The Latest Psychology of Selling [New Data]

Up until a few years ago, most sales training was just some random sales guru’s idea of what worked in sales, with no data or science to back it up.

But today, we live in an unprecedented time of data and science on what’s actually working in sales.

In this video, I’m going to walk you through the latest data and science behind the psychology of selling. Check it out:

1. They don’t care about your features.

The latest data on the psychology of selling is unequivocal: Salespeople who lead sales conversations by talking about the features of their offering are far less likely to actually close the deal.

Instead of leading with features, seek to understand exactly what’s going on in your prospect’s world, and identify the key challenges they’re facing. Then match those challenges with the solutions that you offer. Never focus too deeply on the actual features of your offering.

2. Keep it back and forth.

Here’s another powerful new data point on the psychology of selling: Top-performing sales reps have much more “back and forth” in their sales conversations. There are no monologues. Top salespeople don’t just talk all the time. Instead, it’s a true back and forth, like a ping-pong match.

Keep your prospects fully engaged in the sales conversation by asking lots of questions, constantly going back and forth, and mirroring the dynamic of catching up with a friend that you haven’t talked to in a couple of years. That’s the kind of back and forth we need to see.

3. Slow it down.

While they have more back and forth, conversations by top-performing salespeople are also much slower in terms of actual pace. The most recent data on the psychology of selling shows that top performers’ prospects speak fewer words per minute, and top salespeople speak fewer words per minute, too. The more we can slow down the pace and create a comfortable, unrushed conversation with genuine back and forth, the more likely we are to close the sale.

Let’s face it: When you’re speaking to someone you’re actually comfortable with, the pace of the conversation naturally slows down. You don’t feel like you’re in a rush or constantly thinking about what to say next. Get your prospect to that comfortable place by slowing everything down.

4. Half aren’t a fit. Know that.

Another key piece of data on the psychology of selling is that about half of prospects will never be a fit for what you sell. It’s really important to let that sink in. Once it does, it will really change the psychology of how you sell.

Traditionally, salespeople think they need to close every single person they get in front of. This belief affects the way we think; it changes the psychology behind how we sell. But when we realize that half of all prospects are never going to buy from us—no matter what—everything suddenly shifts.

The goal of the conversation is no longer to close every single person with a pulse. Instead, it’s simply to determine whether the prospect you’re talking to right now is an actual fit for what you sell. And if they’re not, move on.

5. Sell like it’s a game.

Modern sales really is like a video game. These days, video games consist of people from around the world logging onto the internet and interacting in the same online platform to engage back and forth. Sounds a lot like modern-day selling to me. You’re logging onto the internet, and you’re connecting with people that you’re never going to actually see face-to-face.

And quite frankly, even if you are seeing prospects face-to-face in real life, it’s still a game. Even if it goes horribly wrong, they’re not going to remember you. They’re not going to come up to you at the supermarket, and start yelling at you. It’s just a game.

Once we determine that sales is a game, suddenly all of the undue pressure for perfection disappears. This is one of the fundamental pillars behind the psychology of selling successfully today: Sell like it’s a game, be mentally strong, and you’ll feel like you have control of any sales situation.

6. If you’re enjoying it, then they will.

Enjoyment is a vitally important piece of the psychology of selling. If your prospects sense that you’re not enjoying the conversation, they’re going to want to end that conversation. Just think of any conversation you’ve ever had with a person at a barbecue who clearly doesn’t want to be chatting with you. You can sense it right away. As a result, you want to end that conversation as quickly as possible. The same is true in sales.

This is not to suggest you should be cheesy or insincere. Simply engage in the conversation with genuine interest and enjoy the process of connecting with another person. Prospects are just people. The more you can enjoy just having a conversation with another person, the more they’ll enjoy it, too.

7. Humans sense fear instantly.

One of our deepest elements of psychological programming as humans derives from when we were hunter-gatherers, and we evolved to immediately sense fear on another person. It’s all over our face when we’re nervous. We start to twitch, our voice trembles, we quiver, we react strangely. Your prospects can immediately sense the fear on you, if you’re feeling it.

