonstrate Your Expertise : Who would you be more apt to buy from – someone who knows the basics about your industry or someone who you see as an expert in your field? As you work with the customer, demonstrate that you understand what you are presenting to them. Share information that shows you understand their field, the upcoming trends, and the challenges people in that industry are facing. You’ll instill confidence in the customer to choose your product or service over the next provider.
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