THE SECRET PSYCHOLOGY OF SALES CONVERSION

This is not a newsletter about sales conversion in terms of conversion rate, speed or quality - although all three are critically important.

If you convert at a higher than typical rate (greater percentage), then you will drive a stronger business than most.

If you convert at a faster than typical speed (time to sale), then you will drive a more efficient business than most.

If you convert at a better than typical quality (price and client), then you will drive a more profitable business than most. 

However, I’ve already said that this is NOT a newsletter about rate, speed or quality of conversion.  That will come in another newsletter.

This newsletter is about the anatomy of sales conversion.  What is it?  When does it happen?  How does it happen?

Of course if we understand these questions a bit deeper, we can also start to dig into questions like … How can we make it happen more often?  How can we make it happen faster? 

The definition of Conversion

I suspect there are many ways to define sales conversion, but I have a pretty simple definition … conversion occurs, when the prospect mentally and emotionally recognises that your offer of value, at the price you’re asking, is worth more to them than anything else they could spend that money on!

In reality, you’re not just competing against anyone else that sells what you sell or solves the problems you solve. You’re also competing with anyone or anything that can divert the money you’re asking the prospect to spend with you, away from you and towards another expenditure.

For example, if you sell cars, as well as competing with other car yards, you may be competing with people who sell boats, or holidays, or caravans and so on.  A prospect might delay the decision to buy for 12 months because they decide to prioritise one of these other spends ahead of you.

Or what if you sell cyber security insurance to businesses - you aren’t just competing within the insurance space.  You may also be competing with people that sell technology infrastructure, communication systems, equipment, HR services, or any other spend that is comparable to the insurance investment.  

I suspect there are a LOT of entrepreneurial businesses around the world that have prioritised cyber security insurance OUT of the budget, in favour of a spend that they see as more important and immediately more valuable.

So conversion occurs when three conditions exist:

• They recognise the value of what you promise as being better for them than anything else they’re thinking about.
• They can rationalise the price you’re asking as a “win” … they’re getting a “great deal”.
• They have decided that they need to do this right now … it can’t be put off at all.

The Moment Of Conversion

Is there a single moment of conversion?

There’s not really a single moment of conversion in the context of time, but there is a moment of conversion in the context of human psychology.

The thing is, the moment of conversion is NOT when the decision to buy is made.  That comes after the moment of conversion.  However, for the decision to buy to occur, the moment of conversion must happen first.

Let me walk you through the model below:

Humans have an intensity about them … from high to low.

That intensity can change over time due to circumstances, energy levels, emotional states and so much more.

Humans have a naturally high intensity for resistance.  We have an automatic and rapidly responding system for saying no!  This is the red line in the model.

The system for saying no keeps us safe.  However it also plays out in unproductive ways.  

When you walk into a store the retail assistant will likely come up and ask you if they can help you.  So often people will respond with “no thanks just looking!”  Five minutes later they’ll go back to that assistant, who’s now serving someone else, and ask them if they have a certain item they’re looking for.

Sometimes the system for saying no doesn’t serve us.

The green line shows the lower intensity that humans have for acceptance.  

We don’t have a system for saying yes!  At least not one that operates at a faster speed than the system for saying no.

So when a new idea is put to someone, they are often in a state of high resistance and low acceptance.  It is in this space that we lean into selling.

Over time, these two curves shift position.  As the prospect is walked through the value proposition and is shown how they can have their problem solved, the curves slowly start to reverse.

The moment of conversion is that instance when the acceptance curve rises above the resistance curve.  At this point, the prospect is more in agreement with the ideas being proposed than in opposition to them.

It’s common for sales people to believe that if they just create a bit more pressure, they might be able to “bring the sale forward” - force the curves to reverse.  

The risk of course is that if you create more pressure inside a closed space, you just push the curves further apart.

If, on the other hand, we have a tool or methodology that has the magical ability to flip the curves over, we can reach the moment of conversion faster, without relying on pressure to do it.  Instead of selling, we find ourselves on the other side of conversion where we are just facilitating the outcome.

We find ourselves talking about how the future can be created for the prospect, based on the idea they just bought.  We can walk towards the buying decision.

The Tools Of Conversion

Visual models are powerful tools of conversion.  

As we do our work of helping companies all around the world build high-converting visual models, we’ve been able to witness these visual models powerfully and carefully create that moment of conversion in prospects - at speed and without pressure.

If you have models that: 

• Simplify the complexity of the problem and the solution,
• Create buying tension and desire,
• Prove to the prospect that you understand them at a deeper level than anyone else they’ve talked to, and
• Let the prospect see that their own urgency and ticking timeline means that they must buy it now.

You will reverse the curves and position yourself to simply facilitate the client through the process of engagement and commencement.

Last Thoughts

Of course there is so much more hiding behind the curtain on this.  Humans are complex and selling is a full contact psychological sport.

However, hold the simple idea in your mind that your first objective is to reverse the resistance and acceptance curves.

Look for tools that help you to do that at speed.

And once you’re on the other side of conversion, build the skill of facilitation to close the sale.

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Thanks for reading -  in just under a week I’ll be running my next Monthly 20-Minute Teaching.

How To Talk To Your prospects So They believe In You, More Than They Believe In Anyone Else!

Before you even get to talk about your offer, you need to get into a conversation with your prospects that has them show up as receptive and confident about you and what you do.

There used to be a saying in the industrial and equipment sales world …

“Me, machine, money!”

It’s pretty simple, they need to buy you first, BEFORE they can buy your solution and accept the price you’re asking.

There is a way you can talk to your prospects that allows them to place greater faith and belief in you than they do in anyone else in your marketplace.

It’s not complex or even all that much of a secret … but I suspect it won’t be what you think it is.

In this 20 Minute Teaching, I’ll be walking through two main models to unlock this for you and I promise, you’ll leave with an entirely new perspective on how to engage with your clients.

This is a highly popular event and we don’t advertise it widely.  We publish a diary link the week before and from there, it’s on a first in best dressed basis until the Zoom room is full.  

There is no registration required.  

If you’d like to join me just go here to get the diary invite and add it to your calendar:

https://modelsmethod.link/20-minute-teaching