Put your mind at ease. Recognize that it’s just a game. There’s no pressure to close this specific deal—you’re just having a conversation. Enjoy it. Because if you’re feeling fear, the prospect is going to sense it right away.

8. Get them talking.

It doesn’t require a PhD in the psychology of selling to understand that people enjoy conversations in which they’re fully engaged and doing a lot of the talking. Think back to when you were in college or high school. Did you enjoy long lectures where the teacher or the professor was just going on and on for hours? Of course not.

The latest research shows that we must engage our prospects in conversations with tons of back and forth, getting them to do a lot of the talking. This approach creates more buy-in on the part of prospects around the ultimate solutions we share at the end of the sales conversation.

9. Link their challenge to your solution.

This is the ultimate key behind the psychology of selling: Your prospect is at point A, they want to get to point B. Between point A and point B is a very rocky road. You have the solution that can help get them from point A to point B. If you can demonstrate that you have that solution, they’re going to make an investment, assuming the ROI sounds right. So, we need to link their challenges to your solution.

If prospects believe that you can help them solve their challenges, your solution is going to seem like a total no-brainer. That’s why we have all of these conversations at the beginning of the sales interaction about what’s going on in their world, what they’re looking to accomplish, and what’s holding them back. This groundwork ultimately enables us to link their challenges to our solution.

Remember, this has nothing to do with the features of your offering. It’s about the end solution you’re going to create for them.

So there you have it. Now you know the The Latest Psychology of Selling [New Data]. Which of these ideas behind sales psychology did you find most useful for your own selling strategy? Be sure to share your thoughts in the comments section below to join the conversation.

More Insight Into the Psychology of Selling in Today’s Market…

Have you noticed that the world of selling has changed a lot from what it was even just a few years ago? If so, you’re not alone. We’re seeing this across the board in sales today.

We live in an unprecedented time of science and data about sales—and it all supports the idea that selling has changed at a rapid pace over the past few years.

With all this fast-paced change, it can be hard to know what’s really working for salespeople out there today.

Luckily, there are specific strategies backed by the psychology of selling that have been shown to improve selling today.

Pay attention to the new psychology of selling in today’s market, and you’ll become much more effective every single time you’re in front of a prospect.

In this video, I’m going to take the guesswork out of sales psychology for you. Take a look to learn all about the psychology of selling in today’s market:

10. What you learned in 2015 is now old-school.

It may not seem like it was that long ago, but 2015 was a lifetime ago in terms of the psychology of selling. Things have completely changed since then—and yet, most sales training hails from at least that time…or before.

There are very few sales strategies and methodologies being taught today that are based on what’s actually happening in sales right now.

When we apply selling concepts that were developed in 2015 or earlier, we’re using old-school sales psychology that simply doesn’t apply to our world anymore. We need to update our approach.

My challenge to you is to leverage strategies that are current right now.

11. Bring some insight to the table.

Today’s prospects are so bombarded by information from sales professionals that they don’t really know how to sort through it all. The psychology of selling in today’s sales world requires that we recognize how busy and overwhelmed with information our prospects truly are.

Prospects don’t want to hear pitches, and they don’t want to talk to salespeople who are just trying to persuade them to buy. 

Instead, what prospects want today is real insight, up front, that demonstrates knowledge and understanding of what’s really going on in their world.

The psychology behind this is that you must think of and present yourself as an expert, not just some low-level sales professional who’s just going to suck your prospects’ time.

You must bring insight to the table early on.

12. Earn the discovery questions.

It’s common knowledge that every sale requires some kind of discovery conversation where questions are asked of the prospect. While this remains true, the new psychology of selling also requires that sales professionals must earn those discovery questions.

As Brian Tracy says: Gone are the days when salespeople could just jump into a discovery conversation right away.

So think about how you can demonstrate real expertise, up front, to earn that discovery conversation and get the prospect to be willing to answer your questions.

If you’re not demonstrating expertise before launching into the discovery conversation, the prospect is likely to give you one of the following responses: “Well, can you just show me what you guys do? Can we stop with all these questions? Can we skip all of this so you can just show me your offer?”

