10 Psychological Tricks to Boost your sales skills

I want to start this article by saying that this is not an ordinary list of psychological triggers that will help you increase your sales. After doing some research, I’ve noticed that many posts focus on things that you could do to generate an effect on your client’s/prospect’s perception of things (which is naturally crucial). But having considered that, my idea is to talk about general psychological tricks that will enhance your whole sales process, interaction with potential clients, and mainly, your skills set behind all that. Most importantly, this is me, Eduardo, giving you my personal top 10 tips to boost your sales skills. So you don’t have to agree with all points, but I hope you enjoy the content of these tricks that have been working exceptionally well for me, and also have been written by someone who loves working with sales! :)

#1: Be the first buyer of your product or service.

I haven’t seen this in any articles I’ve read so far, and it might be because of the simplicity of this concept. But still, simplicity is not directly related to the importance of things, and that is why this is my number one tip. So, what do I mean by “Be the first buyer of your product or service”?

If you want to have a joyful and successful sales routine, please, make sure you firmly believe in the value proposition of what you’re selling. Just put yourself in your client’s shoes and ask yourself this: “Would I buy this?”. If the answer is no or if you had to give it a long thought, I am going to tell you that this might not just affect your sales potential but also your humor and satisfaction with your job over the years. I fell in love with Pipefy’s product from day one! The values and the benefits of using it were so bright that after the first presentation I had about Pipefy on my selection process, I already started picturing potential clients I would get to close a deal with us. And that is precisely the motivation you will get from believing in what you’re selling.

Conversely, of course, I’m not saying that if you don’t actively believe in your product that you should quit your job and sell something else that you would buy. On the contrary, you might be one of the most important people within your organization to help your marketing and product team by giving them crucial feedback from your daily interaction with all your prospects to reinvent things that are not pleasing your clients.

#2: Be confident, enthusiastic, and contagious.

Though, simple, still extremely important. If you’re presenting your solution, selling your idea, and demonstrating your product, keep in mind that you’re the host of the show! Your humor and enthusiasm in proposing your service/product are directly connected with your client’s impression, and most importantly to your performance’s perspective. If you end a call, meeting, presentation, or demonstration by feeling that people weren’t engaged and that the vibe in the room was super low, you’re going to get bored with your job quickly and start thinking about why you aren’t selling as much as you would like to. So cheer up! It is a win-win attitude generating happier clients, and a more joyous sales routine.

#3: Picture the winning moment.

I’ve already mentioned motivation and enthusiasm a couple of times. And as you know, working with sales is like riding a roller-coaster, you will feel extremely motivated sometimes, and at others, everything will be falling through the cracks. But there are some simple psychological exercises that we can do to boost our mood a little. I thoroughly enjoy picturing the moment of closing any particular deal. Here at Pipefy, we usually ring a bell to celebrate with all of our teammates the new contracts and significant accomplishments achieved, so I close my eyes and envision that moment, where I am saying the name of the company that I am going to be getting into a meeting or follow-up with and ringing the bell.

Also, have you ever tried doing a power pose?. “Power posing is a discredited hypothesis in psychology that claims that by assuming a “powerful” posture, subjects can induce positive hormonal and behavioral changes.”. So how does it work? Before going into that tough meeting or dialing the numbers for that critical follow-up, raise your arms and fill your lungs with air and hold that position for a couple of minutes as if you were Superman or Wonder Woman. It will alter your hormones and give you a powerful feeling.

#4: Be as friendly as you can!

At the end of the day, we are people selling to people. Relationship building is tremendously important for both your sales results and your performance. There is a fragment of a quote by the novelist Alex Garland, that I like, which says: “…Never fail to be polite and never outstay your welcome.” So how does this relate to your sales? I would say, never fail to be as friendly as possible and to do your best on building a kind and genuine relationship with your customers and at the same time, do it at their pace.

Here is a helpful tip to get closer to your prospects, wherever you’re keeping your notes on things discussed in all touches throughout your sales cycle, add a little frame called “the box” to it. Every time that they bring up an interesting subject, something about their hobbies or family, write it down in the box. You can then use this information, later on, to get closer to your clients. How about starting a follow-up call by asking your prospect about the outcome of his/her daughter's ballet contest that was brought up in a previous conversation?

#5: Feel and be prepared.

