A discussion about sales, sales tips and advice, and about those who land the deal

I read an interesting article by sales consultant Tim Connor recently, where he talked about the concept of "psychological debt".  It's an interesting point that he makes, and I wanted to share part of his thoughts:

One of my earliest lessons in sales happened over 40 years ago. I was receiving a lot of positive feedback from prospects:

"Tim you are really good at this."

"You are going to be really successful in this business."

"You really know your stuff."

Kind words, yes; but a sale, no.

I sought out my good friend, Larry, who was making over a million dollars a year selling insurance. I told him of my plight: lots of compliments, but no orders.

This is, as best as I can recall, his advice:

"Tim, when you give a sales presentation to a prospect, are you nice to them? Do you give them your time? Do you educate them? Do you give them the benefit of your experience?"

My answers to all of his questions were yes.

"Here is what is happening," Larry told me. "You are building a psychological debt. They owe you, and the way they pay off the debt is with a compliment. Once you accept the compliment, the debt is paid." Thus, no order.

Well, I couldn't feed my kids on compliments, so I said, "Larry, what do I do?"

He advised, "Refuse their compliments. You see, when you do not accept the compliments, the debt still exists."

"How do I do that, Larry?"

"Say to your prospect something like this, 'If I were that good, we would be doing business together.' Or, 'If I am going to be that successful, I would be better able to communicate the benefits of my proposal to you. I am sorry, but I don't deserve that compliment.'"

He continued, "Now, when you get a compliment and an order, say 'thank you very much.'"

This one piece of advice helped me more in my sales career than the dozens of books I had read and seminars I had attended."

My take:  It amazes me (and shames me) at how little I think about that psychological aspect to selling in actual sales situations.  This is a small detail that, when done properly, can result in big improvements when it comes to selling.

Tim is a best selling sales author.  Go to Amazon and check out some of his titles.

Don't let your prospect off the psychological hook too easily. What you want and need is business, not validation, approval, acceptance or appreciation.