You need to earn those discovery questions by showing real expertise in order for the prospect to truly engage with this important phase of the sale.

13. Stop probing.

Probing is a transparent approach to sales conversations that hails from a bygone era of selling psychology. With probing, salespeople ask a random set of qualifying questions that usually feel a little uncomfortable to the prospect.

This goes against the purpose of an effective discovery conversation, which is to ask a series of intentional questions that slowly lead up to helping you understand whether the prospect is qualified or not. If you do this correctly, you’re also unpacking the core challenges the prospect is facing.

Today’s psychology of selling dictates that we must create value in the process rather than just probe prospects with random qualifying questions. Stop probing and start thinking about how you can ask smart questions that slowly but surely create value in the eyes of the prospect.

14. They don’t care about you.

This is an incredibly important distinction in the psychology of selling today. Many salespeople feel hurt when a prospect doesn’t do what they expect or want the prospect to do. But that’s simply because the prospect doesn’t care about you.

Rather than feel hurt by this, realize that it’s not because the prospect doesn’t care about you as an individual person. (If they saw you hanging off the side of a cliff, I’m sure they’d grab your hand and help bring you back up!) It’s just that they don’t care about whether you make the sale or not.

And why should they? Many times, there’s an active misalignment of incentives between the salesperson and the prospect. You want to make a sale, but they may not want to make a purchase, for a myriad of reasons. 

So remember that if a prospect doesn’t behave the way you want them to, they’re not doing something wrong or hurtful on purpose. Just recognize that they don’t care about you, and that’s okay. You can still slowly but surely demonstrate value to try to get them to engage in the conversation a little bit further.

15. Getting them talking is everything.

The data is unequivocal: Prospects that do a significant amount of talking—particularly during the discovery phase of the sales process—are much more likely to close. And so, salespeople who are really good at getting their prospects talking are the most successful salespeople out there.

Now, this concept in the psychology of selling does have diminishing returns at the far end of the spectrum. Meaning, you don’t want your prospect to totally dominate the entire conversation and go on and on for hours. That’s not productive, of course. But in general, if you can simply get your prospects talking, whether it’s on a prospecting call or in a discovery conversation, or even during the presentation, that’s a great thing.

When prospects talk, it means they’re engaged. Getting them talking helps to pull them in and make them feel like they’re participating in defining the offering that you’re ultimately going to present. This is a critical concept in the psychology of selling in today’s market.

16. Fit is more important than close.

This runs counter to what most salespeople have been taught, which is that closing is all-important in sales. We’re always taught to go for the close no matter what, and that closing is everything. But that’s not really the case. Not anymore.

What’s most important in sales today is determining whether you and the prospect are a fit for one another. This is at the heart of the psychology of the today’s sales world. 

In order for a close to be relevant, you must first determine that they are a fit for what you offer and that you are a fit for what they are looking for to solve the challenges that they have.

Determining these things is so much more important than having some fancy close at the end, because if there’s no fit, then the close ain’t going to happen. So don’t worry about the close. Instead, focus your energy on determining fit.

17. “I’m not sure you should do business with me.”

This is one of the most powerful phrases that you can use in a selling situation to diffuse the sale. If a prospect asks, “Well, why should I do business with you?” how do most salespeople react? They start beating their chests and start talking about how great their product is or how amazing their service is or how they’ve been in business for 557 years or that, “You get me, and I care about you.” Right?

Instead of convincing customers, I challenge you to flip the script. Leverage the psychology of selling to really pull the air out of the room. When they ask, “Why should I do business with you?” what I’d prefer you say is something like, “You know what? I’m actually not sure that you should do business with me. Would it be okay, though, if I ask some questions to determine whether we’re a fit and then I can answer that question?” They’re going to be like, “Whoa, this is so different, and now I don’t feel that pressure.”

18. You are a doctor.

This is the ultimate concept in the psychology of selling today: You are a doctor, and your goal is to get as much information about what’s going on in your prospects’ world, as it pertains to whatever it is you offer, to really determine fit.

