Do you actually “see” what happens in the sale?

Those who know me more closely know that I am passionate about the psychological aspects of selling.

“What’s that?” you might think. But, it’s about the little aspects we often overlook that can make a difference in your day-to-day life as a salesperson.

This category includes, for example, subjects such as “Body Language,” “Empathy/Rapport”, and “Influence,” among others.

These are aspects that many salespeople tend to be unaware of because they often give priority to more traditional sales knowledge, such as Conducting Meetings, Negotiating, and Closing Deals, among others.

Not that some are more or less important than others. That is different from this article’s theme. When I work with the salespeople and sales directors of my client companies, I notice that these are the aspects that are least often included in the day-to-day.

What usually happens is that the salespeople, ignoring the training in these aspects of selling, needs to detect a lot of information that would be very useful for them to conduct the commercial process more effectively.

We know today that the words we say count very little for the “truth” of the message we convey.

Things like voice intonation, facial expressions, hesitations, or nervousness in spoken speech are signs that, if read correctly, give another dimension to communication.

Think about it: isn’t it nice to be able to perceive the hidden dimension in your customer’s words?

Wouldn’t it be ideal to perceive in which of the proposals you could invest time instead of being deluded with business deals that don’t even have legs to walk?

One of the big problems we see today in the commercial teams we form is that sometimes there is not the slightest notion of which commercial processes you should bet on and which ones should be gently set aside.

Since our time as salespeople is not infinite, the question of knowing how to allocate our time correctly is increasingly critical.

For example, are you familiar with the phenomenon of “alphas”?

Anyone with a dog at home knows that certain breeds are more “alpha” than others. That is, they may have more difficulty accepting your command than others.

The funny thing is that in a meeting, there are also usually alphas, and they are only sometimes the most powerful person in the room.

For example, in critical decision moments, sometimes the eyes of those present will be directed to some profile in the room, although this only sometimes makes sense.

In other words, if he is not the one making the decision, why do most people let their gaze run in his direction, almost as if to see his reaction?

And if you are attentive, you will see that if his reaction is positive, it seems easier to close the deal. On the other hand, if his reaction is adverse, it will be more complicated.

Now, suppose the salesperson doesn’t pay attention to these details. In that case, they may put the whole deal at risk, even though, at first, it may seem that they are conducting the commercial process correctly by focusing on the people who can contribute to the decision.

These “alpha” profiles are usually not very interventive, but when they are left out, they tend to “explode” after the meeting and make the deal impossible.

This “alpha” issue is just the tip of the iceberg of the subject of the more behavioral aspects of selling.

This week stop for a moment to think:
“Are my salespeople actually SEEING what is going on in the sale?”

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Also published on Medium.