Another fun trick I learned in sales is that if you’re trying to get someone to purchase something, instead of having them focus on whether or not they should get something, change their question to something else.
For example, I used to sell phones. Instead of having people try to figure out if they want the newest Samsung or not, I would take the phone in two different colors and ask if they liked it in blue or black instead. Putting it in their hands let’s them imagine having the phone already and the question changes from should I purchase this phone to what color do I want?
I’m quite sure this can translate to other questions and decisions people ask themselves
This is sometimes known as thinking past the sale, and works exactly for the reasons you said. A similar trick is to ask about the accessories they want for the phone they haven’t yet decided to buy.
Did this in computer sales. Within a few sentences I would know that you would be buying one of three computers off my shelf.
Oh I just need something for word and internet.
Well let’s look at <expensive>, <cheap>, and <the one you should obviously buy>. There are 40 computers on this floor, but you now have to pick from the three I chose for you. Out of those three, there is one right answer.
Now lucky for them I was trying to steer them to the best computer for them, because I was not on commission and didn’t care about sales numbers, but this is a frequent sales tactic. Next time you’re on a car lot, try to see if you’re shown more than 3 cars out of the hundreds on the lot.
Suspiciously similar to a trick parents use on their children. “Do you want to eat the peas first or the carrots first?” Gives them the illusion that they made a choice about what to eat.
Yea. It’s simple when you change the question from “do you want to buy X?” To making the assumption that they already will buy it and now the only question is “what color will you be buying?”
Another fun trick I learned in sales is that if you’re trying to get someone to purchase something, instead of having them focus on whether or not they should get something, change their question to something else.
For example, I used to sell phones. Instead of having people try to figure out if they want the newest Samsung or not, I would take the phone in two different colors and ask if they liked it in blue or black instead. Putting it in their hands let’s them imagine having the phone already and the question changes from should I purchase this phone to what color do I want?
I’m quite sure this can translate to other questions and decisions people ask themselves
This same trick was actually a plot device in That 70s Show (S1E11). Red learns to use it, and immediately starts making sales.
This is sometimes known as thinking past the sale, and works exactly for the reasons you said. A similar trick is to ask about the accessories they want for the phone they haven’t yet decided to buy.
Did this in computer sales. Within a few sentences I would know that you would be buying one of three computers off my shelf.
Well let’s look at <expensive>, <cheap>, and <the one you should obviously buy>. There are 40 computers on this floor, but you now have to pick from the three I chose for you. Out of those three, there is one right answer.
Now lucky for them I was trying to steer them to the best computer for them, because I was not on commission and didn’t care about sales numbers, but this is a frequent sales tactic. Next time you’re on a car lot, try to see if you’re shown more than 3 cars out of the hundreds on the lot.
Suspiciously similar to a trick parents use on their children. “Do you want to eat the peas first or the carrots first?” Gives them the illusion that they made a choice about what to eat.
Yea. It’s simple when you change the question from “do you want to buy X?” To making the assumption that they already will buy it and now the only question is “what color will you be buying?”