7 ways to incorporate persuasion into your sales tactics

In the article, Mastering the Psychology of Persuasion, Russell Riendeau, Ph.D., said: "Every decision you make is a result of some form of persuasion infiltrating your emotions to influence your behaviors and thinking. The more elements of persuasion you become familiar with, the better you'll be able to judge which approach is the right one for the selling situation."

Here are 7 ways to incorporate persuasion into your sales tactics:

1. Brochures and Website material. Use words and images that elicit stronger emotional appeals, in addition to the practicality of your product or service. Value is critical, and an emotional appeal to the real cause of the pain the customer would feel by not buying your product is the true target of your sales pitch.
2. Provide the data. Saying "We care about our customers" is weak. Everybody says that. Give facts: 85.3 percent of our customers are from referrals! Now that's compelling. Show how much people save, earn, smile, laugh, or relax when they buy from you.
3. Dates don't matter. "We've been serving customers for 54 years!" So what? Longevity in business doesn't carry the same weight it used to. Yahoo! and Google, for example are less than 15 years old, but are as well-known companies as GE and Microsoft. Persuade with a compelling advantage.
4. Match marketing materials with your sales team's ability. A great-looking, emotionally charged brochure must fit the salesperson making the presentation, or else it'll flop. If your salespeople can't say the words that are hard to speak, then the message is lost and sales falter. Train your team to present the data, the emotion, and the benefits in a way that is assertive, close to the heart, and rewards them to make the sale.
5. Train your sales team to avoid the very tactics of persuasion they're being trained to embrace. The fear of job loss and stress of customers saying "no" in a recessionary climate is both stressful and demotivating. Contract with a proven trainer to teach your team to learn how to modify their internal and external behaviors in order to build resilience to the negativity. A better-than-industry average commission plan and measurable goals with benchmarks aren't bad ideas, either.
6. Explore ways to imbed your product or service into the typical habits and behavior patterns of your potential customers. Example: If you sell Website development, send examples/data to show how others are updating their sites to capture new sales with new technology. Bankers love data and low risk; focus your pitch to show less risk when buying your service.
7. Tie your sale into a common theme that month, year or decade to enhance recall, retention, and common ground. People join and are part of associations to feel part of the tribe'--to gain access to special knowledge. Your ability to allow them the "secrets" is a powerful tool.