Home Sales and Negotiation The Psychology of Selling

The Psychology of Selling
Read in 23 min.
Listen in 28 min.
Learn the key ideas of the book by Brian Tracy

The Psychology of Selling

How to take your sales to the next level

In The Psychology of Selling: Increase Your Sales Faster and Easier Than You Ever Thought Possible,Brian Tracy assesses the techniques and methods you can use to take your sales to a higher level, whatever the product: services or goods, tangible or intangible. The book not only offers exercises and insights based on his personal experiences, but also mental repetition techniques and exercises from the field of psychology, that can help you to become one of the best in your field, as well as improve your quality of life.

The Psychology of Selling
Read in 23 min.
Listen in 28 min.
IDEA CHIAVE 1/12

You have to know how to differentiate yourself if you want to see a real difference between your income, and those of your competitors

For many years, being a salesperson has been viewed with suspicion. Underestimating what it takes to work in a field such as that of sales, irrespective of the type of product or service being sold, is a very serious mistake to make.

Salespeople are among the most vital and essential people in any type of business. People were embarrassed to say that they were in charge of sales, and there was a strange idea of sales being a second-rate occupation, however these attitudes are quickly changing.

Now, hundreds of universities offer courses for people who want to become professional salespeople. Furthermore, the fact that sales offers competent sales people enviable economic stability, regardless of how the economy is performing overall, means that a career in sales, more than any other discipline, is enabling people to get the most coveted positions in their field. So much so, that 74% of America's “self-made millionaires” are entrepreneurs, and people who have founded and built their own business.

Furthermore, 5% of self-made millionaires are salespeople who have worked for other companies all their lives: in the field of sales, there is no limit to how much you can earn.

In sales, you only need to be a little bit better than your competition, as well as know how to differentiate yourself, in order to make an enormous difference between your income and those of your competition. The factor that makes the most difference is what is going on inside the mind of the salesperson, not where they come from, nor who their family may bed, nor where they were educated.

You have to learn to tap into your potential more, as it is estimated that, in general, people only use 10% of their potential. This will help you to amp up your performance, and push your career to the next level.

If your goal is to be in the top 10% of the best salespeople, the first thing you need to do is to understand who is already in that percentile, and try to follow their example. 

On a psychological level, you must always keep in mind that the idea you have of yourself directly influences your professional performance. This is particularly pertinent if you work in sales. You must therefore change the self-concept that you have regarding income (the beliefs that you have about yourself), and expand your comfort zone to be able to earn what you want, without ever feeling like you are having to scrape the bottom of the barrel just to find the energy to go on, or use up all your free time.

To increase your income, you need to visualise your goals, so that you can achieve them in the best possible way. Furthermore, when first starting out with this visualisation technique, you must ensure that you are setting yourself realistic and achievable goals concerning what you want your income to be. 

  

The key ideas of "The Psychology of Selling"

01.
You have to know how to differentiate yourself if you want to see a real difference between your income, and those of your competitors
02.
Fear of failure and fear of rejection are normal: it takes courage to overcome them, and become the best version of yourself
03.
Emotions are contagious: in order to successfully conclude a sale, you must focus on positive emotions
04.
The desire to earn and the fear of losing are enough to move any buying instinct
05.
Everything matters: in sales, attention to detail is more important than ever
06.
Using creativity to identify the best sales opportunities is key
07.
“The person who asks questions has control”: asking questions shows that you care about the customer's needs
08.
Manners are a salesperson’s best calling card
09.
Your sales tactics need to change according to the type of customer you have in front of you
10.
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”: integrity (especially in the field of sales) is sacred
11.
Quotes
12.
Take-home message
 
 
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