When you try to persuade people to agree with your ideas, how do you begin? Sales training, often includes explanations about product, organization of the company, perhaps a little background on major accounts, but rarely is any attention paid to the part of selling that is truly its most important factor: persuasion. The ability to persuade people to agree with your ideas and propositions will bring you great success in sales, in relationships, and in life. It is a most important skill that must be acquired by all those who hope to yield great influence and succeed in the selling game.

In my many years in the sales profession, I observed human behavior, a subject that fascinates me greatly. I learned that a deep understanding of people’s motivations is perhaps one of the most powerful tools any sales professional can use to persuade others. While I am ever a student of this subject, my experiences so far led me to record a process that created repeatable and predictable sales success throughout my sales career.

Take the following example: Jane, a new sales rep at a large local daily newspaper, has to offer advertising space in a special promotional magazine to her new list of accounts. When she beings her pitch, she does so with a less than persuasive set of details about the content of the new magazine. Ever the detail oriented and practical type, she diligently presents an impressive set of reasons why this new promotional magazine is perfect for the season and talks about why the average reader will be interested to read the magazine. Though she put a great deal of effort into creating a detailed and well organized pitch, it is far from persuasive.

Jane approached her presentation from her point of view. She focused on issues that were important to her; issues that she

was already interested in and paid little attention to the fact that her accounts may not share her interest. In the dangerous fashion of those who do not consider their customer, she spent a great deal of time and effort creating a presentation in which many of her prospects would loose interest before she could get to the end.

A mental shift was necessary in order to create a presentation that would inspire local business owners to answer her call to action. Instead of focusing her (almost lecture-like) presentation on the style and content of the magazine, she should focus on the only issues that really matter to an advertiser: how many projected readers will the publication get and what kind of response can I expect? At all times, her presentation should be answering the question on the minds of every prospect she sees that day, what is in this for me?

In trying to persuade you must remember that your prospects are always wondering how your proposition will serve them. Approaching a prospect with a formal lecture does not often inspire action because it gives few reasons to act. When you can understand your prospects’ motivations and why they may benefit from following your call to action, you can communicate these benefits in your sales pitch. Approaching your prospects by clearly communicating what is in it for them is more likely to heighten interest in your proposal as well as your closing rate.


Alvin Day is a Sales Training and Personal Empowerment coach who has helped many sales professionals reach and exceed their goals. For more on Alvin Day’s Sales Training tools and resources visit www.theultimatesalesmanual.com.