We all know the contrasting feeling of taking a test that you were prepared for versus another one that you didn’t have any previous preparation on. When it comes to sales, you might feel confident about knowing your product/service from A to Z and being able to handle all of your client’s objections. But there is no such thing as too much preparation. If you plan to do your pre-work customers’ research which you will be contacting right, you will always feel more confident. This will lower your worries and stress level helping you have the best performance possible. Also, your expectations have to be aligned with how much effort you’re putting into a deal. Huge deals will come with huge shots. The same perception is happening on your customer’s end. The more you show that you are and feel prepared to give them the best solution, the more likely they will be to close the deal with you and not other vendors.

#6: Switch your brain into an extremely and genuinely curious mode.

That is one of the most important things I’ve learned since I started working at Pipefy. We are aiming to solve vast and complex pain points within our customer’s processes. If I go ahead and present our solution in the best way that I could and show our leads all of the compelling features that Pipefy has, I might end up getting amazing feedbacks on how awestruck they are with so many possibilities. But if I assume that I am closing a deal strictly from that feedback, I will be doomed to failure. You’ve just got to know what you don’t know! Start your interaction by asking your clients the right questions, and most importantly, with genuine curiosity towards discovering exactly how you will be able to help them. Therefore you will be able to leverage your sales based on substantial needs and desires which your potential client has already shared with you.

A great tip for this exercise is to add lots of “open-ended questions” throughout your discovery stage. These are questions that cannot be answered by a simple “yes” or “no,” they will have to elaborate an answer. Example: Salesperson: “So you’re looking for a solution that will help you enhance your productivity and standardize your process, is that correct?”. Prospect answers: “Yes.”

Where do you go from that yes? If you’ve asked an open-ended question, you might get more information about things that you still don’t know. Example: Salesperson: “Apart from enhancing your productivity and standardizing your process, what would add to the ideal solution that you’re looking for?”. Prospect answers: “I am glad you asked! There are two other main requirements on our side. We need an on-premise solution that can also be accessed offline.”

You just found out about huge requirements that you could’ve missed. So don’t forget that. Be extremely curious!

#7: Be specific!

It might sound simple, but it isn’t. It comes with preparation and good practice. One of our values here within Pipefy is “Keep it Simple.” And that is just directed to the assertiveness of what you’re saying or delivering. The quality of your job can’t be affected by this. The key is keeping a high quality with a simple, and direct explanation of things. In sales, you want to be the simplifier of things at all times. The psychological trick here is to within your capacity capturing your client’s needs and making their decision-making process as easy as it can be. Many competitors could be somehow complicating things in their sales process, so you should be the one to make things visible and straightforward. You might even turn out not to be the best solution or product, but if you can conclusively show your clients how they will benefit from you, you might have a higher chance to be chosen.

#8: Be honest, trustable, and be yourself!

My concept of salespeople is different from what a lot of people seem to think. Many people still see sales as something pushy, tricky, and simply not trustworthy.

On the contrary, one of our most essential values within Pipefy is precisely that, being trustable. Our business is built on relationships. Relationships between employers and employees, staff and customers. When we trust all our stakeholders, we create an environment in which development and high execution are a priority.

If you prefer to omit something, at first, from a potential client, you might initially get them to close a deal with you. In the long term, you’re increasing your customer churn, decreasing your customer satisfaction, and blurring your company’s image. Be honest. Everyone appreciates honesty, and this will make people trust you more. Believe me, the trust will boost your sales tremendously!

#9: Meditate.

Wait a minute, where did that come from?. You were probably not expecting to read this. But this is one of the best psychological tricks I could advise salespeople to practice.

Our routine is super dynamic, we handle a lot of people and absorb so much information every day. Things get crazy sometimes, and many salespeople have gotten themselves in the situation of feeling extremely overwhelmed. I did! So, I started meditating. And to be honest, it’s changed my life. Hugely successful entrepreneurs like Jeff Weiner, Jerry Seinfeld, Russell Simmons, Oprah Winfrey, and many others have already talked about the effects of meditation on their successful paths. Studies have shown that meditation can change your brain matter, reduce stress, and help you make better decisions.

So, breath in, clear your mind, and try developing this mental exercise. You might fall in love with it just as I did.

#10: Enjoy the ride!

This is my favorite Pipefy value, and it is 100% aligned with the sales routine. As I mentioned before if working on sales can be easily compared with riding a roller-coaster, let us then at least enjoy this ride as much as we can. You need to enjoy all the moments and go to bed thinking that you are doing something awesome. Regardless of the challenges and difficulties you might face, everything you’re doing must be worth it. Sometimes we need to boost our sales skills, but keep in mind that in sales you always boost all of your abilities. So hop in, and enjoy this growthful and awesome ride.

By the way, we are hiring…

Thanks for reading, if you want to be part of Pipefy, join our team. We want to meet you.