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Effective communication
Persuasion techniques
Closing a sale
In improv theatre it’s really important to keep the audience in a good mood, they have to stay optimistic at all times and not feel discouraged. Customers during a sales pitch are the same way. If they feel affronted or like you’re talking down to them, they surely won’t buy from you.
But every time you let on you’re disagreeing with them, it signals to them that you’re claiming you’re smarter. So instead of using words like “no” or “but”, agree with their ideas and add to them and then improve and improvise how you can further move the conversation along.
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MORE IDEAS ON THIS
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674
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Seek. Once you’ve defined the area in which you’d like to curate, put together a list of the best sources of information. Then set aside time to scan those sources regularly.
Sense. Creating meaning out of the material you’ve assembled. Make an annotated li...
642
1K reads
680
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The One-Word Pitch
The ultimate pitch for an era of short attention spans begins with a single word—and doesn’t go any further.
The Question
By making people work just a little harder, question pitches prompt people to come up with their own rea...
635
1.02K reads
Once you’ve found the problem and the proper frame, you have one more step. You need to give people an off-ramp push, a specific request accompanied by a clear way to get it done.
Clarity on how to think without clarity on how to act can leave people unmoved.
637
1.15K reads
Agents who scored in the optimistic half of explanatory style sold 37% more insurance than agents scoring in the pessimistic half. Agents in the top decile sold 88% more insurance than those in the bottom decile.
The salespeople with an optimistic explanatory style—who saw rejections as tem...
662
1.88K reads
When something bad occurs, ask yourself three questions—and come up with an intelligent way to answer each one “no”:
The more you explain bad events as temporary, specific, and external, the more likely...
726
1.93K reads
The most effective self-talk doesn’t merely shift emotions. It shifts linguistic categories. It moves from making statements to asking questions”.
On average, the self-questioning group solved nearly 50 percent more puzzles than the self-affirming group.
Interrogative self-talk, by it...
657
2.17K reads
Adding a minor negative detail in an otherwise positive description of a target can give that description a more positive impact.
The blemishing effect seems to operate only under two circumstances.
First, the people processing the information must be in wha...
658
1.24K reads
In 2016 and beyond, the only way to sell is to be honest and transparent.
To sell is no longer to guard information and hand out little pieces – it’s a service, helping people to navigate the wealth of information, explain it to them, and getting them to make the best decision, the one that...
678
3.52K reads
If you’re one of a series of freelancers invited to make a presentation before a big potential client, including a rhyme can enhance the processing fluency of your listeners, allowing your message to stick in their minds when they compare you and your competitors.
638
1.03K reads
Our biases point us toward the present. So when given a choice between an immediate reward (say, $1,000 right now) and a reward we have to wait for ($1,150 in two years), we’ll often take the former even when it’s in our own interest to choose the latter.
631
1.53K reads
722
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After someone hears your pitch, ask yourself:
671
1.21K reads
Present yourself with a series of ‘What ifs?’ What if everything goes wrong? What if the unthinkable happens? What if this is the worst decision of my life? These questions could prompt answers you didn’t expect, which might calm you down and even lift you up.
One way to reduce their sting ...
655
1.41K reads
People often find potential more interesting than accomplishment because it’s more uncertain.
When you’re selling yourself, don’t fixate only on what you achieved yesterday. Also, emphasize the promise of what you could accomplish tomorrow.
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643
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40% of your time at work is spent in non-sales selling, which simply means moving others somehow. For example, this could mean persuading them to help you with a project, convincing them of your idea, or influencing them to get on board with a particular strategy.
No matter what you...
660
4.39K reads
Enumerate. Try actually counting the numbers you get during a week. By the end of the week, you might be surprised by just how many nos the world has delivered to your doorstep. However, you might be more surprised by something else: You’re still around. Even in that weeklong oce...
663
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Hear Offers
Once we listen in this new, more intimate way, we begin hearing things we might have missed. And if we listen this way during our efforts to move others, we quickly realize that what seem outwardly like objections are often offers in disguise.
Say ...
640
931 reads
659
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Envisioning ourselves far into the future is extremely difficult—so difficult, in fact, that we often think of that future self as an entirely different person.
This conceptual shift demonstrates the third quality necessary in moving others today: clarity—the capacity to help others see the...
639
1.37K reads
Of the consumers who visited the supermarket booth with twenty-four varieties of jam, only 3 percent bought any. At the booth with a more limited selection, 30 percent made a purchase”.
Adding an inexpensive item to a product offering can lead to a decline in consumers’ willingness to pay.
653
1.27K reads
CURATED FROM
IDEAS CURATED BY
To Sell Is Human shows you that selling is part of your life, no matter what you do, and what a successful salesperson looks like in the 21st century, with practical ideas to help you convince others in a more honest, natural and sustainable way.
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Related collections
Other curated ideas on this topic:
Some people simply agree to plans because they feel pressured by the subtle expectation we put on them, even unconsciously. We can help by encouraging them to think about the decision and take some time to come up with an answer.
We need to give them time and space to be able to turn down ...
Let the conversation revolve around the person you’re talking to. This makes people feel like they matter and makes them more comfortable with you.
Don’t: Let your ego drive the conversation.
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