If you walk into a doctor’s office and you say, “Hey, Doc, my elbow hurts,” the doctor doesn’t then launch into a sales pitch on the surgery that they can offer on your elbow. Instead, they start to pull you in. They ask you questions about the elbow. They examine it. They start to understand what’s going on, and that’s exactly what we need to be doing in sales.

So there you have it. Now you know how to master the psychology of selling in today’s market. Which of these key concepts will you use as part of your own sales psychology moving forward? Be sure to share below in the comment section to get involved in the conversation.

Even More Techniques to Master the Psychology of Selling…

You know that moment when you realize you’ve finally won over a tough prospect? There’s no better feeling in sales.

But on the flip side, we’ve all experienced that moment when you realize you’ve just lost a prospect you thought you had.

Both of these moments are deeply rooted in the psychology of selling.

In fact, there truly is a psychology to selling effectively. Yet most salespeople have no idea what they’re doing correctly to attract prospects—or what they’re doing incorrectly to repel them.

In this video, I’m going to teach you the psychology of selling through 13 steps to selling that actually works.

Check it out: 

19. Drop the enthusiasm.

This is my biggest passion in the sales training space today. Salespeople need to drop the enthusiasm. It’s time to get rid of the excitement when you’re in front of prospects.

Your prospects hate enthusiasm because it doesn’t seem real. What if I came up to you at a networking event and introduced myself with a huge grin on my face, cheerfully yelling, “Hey there! Marc Wayshak here! How are you doing today?!”

You would immediately want to run the other way. You don’t need to be an expert in the psychology of selling to understand why.

But there’s actually a psychological reason that you would want to run the other way. The psychological phenomenon of reactance says that anytime we clearly try to forcefully push someone in one direction, they will naturally resist and try to go in the other direction. They’ll push back, or pull back—or just drop everything and run.

So stop the enthusiasm, and just be real and genuine instead.

20. Stop pitching.

Recent sales data shows that one of the biggest reasons that prospects and buyers don’t ultimately choose to do business with a salesperson is that they felt the salesperson didn’t really understand their needs.

This is purely the psychology of selling: prospects are feeling like you don’t understand them due to the way you are speaking and behaving around them. And you don’t even realize it!

This isn’t surprising, since most salespeople jump right into a pitch when they first meet a prospect. They haven’t even done the proper discovery to understand what’s really going on in the prospect’s world.

At the end of the day, what your prospects really want is to be engaged in a conversation about what’s important to them. What do their challenges look like? What disruptive changes are they facing in their industry?

Once you talk to prospects about the issues they’re currently facing, then you can decide if they’re a fit for what you sell—but not before that.

Once you decide the prospect is a fit, it’s presentation time—not time to pitch your solution.

Instead, think of it as a doctor-patient conversation. Dig into the psychology of selling in every situation. Diagnose what’s wrong with the prospect and then, once you have a full understanding of their challenges and needs, present only the solution that will solve their problems.

21. Pressure is a no-no.

Grown-ups are always telling kids that bad behavior is a “no-no”—and this is exactly how I feel about pressure in sales. Never, ever apply pressure to your prospects in a selling situation. This is Psychology of Selling 101. It’s a huge no-no and here’s why: Not only is it supremely unhelpful in gaining a prospect’s trust, but it’s also likely to kill the sale completely.

We want to remove all pressure from the selling situation. Instead of trying to persuade the prospect to tell us yes, we want to take a step back. Like I said earlier, the concept of reactance means that when we push someone to do something, they’ll immediately pull back. So don’t push.

This is key to the psychology of selling. Think about trying to get your kids to do something they don’t really want to do. If they feel like you’re putting too much pressure on them, there’s a good chance that they’re going to pull back.                    

22. It’s about them, not you.

I once had a boss that used to say, “Prospects listen to one radio station, and that one radio station is WIIFM.” Now, do you know what WIIFM stands for? What’s in it for me.

All prospects care about is themselves. They don’t care about you. They don’t care about your offering. And they certainly don’t care about how great you think your service is. They only care about themselves. This idea is central to the psychology of selling in any industry.

