Opinion: 10 ways to improve results through persuasive talk

Selling is a skill with immense value. Whether selling a product or service to a customer, proposing an idea to a colleague or boss, or even selling knickknacks at a flea market, possessing even basic persuasive communication skills is helpful.

Having spent over four decades in a professional sales career, primarily focused on sales consulting and training, I have witnessed the growing significance of selling across today’s landscape. But selling anything successfully extends beyond generating interest. It also encompasses the power of ideas, relationships and setting oneself apart in a sea of competitors.

Here are 10 principles of persuasive communication. I often feature them in my writing or talks with clients because they work in virtually any setting.

1. Make customers think before you try to have them buy. Customers must think before they buy, and questions make them think. No matter how impressive a talker you may be, people don’t want to feel coerced into buying something. Instead, they want meaningful dialogue, and most people appreciate questions that will prompt them to consider the purchase in a new and beneficial way.
2. Never assume the person you are speaking to is the sole decision-maker. One client invested 14 months calling on someone who claimed to be the sole decision-maker but lost the sale when someone else decided. Identify everyone who can potentially impact your result and establish rapport with them.
3. Customers won’t buy what you sell if how you sell isn’t comfortable. If someone feels uncomfortable with your communication style, pace or how you relate, they aren’t going to feel at ease purchasing from you. Adapt to your customer’s style needs for better results.
4. Don’t get commoditized. When your message blends in with the rest, your offering becomes another faceless item. I told one sales manager that the salesforce was losing to low-price competitors because they weren’t communicating a convincing value message to customers. He agreed, and once everyone was trained to differentiate their value from competitors, it made a big difference in results. If your message isn’t getting through, don’t double everyone’s efforts to sell more. Strengthen the value proposition instead.
5. Establish trust. As you establish credibility, it’s also critical that you develop trust. People buy from those they trust. Building and nurturing more trust will increase sales and foster loyalty.
6. Don’t talk too much and listen hastily. Spend 30% of your time talking and 70% asking intelligent questions and listening carefully. Good listening is mainly about caring to understand someone’s opinions and viewpoints.
7. Make selling totally about your customer. I’ve been coaching the nicest salesperson ever. But his mistake, and it led to disappointing results, is that he thought selling was about getting his product and his message across convincingly. It’s not. Customers buy for their reasons, not yours. Persuasiveness starts with focusing on your customer’s thoughts, feelings, priorities and concerns.
8. Stop “if only” thinking. As a sales coach, I’ve heard too many salespeople complain, “If only I could sell my competitor’s product,” “If only I had a lower price” and “If only I had better accounts to call on.” Sales may be art and science, but it’s also about attitude. Instead of dwelling on what’s out of your control, focus on your solution’s unique advantages and what you can control.
9. Show your enthusiasm. You may have heard the expression “enthusiasm is contagious,” and that’s accurate when it comes to selling. Be passionate and engaging with others, and let your genuine beliefs persuade others. You can’t bore people into buying.
10. Give something extra. One trend I’ve seen in my coaching clients is the number who sell like everyone else: same approach, questions and message. But sameness selling won’t get you or your product’s advantages noticed. Start with bringing noticeable value to every conversation – and stop using a canned pitch or a one-size-fits-all proposal.

Finding the right way to persuade a colleague or a customer can be difficult. You can apply these 10 principles to produce better results.

Consultant, professional speaker and author Mark Holmes is president of Springfield-based Consultant Board Inc. and SalesRevenueCoach.com. He can be reached at
mark@salesrevenuecoach.com.