From The Psychology of Selling, by Brian Tracy

On Motivation……

To be properly motivated and driven you have have to have a direct mental connection with the reasons you want your goals.   So write a New To-Do List.   But this one is SPECIAL.

This To-Do List is the not your list of things you need to do.   It’s a list of the reasons you want your goals.   Really think about WHY you want the previous goals you set and are pursuing.

Do a special process for really tapping into this called a Values Elicitation.    Start by thinking of something you want, then ask yourself “Why do you want that?”.   Then take the answer to that question and ask “Why do you want that?   What will THAT bring to your life?”   And again, if you have the answer to THAT in your life – what would that give you?  What is that a larger piece or example of?”   And do this until you either get into a loop or don’t have a smaller divisible piece.

This values elicitation gives you the answer to what you REALLY want in your life.   And you should make your decisions based on whether or not your actions are congruent with you core value.

Now you can start making smaller, action-based To Do lists to move you closer to your values and true goals.

Go an associate yourself with people who also want – and are getting – what you want.   If your employment or employer isn’t aligned, it might be time to look at other options.   Just because you look, doesn’t mean you have to take.   It’s a big world and it might be worth seeing if there is a better fit.

On Selling….

Most people buy many things in search of social recognition.   These purchases are to communicate to people how we want others to see us. People don’t buy based on logic.   They buy based off emotions, and justify with logic.

So REALLY LISTEN to your customers.  Not just listening to see what to say next.   Find what they actually want out of this transaction.   What is their value and don’t assume it’s always the same.

I once heard a great example of this:  One guy might want to buy a Mercedes to communicate that he’s successful.   The next guy might want to buy a Honda to communicate that he’s smart and wise and makes better decisions.

Gain the trust of customers by listening to THEIR needs.   When we buy, we give up a quantifiable amount of freedom and financial security away to obtain a product.    They buy because they have EMOTIONAL ANTICIPATION of owning and using.   The sales person has gotten them to visualize having the product well enough that they have an emotional connection to having it.   Then they want to know that it’s safe.   Once you have done those things – you will get a sale.

I especially like the “Emotional Anticipation” part of that.   Guess that’s why I put it in caps.  haha.   Think about that in context of your business a little bit.

If I was selling cars, I would give a longer test drive.   Ask them how it would look in their driveway or garage.  Get them thinking about seeing it there.   Ask if any of their friends have the car.  So they think of their friends or family being envious.

If was a Realtor and I had customers who were narrowing down their house choices I would do a house test drive.   Maybe schedule a time to go to the houses for a longer walk through.   Maybe eat lunch and hang out for a while.   That way they can visualize living in each and go with the one that feels the best.

If I was selling credit repair (www.EverythingCreditRepair.com) I would have to realize that I’m an intangible product.   So I would have to get the customer to associate “good credit” with the house they want.   And the car they want.   And the car after that.  And the house after that.  Unfortunately, I might have to build on the embarrassment of people seeing their bad credit to get some people to take action.

Same with mortgages.   People don’t want a “refinance.”   That sounds confusing and a lot of paper work.   They don’t even want a lower payment.   They want the things they can buy, or the financial security of having more money in the budget.

How can you create Emotional Anticipation in your business??

** The values elicitation part of this post was not in the book and added after the fact because it seemed on topic.