How to Increase Sales - The 3 Rites of Passage
Every prospect will pass through 3 stages of persuasion before they transform into a customer. The first stage, or rite of passage is trust, the 2nd is urgency, and last is preference. At Program on Persuasion®, we have developed a practice designed specifically to advance prospects through each phase of the persuasion process to become a customer.
Establishing Rapport & Credibility: The 1st Rite of Passage
The strategic sales objective of every sales call should be to: create relevant rapport, deliver perceived value, and position the salesperson as an expert in his/her field. When this is achieved . . . trust is established. We have developed a practice that enables salespeople to do this consistently and in much less time. We call this practice Education-Based Briefings. These briefings replace the traditional sales presentation (the telling of your company’s background & presenting the features & benefits of your product) with market-based information that will “knock the socks off” your prospect. When properly performed this practice generates sincere interest, creates a natural rapport, and positions the sales person as credible. The traditional method is to “sell” the customer on your features & benefits . . . unfortunately, selling breaks rapport – the very thing we are trying to create. The practice of delivering customer value through Briefings is educational. While selling breaks rapport, education actually builds it.
Creating Urgency to Act: The 2nd Rite of Passage
The natural tendency for salespeople is to solve a customer’s problem or need as soon as we hear it. We think we are helping the customer decide, but in fact we are delaying the decision. All customers lie somewhere on the path between “satisfied with their current situation” and “in crisis mode with their current situation”. The closer they are to “crisis” the more receptive they making a change. The closer they are to “satisfied” the less receptive they are. The traditional method of selling says “find the need and fill the need with your solution”. While there is truth to this method, it has problems. The biggest problem is many customers do not realize their own needs or problems. The salesperson’s role is that of “think-partner” - to help the customer discover their own needs and problems. We do this by asking questions designed to reveal these problem areas and the impact of not taking action. At Program on Persuasion® we have designed a process of questions which create customer urgency to act . . . this is the 2nd rite of passage and we call it Discovery.
Generating Preference of Choice: The 3rd Rite of Passage
The first 2 rites of passage (Education-Based Briefings & Discovery) are designed to create trust with the customer and create the urgency to take action. The purpose of this 3rd Rite is to make the selection process, for the customer, as easy as possible by generating preference. People make decisions by comparing their options. They need for one option to stand out as the clear choice. Therefore, it is critical that we properly sequence and contrast our value claims. If we cannot stand out as the best option for our prospects, then we are selling as much for our competition as we are ourselves. After we boldly contrast our solution, we must prove it! There are 4 ways in which to prove your claims, each exceedingly more powerful than the previous. The ability to persuade boils down to this final process of communicating in a manner that makes the decision a “no brainer”. We call this 3rd Rite of Passage . . . The Presentation.