Let’s just say it and agree: no soft selling. A soft sale isn’t the path you want to go down because it doesn’t empower the customer to buy nor does it ultimately deliver consistent revenue to your business.
When most people soft sell, they don’t close. They ask questions like “So what do you think, are you ready?” In those instances, you have taken a potential customer out of their state of wanting resolution for a problem and put them into a state of the debate. They were right there on the edge, ready to solve their problem in that very instant, and instead of helping them do that, you pulled them out of the emotional state into a logical state to make them “think” about what they wanted to do next.
Honestly, we don’t want people thinking about what they want to do next because the brain is going to say, “Do you really need to solve that now? Is it really that bad?” While the heart, on the other hand, will tell the person they truly do need the problem solved because it’s too painful to keep living with the hurt. The hurt, the pain, the heartache, that’s what causes people to part with their money and buy what you are selling.
So, you don’t say things like, “Well, what do you think about buying some of this today?” That’s a soft sale. Don’t make them think, make them feel.
It may seem disrespectful to make them feel their pain, but remember, you’re not causing the pain. The pain existed before your conversation. You are simply asking them to give you details about the pain so you can validate that you can solve the problem causing that pain.
This is similar to going to the doctor when you don’t feel well. The doctor must ask you questions, poke and prod at you, and get the facts in order to diagnose you. It doesn’t always feel great, but when you leave the doctor’s office, you have your answer and you know you are going to feel better. You are the doctor here. You are simply asking the right questions to understand their problem and then offer your product as a solution.
Your challenge today is to ask yourself how you are presenting your call to action in your sales discussions. Are you soft-closing, are you making them think, or are you helping them identify the pain and ethically telling them you can resolve it? If you are asking them if they think they want to solve the problem, shift your methods.
Be Legendary!