Why the Salesperson Needs to Know the Psychology of Sales

Every single step in the process of a sale is a mental process. The mental attitude and mental impression of the customer; the mental attitude and mental expression of the salesperson; the process of arousing the attention, awakening curiosity or interest, creating desire, satisfying the reason, and moving the will- all these are purely mental processes, and the study of them becomes a branch of the study of psychology.

The display of goods on the counters, shelves, or windows of a store, or in the hands of the salesperson, or the product shown in a banner ad, or a PPC advertisement, must be based upon psychological principles. The argument must not only be logical but must be so arranged and worded as to arouse certain feelings or faculties within the mind of the prospective buyer- this is psychology.

And finally, the closing of the sale, in which the object is to arouse the will of the buyer into final favorable action- this also is psychology. From the first glimpse of the product to the final. closing of the sale, each and every step is a psychological process. A sale is the action and reaction of mind upon mind, according to well established psychological principles and rules. Salesmanship is essentially a psychological science as all must admit who will give to the subject a logical consideration.

Elements of Personality in Sales - Enthusiasm

Enthusiasm in a salesman is the quality that makes him talk in an intense and earnest way that carries conviction. The enthusiastic salesman spontaneously overflows with self- confidence and belief in the goods and the satisfaction they hold for the customer. Confidence can only be secured by knowledge; knowledge of one's own ability, of the customer, of the goods, and of the selling process.

Enthusiasm based on confidence begets confidence and enthusiasm in the customer. It is contagious. The salesmen with enough confidence in the product and themselves to become enthusiastic, soon bring others to see their point of view. Sincerity, reflected by enthusiasm, is impressive and will command the attention and respect even of customers unable to share in their belief.

Enthusiasm backed by facts is a combination of the spiritual and the material. The latter lacks life without the former, while the former is hollow hypocrisy without the latter. Enthusiasm cannot be faked. Without the background of knowledge and belief it stands forth in all its shallow futility. Counterfeit enthusiasm can never pass for the genuine for it lacks in weight, sound and appearance. Salesmen who attempt to be earnest and eager in their sales talk will fool no one except themselves. Only by intelligent observation, reflection and study can salesmen create a harmonious background for the efficient functioning of enthusiasm.

Not only does enthusiasm stimulate self- respect and enhance the customer's esteem for the salesmen, but it also develops loyalty for the brand and its methods. To be loyal to a sales institution salesmen must have confidence in its integrity and belief in its policies. Enthusiasm developed from knowing the goods will go far towards developing loyalty to the store that sells those goods. Further knowledge regarding the store's history, its aims and ambitions, will generate new enthusiasm which will form the basis for a broader and stronger loyalty.

Perhaps it is not too obvious to note that loyalty to a store can only be based on its honest and square dealing. Truthful advertising, honest representations by salesmen and sympathetic treatment of customer's needs are some of the foundation stones for the building of the loyalty structure. Some firms that deserve it don't get it from all salesmen, but no firm that doesn't deserve it ever, wins it from any salesman.

Attracting Customers

There are always two lines of effort to be used by the salesperson: First, to help the uncertain customer, who doesn't know exactly what is wanted for the desired purpose, and second, to attract the desire, of the passing customer to the thing not thought about before. To be successful, in either of these directions, requires complete knowledge of the goods being sold.

The salesmanship that is shaky about the technical features of the products is going to be very weak about catching or holding the attention of the customer.

Every ambitious salesperson will be a constant and thorough student of the trade publications in his or her line of merchandise. In all lines of business these publications are usually subscribed for by the firm, or they will be subscribed for, as a rule, upon the proper request being made. Every merchant and manager will be glad to have salespeople request to see every issue of the trade papers, for it proves that they are earnest and thoughtful about their work, and desirous of improving their knowledge of the goods they sell and learning more about methods of selling them. If salespeople do not know the names of the various trade publications that they should read, they can get the information from the buyer or from the merchant.

In other words, even if you are just doing affiliate sales from a site like Clickbank, you need to have a knowledge of the products you are selling. You may be asked by a visitor to your site about some feature or even if it is suitable for what the customer wants or needs. If you have no answers, you have lost a sale.

What Your Visitor Sees In Ads

A two year series of experiments on the psychology of advertising utilizing actual ads and created ads was performed to test:

1. the initial attention value of text matter as against cuts,
2. relevancy and irrelevancy of each to the article advertised,
3. the effects of repetition on each of these four elements,
4. different colors,
5. different sizes of type
6. different parts of the page.

By means of answers to four sets of artificial advertisements, in which each article was presented in six different kinds of advertisements, an effort was made to get at the reasons, which influence buyers in their choices. Any differences in the sexes were kept in view throughout. From the three figures and twenty tables, mostly taken on college juniors and seniors, there resulted the following conclusions:

Attention:

1. Best gained overall by relevant words or text matter, next by relevant and then irrelevant cuts, and least by irrelevant words.
   
2. Through five repetitions, the relevant words increased steadily in value, while the cuts decreased, and the irrelevant words remained on their initially low level.
   
3. The female observers were attracted proportionally more than the males by cuts and by irrelevancy.
   
4. In colors, males were attracted mostly by black and green, females by red and green.
   
5. A progressive increase of attention within the sizes of type from 2 to 5 mm. high.
   
6. The left side of the page was seen more than the right.
   
7. The horizontal quarter above the middle was overall more effective than the other quarters, with the bottom quarter decidedly least valuable.

Only about half our informants seemed to be influenced consciously by advertising, the females somewhat more so than the males. However, a considerable amount of advertising acts upon people below the threshold of their conscious attention and memories.

The reasons given for choosing one advertisement over others as the place from which to buy were:

1. Decidedly foremost from the age or reliability of the firm; then from cheapness, statement of qualities, with statement of prices and style least effective.
   
2. For last choice cheapness was by far the main reason, either directly or under the brand of “fake” while an unanalyzable distrust and suspicion from too great claims or details was next operative.