Deji Atoyebi — April 27, 2017 Let me guess: you’re managing a business and wish to rake in more profits than you’re currently doing. But there’s a little problem: you haven’t gotten to wrap your head around increasing sales.
Chances are also high that you’ve learned and used persuasive online marketing techniques that haven’t made much of an impact; persuasive techniques such as:
Creating Urgency
Portraying a product’s availability as bound by a time frame, thereby inciting FOMO – fear of missing out – in the minds of prospects, so as to make them waste no time in purchasing
Creating Scarcity:
Making it seem as though a product is limited in supply and only early-birds would have the opportunity to enjoy it.
Mind you, these and similar psychological hacks do work, but they aren’t silver bullets in themselves. So, when you can’t have any more of persuasive techniques that have proven ineffective in a context, you need to try something different. This article will show you four ways to sell more by using less EXPLICIT persuasion. They are:
1. Be Loved:
Allow me to digress a bit. Many years ago, political psychologists revealed that electorates tend to project their own attitudes onto candidates they like and project disagreeable attitudes onto candidates they dislike. Consequently, they (electorates) rationalize their voting decisions based on these projections. What does have to do with sales, you ask?
Well, it turns out that people tend to behave in similar ways when faced with situations that involve choosing from a set of alternatives. Similar to political behavior is the way by which people form conceptions (right or wrong) about businesses and use those conceptions to shape their behavior towards them.
fMRI neuro-imagery claims that emotions (experiences and personal feelings), rather than information (brand attributes, features and facts), are primarily used by customers when evaluating a brand. A study also states that the emotion of “likeability” is the measure most predictive of whether an advertisement will increase a brand’s sales, a study revealed.
Thus, to increase sales in the long term, you’ve got to start thinking about how to endear your business to its prospects. I mean, let go for a second the desperation to hike sales overnight and discover how to become highly popular and likable.
In this age of online inbound marketing, one veritable way to gain the love and respect of prospects is by providing free value.
2. Portray Product Exclusiveness:
People buy luxury goods to look and feel good. As a smart marketer or a regular business person, you can capitalize on this emotion by making products seem exclusive. This is a psychological hack that has been proven to work.
TicketBud, in an article on how ticket sales can be maximized, termed this strategy as “getting more money by selling less”. It had this to say:
“Rather than honing all your efforts to selling all general admission tickets, why not advocate the sale of VIP or premium tickets? These tickets are typically limited and offer special promotions. By catering your focus to selling these tickets, you will generate more revenue by selling less. You’d be surprised at the number of people who would commit to buying a VIP seating. Buyers may find that the benefits of spending a little extra can guarantee an enhanced experience.”
3. Have a Watchword and Live by it.
Ever heard of ‘30 minutes or free’? Dominos is a typical example of a business that created a watchword and lived by it. Back in the day, this phrase was viewed as a good enough value proposition. Thus, even though Dominos did not make the best of pizzas when starting out, it was loved for keeping its word (and being unique), most of the time.
You can learn from Dominos that, to sell more, you should find a means to set yourself apart from the competition. What are some eye-popping values your business can offer? Think deep and make them a reality.
4. Personalize, Personalize!
By personalization, I don’t mean sending bulk emails that are customized to include the first name of individual recipients. I’m talking about real personalization, here.
I recently signed up for a free service on a website and forgot about it. Day’s passed by, then I got an email from a representative asking why I hadn’t logged in, and offering assistance if needed. It was so obvious that the email was meant for me particularly, and not a regular spam.
As you’d expect, the show of concern got me – soon I felt compelled to visit the site regularly.
My point: you’d be grabbing attention by being less aggressive about your marketing campaign and proving to prospective customers that you’re genuinely interested in catering to their specific needs.
Another great benefit of personalizing a prospect’s experience with your business is that it takes you a step towards being loved (remember bullet point 1?).
Wrap Up
Increasing sales doesn’t always have to be difficult. The problem lies with businesses that fail to understand the complexities behind consumer behavior.
While there are lots of psychological hacks that actually work in turbocharging sales, not all are right in certain contexts. You’ve got to study your prospects to determine what works for you.
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