Learn What Makes Prospects Tick To Win Deals Faster
Trust or rapport is one of the critical elements that influence the success of a sales deal, as we identified in the previous post. To earn this trust and avoid stuck deals, salespeople must dig deeper beyond the script and understand the science behind people’s daily interactions.
“Salespeople who take the time to understand how people behave and react to situations have a greater advantage over counterparts,” says Hilmon Sorey, Managing Director at ClozeLoop.
The Triangle Selling book adapts the 5 driver model impacting human behavior from Dr. David Rock’s 2008 paper titled “A Brain-Based Model for Collaborating with and Influencing Others.” In the article, Dr. Rock stresses that the brain’s organizing principle is to minimize threats and maximize opportunities, i.e., the approach-avoid approach. The brain treats social threats and rewards with the same or even higher intensity as physical threats and rewards and continually makes decisions to move towards or away from these threats/opportunities.
Selling conversations must be designed around finding the right levers to uncover pain and moving the prospect away from threats into a maximizing reward state. Listen intently when speaking with prospects and respond according to the drivers below to measure rapport.
Applying the S.C.A.L.E Model in selling conversations to measure rapport
Status refers to the prospect’s perception of where they rank in relation to their peers. When a person experiences a drop in status, brain networks light up in the same way as if they have experienced physical pain and vice versa. Use discovery questions rather than challenging statements to protect the prospect’s status.
Application: asking to be introduced to someone’s boss, if not positioned well, could be perceived as a threat to status and result in stalled deals.
Certainty — ambiguity of any kind generates a danger response. Certainty moves buyers toward a reward. It will work in your favor if you let buyers know what is going to happen next. When sellers provide clear expectations, they alleviate fear and build confidence.
Example: Provide as much information as possible to eliminate any threats. Say something like “I’ve set the meeting for Friday 14, Zach Doe the account manager will be meeting with you at 2 pm. Does that work for you?.”
Autonomy — buyers get stressed when they feel they have no choice or control. Salespeople should let the buyer know that they have choices. Create consensus and provide clear options in the sales process.
Example: “I’m calling you on behalf of company x, would it be okay if I can have just 60 seconds of your time to chat about xyz?”
Likeness — the brain automatically perceives new people as a threat. Humans naturally feel initial discomfort. To earn the trust of buyers, use relevant customer stories, and other types of social proof continue to reinforce the reward perception throughout the sales process.
Example: “We’ve made $3 million for clients similar to your company with our xyz product”.
Equity — Equitable exchange activates reward circuitry, and an unfair exchange activates a danger response. To be an effective trader, one needs to be able to detect deception or broken promises. If equity is achieved, the conversation shifts from salesperson to trusted advisor and the reward triggers begin in the prospect’s brain.
Application: Have fair offers for all prospects. Even on your website and other materials, the information should be standard to decrease the threats of equity.
“When reviewing pipelines with clients, we often find that deals that are “stuck” just failed to satisfy one or more of these drivers,” says Cory Bray, Managing Director at ClozeLoop.
Salespeople must keep these drivers in mind when having conversations with prospects, and should also be examined during pipeline reviews.
This post contains excerpts from the Amazon 5 Star-Rated Triangle Selling book. Want more? Buy your copy on Amazon today!
Follow Cory Bray and Hilmon Sorey on LinkedIn.