Prospects ask themselves the same two questions in every situation with a salesperson:

1. Is this conversation going to be worth my time?
2. Is this salesperson’s solution going to actually help me solve a problem that I care about?

If they can’t answer affirmatively to either or both of those questions, then you’re in trouble. We’ve got to make the conversation about them, understanding their concerns, asking questions about their challenges, and addressing the things they care about.

And then, once they see that it’s about them, they’re going to get engaged in the conversation, because people like to talk about themselves. This is central to the psychology of selling. People like to talk about their own concerns or goals, or whatever it is that they’re looking to accomplish.

By making it about them, and not your offering, you’re now taking control of the psychology of selling and you’re in a much more powerful position to sell effectively.         

23. Step into their shoes.

Some really powerful data has shown that top performers are much more effective at taking the perspectives of their buyers. When’s the last time you really thought about the experience your buyers go through when talking to you? What about when they talk to your competitors?

I’m not talking about your value proposition or even your product experience. I’m talking about the psychology of selling from the buyer’s experience. What’s the buyer’s actual experience of buying from you? What does it feel like? What’s good about it? What’s not good? Step into their shoes. Start to think more like your buyers. What do they care about? What are the challenges that they’re facing? What are the reasons that they do business with you? What are the reasons that they do business with your competitors

When we talk about the psychology of selling, we’re really talking about starting to think like our prospects. How can we truly understand what they care about, and craft our conversations around those top concerns? 

24. Create value through questions.

If you’ve ever watched the show “The Sopranos” then you remember those conversations between Tony Soprano and his psychologist. Did you ever notice how the psychologist never proposes a solution to his problems? When Tony talks about a concern he has, the psychologist only ever asks questions such as, “Can you help me understand why you say that?” or “How does that make you feel?”

These types of questions aren’t just critical in therapy, but also in the psychology of selling. When a prospect comes to you and says, “I’ve got this problem…” you want to respond with thoughtful questions. Most salespeople out there respond with some form of, “Well, you’ve come to the right place! We’ve got an awesome new suite of products that can help solve your problem.” You want to do the exact opposite

Take a step back and create value through the questions you ask. Here are several powerful questions to add to your repertoire:

“What would you say this challenge is costing you today?”
“Can you help me understand how this problem affects you?”

“What have you done to try to solve this problem in the past?”

“What issues or obstacles are being caused by this problem?”

By asking questions like these, you’ll master the psychology of selling to create more value and start to close more sales.

25. “No” isn’t bad.

Let me repeat that: “No” isn’t bad. This is such an important part of the psychology of selling. Most salespeople spend their entire careers trying to avoid any type of rejection. But in reality, hearing “no” isn’t a bad thing at all. You see, our data shows that at least 50% of your prospects are not a good fit for what you sell.                   

With that said, you want to know as quickly as possible who isn’t a good fit. If you can get “no” from an unqualified prospect early on in the sales cycle, then you should consider it a victory.  Top performers are spending the majority of their time in front of qualified prospects, prospects that want to do business with them. The only way to do that is to first disqualify the rest.           

This approach also takes off all that pressure from the prospect. You’re basically saying, “Look, I’m not sure if this is going to be a fit. Help me understand what’s going on.” And now, the prospect feels so much more comfortable. From a psychology of selling perspective, you’ve taken all that pressure off, and now they feel good about this interaction. At the same time, you can feel good about it too, because you can move on if it’s not a fit.

26. If you feel it, say it.

One of my mentors always used to say this, and it stuck with me because it’s great advice. In today’s selling environment, there’s just no time to waste with tire-kickers or people who aren’t a good fit. If your prospect is talking in a way that’s making your gut say, “You know what, there’s something not right here,” rather than just push through, say what you’re feeling. Get it all out on the table and inspect the psychology of selling at play.          

Now, this doesn’t have to be confrontational. But let’s say your prospect seems like he’s not that into your conversation. He’s distracted. Or maybe the timing doesn’t feel right. Say, “George, I really appreciate your meeting with me today, but it seems like you’re pretty distracted right now. Is this maybe not a good time to be talking about this?” And watch him suddenly respond, “Oh, no, no, no. I’m sorry. I was distracted, but no, no. I do want to have this conversation.”

