If there is any one secret of success, it lies in the ability to understand the other person’s point of view and see things from his eyes as well as from your own.
Action springs out of what we fundamentally desire and the best piece of advice which can be given to would-be persuaders, whether in business, in home, in school, in politics, is: first, discover in the other person an eager want. The person that can do this has the whole world on his side. The person who cannot, walks a lonely path.
If you want someone to do something, give him or her what they want. They don’t care what you want; their only concern is achieving their wants and desires. When you go fishing, you bait the hook with what the fish wants, don’t you. The fish couldn’t care less what you want to put on the hook; it only cares what it wants to eat. If you want to catch fish, bait the hook to suit the fish. Dealing with people is exactly the same. People are only interested in what they want. They don’t care what you or I want. The only way in the world to influence another person is to find out what they want and then show them how to get it.
Everything you or I have ever done in our lives was done for just one reason; we wanted to do it. You might be thinking that you were forced to do something. It might seem that way, but you chose to do one thing to avoid another. In other words, even though your choices might have been limited, you wanted to do one thing instead of another. In the world of sales, when you put your efforts into trying to persuade someone to do something, you should stop and ask yourself this question. “How can I make this person want to do it?” Finding a “want “ or a “need” in the other person is much easier and more successful in the world of selling than trying to cause someone to do something you want. No one cares what you want! People only care about one thing and that is, what they want. When you promote your agenda, it is similar to pushing a rope on a flat surface, which can be frustrating and ineffective. Discovering what the other person needs and wants is like pulling a rope, which is easier and more effective.
Every day millions of salespeople are pounding the pavement, tired, discouraged and underpaid. Why? Because they are thinking of just one thing – what they want. They don’t understand this one fundamental truth. Prospects are only interested in one thing and that one thing is what they want. They don’t care that a salesperson wants to make a sale in order to pay the mortgage, put food on the table, gas in the car or to put shoes on their children’s feet. People don’t want to be sold, but they do want to solve their problems. If salespeople can help other people see how their products and services can solve problems, then they don’t need to sell, people will want to buy.
Salespeople might struggle their entire career trying to persuade prospects to buy when all they need to do is understand the prospect’s problems and needs and then show them how the product or service will solve their problem. Once they see your product as a solution, they will gladly buy. It is all in your approach, just like moving a rope along a flat surface. You can try to push it, similar to focusing on your own needs by trying to sell someone something, or you can pull the rope, which is analogous to focusing on the needs of the prospect and showing them how your product will solve their problem. Instead of struggling through your sales career by focusing on yourself, take the easier and more successful approach of focusing on the other person and solving their problems. When the prospect is happy, you are both happy and you will be able to pay the mortgage, put food on the table, gas in the car, put shoes on your children’s feet and build a strong financial future.
