To be a successful Christian entrepreneur, it is imperative that you
understand and use sales psychology. Internet Marketing gurus
have this ability honed to an art form. Sales psychology is an
advantage whether you are in a conventional brick and mortar
business or an online one. The great thing is that sales
psychology is not difficult to learn. Essentially all you need to
do is put yourself in the place of the prospective buyer.
One aspect of sales psychology is that people respond to
specifics more than generalities. If you sell photocopy machines,
saying a particular unit is a high-speed duplicating machine is
not impactful. But if you say that your machine produces 10
sheets of A4-sized copies in 12 seconds with the ability to
automatically collate documents into correct order, then it seems
more impressive. In sales, rounding off figures dilutes its
impact so state numbers without rounding off. Of course, the
facts and figures must be true.
This aspect of stating things in specific terms also applies to
targeting your prospects. People must know whether your product
or service is for them or not. Hence, the term 'Home Owners' is
not as good as 'Gardening Enthusiasts'. And 'Gardening
Enthusiasts' is not as specific as 'Tropical Plant Lovers'.
Another aspect of sales psychology is that people are interested
in how they can benefit from your product or service more than
what the product can do. In other words, benefits always win over
features. For example, if you sell pianos, tell the prospect that
giving his child a piano today could enable the child to have a
career in music in the future. This is far better than to use the
old cliche, 'Give your child the gift of music' or to stress the
features of the piano. It is important to mention features
because people must know what they are buying but the trigger
that makes them buy is always the benefit not the feature.
Sales psychology also takes advantage of human individuality.
Everyone likes to feel special. So the smart entrepreneur would
make his prospect feel exclusive. That is why Internet or Software Marketers
present a product in 'beta' version that is in pre-launch and
tell their prospects they are the exclusive few who get to
purchase it. But after sales for the beta version is successful,
the product will be released to the general public, often at a
higher price. So three elements, the timing (it is pre-launch),
the version (beta) and the price (cheaper) combine powerfully to
create the sense of exclusiveness.
In an increasingly competitive business environment, smart
entrepreneurs utilize sales psychology triggers to get their
prospects to buy from them. Therefore in whatever you sell,
always use as many of these elements of sales psychology as
possible.
There is a major point to remember here, especially since you are a Christian Entrepreneur. Never, no matter what, never lie. That seems obvious, right? Well, Satan loves to tempt us and most entrepreneurs, Christian or not, can be tempted to close the sale no matter what. If the economy is tight and every dollar counts even more then Satan will tempt you to do whatever it takes to make the sale. Don’t give in, stay strong in your faith of God.
Luke 12:15 (New International Version)
15Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."
Be strong my Brothers and Sisters. Walk in the light. Serve your
customer as you want to be served and God will bless your endeavors.
Brett Tadlock
Christian Business and Life Coach
Tadlock’s Art of Business
http://www.tadlockart.com |