Or, if your prospect seems like she’s just not interested in what you’re talking about, say, “Susan, I get the sense that this doesn’t seem to be of a lot of interest to you. Is that fair to say?” And now, she may say, “Yeah. You know what, no. I’m not interested.” And then you can say, “OK. Well, can you tell me why you say that?” From there, you can determine whether the prospect is qualified or not.                   

27. Get deep into their challenges.

This is something I’ve been saying for years. Salespeople need to start thinking like doctors, and stop thinking like typical salespeople. This is imperative if you’re going to leverage the psychology of selling to close more deals.

The key is to get deep into prospects’ challenges. Most salespeople just identify a surface-level challenge and then immediately offer a solution.

Let me give you an example of a doctor’s mindset at work in sales. Let’s say your prospect says, “We’ve got these operational issues. Do you think you can help us?” You should say, “Well, tell me more about those challenges. Help me understand what’s really going on.” Dig deeply. Think of it as the tip of the iceberg. Most prospects are willing to discuss what’s at the very top of the iceberg to anyone. But you want to dig deeper to discuss what’s going on below the surface.    

28. Tie their challenges to value.

We’ve talked about going deeper to really understand what’s going on in your prospects’ world. Now you want to make sure you’re tying their challenges to a specific value. If your prospects could solve their challenges, what would it mean to them in upside, revenue, profitability, or savings? These are the key questions to answer here.

Here’s an example. Your prospect is talking about his marketing challenges, saying, “Yeah, our marketing is just not as effective as we’d like. We just feel like we’re not getting the number of leads that we’d like.” First you dig deeper into what his key challenges are. And then you say something along the lines of, “If you were able to solve these challenges that you’re facing, what would it mean in additional revenue to the organization?”

What you’re doing is giving prospects the opportunity to come back with a number. They might say, “Oh, yeah. Well, geez. We could easily increase revenue by a couple million dollars if we were able to solve these challenges.” Now you’ve tied the challenges to some kind of specific tangible value. And it’s their number. They said it, not you.

Even if you’re on the consumer side, this is key to the psychology of selling. After all, there’s still a value in solving consumers’ challenges. What is that value in solving their challenges, or what is that challenge really costing them right now?      

29. Make it a two-way dialogue.

The psychology of selling shows us that when people are actually speaking, they’re the most engaged. When they’re listening, they may still be engaged in the conversation, but it’s less likely. So you want to make sure that you’re constantly having a two-way dialogue with your prospects, even when you’re presenting. There should always be a back-and-forth dynamic.

There should never be a period where you’re going on and on about your service or product. You only ever want to talk for a little bit, and then re-engage the prospect back into the conversation.

Think about how you feel when you’re being talked at, versus being engaged in a dynamic conversation, and it’s easy to see why this is central to the psychology of selling.

If it truly is a two-way conversation, you’re going to close a lot more of your sales, because it means that your prospects are more engaged. Keep that back-and-forth going.       

30. Budget comes later.

This is one of the most important elements in the psychology of selling. You never want to begin your sales conversations talking about price or money. This budget discussion should come at the end of the discovery process.          

Once you’ve gone through the prospect’s challenges and determined the upside value, it’s time to talk about budget. You might ask a question like, “Based on what I’m hearing about your challenges, a typical solution for what we’ve discussed could range anywhere from $100,000 to $500,000. Where could you see yourself fitting on that spectrum?”

This uses the psychology of selling to establish a broad range of potential budgets on purpose. It allows prospects to come back and say, “I feel like I could potentially do $200,000,” or whatever that number is for them.                    

31. Use feedback loops.

I said earlier that it’s important to make your presentation a two-way dialogue in order to leverage the psychology of selling. Feedback loops are the most effective way to do this. These are little questions to ask when you’re talking to prospects that will pull them back into the conversation.

