Have you ever wanted something so badly that you would do anything to get it? That feeling does not happen overnight; a sales process created that yearning inside you. In their book, “Rainmaking Conversations,” Mike Schultz and John Doerr list 16 ways to make your customers reach that level of desire. Over the next 4 days, we will cover all 16 of these principles. Today we will cover the first 4 principles.
1. Attention – People are preoccupied and the first step in any sales process is to get their attention. Read my blog post called “Stories to Create a Great First Impression” to learn how to use the four emotional appeals to snap a person out of their preoccupation and focus on you.
2. Curiosity – Once you get the prospect’s attention, you must make them curious enough to want to know more. I recommend you develop a WOW statement to pique their curiosity. The WOW statement comes from the premise that after you deliver your statement, the other party has to respond with “Wow, tell me more.” Read the blog post “How to Create a WOW Statement” for more information on WOW statements.
3. Desire – Desire is the gap between where your prospect is now and where they want to be. This is where a discussion of their return on investment (ROI) comes into play so the customer can see what is in it for him. To intensify their desire, a good salesman knows that he may have to fan the flames of dissatisfaction with the present situation and point out the possibilities your product or service will provide.
4. Envy – Envy is the desire supercharger. Envy is when the customer wants something and wants it more when he sees that others have it. He feels an intense desire to obtain it out of the fear that without it the gap between him and others will widen. It will continue to eat away at him day and night until he gets it.
Which of these four principles do you use to influence a sale?
