You don’t have to be a psychologist to master the art of sales, but there IS a psychology to effective selling. That’s because choosing whether or not to buy isn’t just an intellectual exercise. To the contrary, buying is emotional.

As a salesperson, you need to be 100% in tune with the emotional status of your prospective client. The first step is to understand the different emotions potential buyers can experience during the sales process.

You may immediately get the feeling that your prospect is excited about what you offer and eager to sign up and get on board.

Unfortunately, the emotional states prospective buyers go through are often less than positive. Each prospect brings their own negative experiences, baggage and reservations to the table, making the sale process  a seemingly complex obstacle course you need to navigate to achieve success.

While prospects are feeling their negative emotions, many are subconsciously hoping you’ll succeed in erasing those less than pleasant emotions. Buyers often feel anxiety about the cost of services and nervous that they’ll make the wrong decision. It’s your job to show them that the value of the service exceeds the cost and present the many benefits your service provides the prospect, effectively showing them that proceeding is effectively the only right decision.

Your prospect can be annoyed at the idea of having to spend money on a service to solve a problem that previous service providers have failed to solve in the past. It’s the seller’s responsibility to explain how your approach and the quality of your service is both different and superior to your competitors.

They may be under tremendous pressure as busy business entrepreneurs or from partners or family members. As the seller, it’s your responsibility to deliver a sales presentation that takes the pressure off! For the inexperienced seller, this is no easy feat.

As a woman with decades of sales experience, I can tell you this: Your prospect doesn’t want to feel the gamut of negative feelings they feel.

Entrepreneurs and business owners need to learn to put their prospect at ease so that they’re open and receptive enough to hear what you have to say and see the value in what you offer. If you can succeed in putting your prospect at ease and guide them strategically through the sales presentation, you won’t constantly hear be told “sorry, I’m not interested” or “I have to think it over.”

So, if customers don’t want to feel negative, how do they want to feel? And how do they need to feel to make a purchase decision?

Before a prospect parts with their money, they want – and need – to feel that you respect them and appreciate their time. They need to feel that you view them as both important and intelligent. Prospects need to feel comfortable and relaxed with you and safe and secure in what you’re offering.

Using expert sales strategies, you need to get your prospect over their negative feelings to a point where they’re excited about joining your program and happy to see the light at the end of the tunnel to whatever problem they’re facing.

Stay tuned for next week’s article where I’ll explore HOW to ensure your prospect feels the positive emotions they need to experience to say YES.