Feedback loops are something I use all the time with every single person in my life, because they’re so effective. If you ever find yourself going on and on, or talking for more than 60 seconds, stop and just say, “So, before I go any further, does this all make sense?” or “Do you see what I’m saying?” or “Does that work for you?”

The data shows that these little questions not only re-engage people in conversation, but they also create little moments of buy-in. Think of them as mini-closes in the conversation. By the end of the presentation, assuming they’ve been on the same page with you and they like what you’re saying, the only question to close is, “What would you like to do next?”

There is no hard close, because you’re using these feedback loops all throughout the process. And now, all you have to do is simply establish the next step.

32. Different is better.

Many salespeople today take the misguided approach of trying to blend in and not make too many waves around prospects. In effect, they do what every other salesperson is doing, and they don’t stand out at all.

Blending in might make you feel safe, but when it comes to the psychology of selling, it’s actually a plus to be distinct. Different is better in sales—especially within the first few moments of a sales interaction.

A recent study from NYU determined that people make 11 decisions about someone within the first 7 seconds of meeting. So, when your prospects meet you, are they thinking, “This is just like every other salesperson out there” or are they thinking, “Wow, there’s something different about this person. I want to learn more”?

If you master the psychology of selling, you’ll be a pro at being different in sales. For example, you’ll know that you should drop the enthusiasm, stop pitching, and do everything possible to be totally distinct from the competition.

These seemingly simple rules will take you from “just another salesperson” to “someone worth talking to” in a matter of seconds.

33. Don’t be afraid to push back.

On the surface, it seems like the job of the salesperson is to make the prospect feel comfortable and never rock the boat. But just as it’s better to be different in sales, it’s also better to push back when prospects are wrong or misguided. Don’t just sit back and let them walk all over you. Speak up and prevent them from making bad decisions.

This can be difficult for many salespeople. But pushing back is part of the ultimate psychology of selling. Prospects will respect you more, and listen to you as an expert, if you share your opinion and disagree thoughtfully.

Pushing back is also key to closing tough customers in sales. Often, these people are just waiting to see if you’ll respond—and when you shy away from engaging them, they move on. Strengthen your backbone and speak your mind (respectfully, of course) to become a master of the psychology of selling.

34. Talk to them like a peer.

Many salespeople take a deferential approach to prospects, especially when dealing with C-level prospects. The psychology of selling tells us that this is the wrong way to go.

Prospects pick up on the way you feel about yourself, and they’ll use that information to inform their opinion of you. If you feel like you’re inferior to an executive prospect, that executive will think you’re underqualified or less knowledgeable—because you’re coming across that way.

Master this aspect of the psychology of selling by being assertive, confident, and talking to prospects like a peer even if their titles are way above your own. It’s all about how you carry yourself.

35. Never discount.

This is one of the most important aspects of the psychology of selling, yet so many salespeople get it wrong. Discounting is one of the most common, harmful mistakes a salesperson can make. Never discount again.

Not only does discounting your product or service cut into the margin of the sale and lead to a smaller commission, but it also makes your value plummet in the eyes of the customer.

Instead of discounting, focus on the key challenges your prospects are facing and demonstrate the value your offering can provide them. Never drop price just to make a sale.

36. Give them options.

Giving prospects multiple options in your sales proposals is key to the psychology of selling. While the majority of sales proposals only give one option, this is a huge lost opportunity.

First, give a basic option as a less expensive choice that provides the bare essentials to solve the problem at hand, but is still profitable for you. Next, give a middle option that’s your core offering for the majority of your prospects. And finally, offer a third, premium option that’s more expensive and has more deliverables.

The psychology of selling tells us that your prospects will 1) no longer feel the need to shop around since you’re already giving them multiple choices, 2) see great value in the basic and middle options in the context of the three-option setup, and 3) potentially go with the high, premium option because they simply want the best, and your proposal has built up the value in a compelling way.

So, there you have it. That’s the psychology of selling in 13 steps (plus 5 bonus tips) to selling that actually works. I want to hear from you. Which of these ideas did you find most useful? Be sure to share below in the comments section to get involved in the conversation.