Home Sales and Negotiation The Science of Selling

The Science of Selling
Read in 19 min.
Listen in 24 min.
Learn the key ideas of the book by David Hoffeld

The Science of Selling

The scientific strategy to close a sale

After years of debating the best selling strategies, David Hoffeld has come to the conclusion that selling is not an innate ability: it is a science. To be successful, you need to study how the buyer's brain works, how they make their decisions, and how to influence them. Inspired by countless studies in the areas of psychology and neuroscience, through his book The Science of Selling, his personalised courses, and his sales consultancy for large and small businesses, Hoffeld has managed to create the perfect formula to ensure success in sales without having to rely on luck.

The Science of Selling
Read in 19 min.
Listen in 24 min.
IDEA CHIAVE 1/14

If you want to sell more, you have to think about the buyer

The idea of applying a scientific method to the world of sales starts with a simple but fundamental assumption: in order to be successful, sellers should always keep the buyer at the forefront of their mind. Simply put, the reason many salespeople struggle, in America and around the world, is that they don't use science to do their jobs. They proceed by trial and error, and repeat formulas that have worked in the past, even if they have only circumstantial value.

In fact, many salespeople, and their employers, see selling as an innate attitude, as something “you just know how to do," without even having defined their customer. Instead, it is actually a skill that can be acquired and refined over time, and which, by applying scientific methods that have been proven to be effective, you can use to improve your sales method and therefore your results.

Science can prove conclusively that selling is a skill that can be trained, like so many others, and that some sales fail simply because of inadequate methods. For example, it is assumed that the best salespeople are outgoing in nature, while science has shown that the salesperson's character has little or nothing to do with their success. Similarly, the methods for initiating a sales interview, conducting negotiations, and closing deals are still modelled on old standards, no longer suited to today's competitive world and above all, unsupported by science.

  

The key ideas of "The Science of Selling"

01.
If you want to sell more, you have to think about the buyer
02.
To learn to sell, we need to learn to use science to influence the person in front of us
03.
The best way to sell is to guess how people buy
04.
The Six Whys can be overcome using scientific methods
05.
To ensure a successful sale, you need to use the client’s emotions
06.
Asking questions is a science – and the salesperson should be fully aware of that
07.
Studying the primary buying motivators can give the seller an immense advantage
08.
The importance of knowing your value and being able to convey it
09.
Neutralise competitors with inoculation theory
10.
What to do if the customer still has objections
11.
The importance of commitment when making a sale
12.
Keep it simple, use anchors, mirroring, and stories to win the client over
13.
Quotes
14.
Take-home message
 
 
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