Why people are hard to sell to!

How much thought do you give to the words you use when pitching for business or when selling your ideas to a colleague. Go on be honest!    How often do you enthuse with total gusto but choose reasons and express your argument in terms that you would find convincing. In other words sell it as it would have been successfully sold to you.  I was reminded of this by some recent research into group motivations to tackle a particular task. The quick summary of this research was that in any cross section of people you will find half of them regarding completion of the task as the key driver whilst the other half would be motivated by getting fun out of it.

I work with a couple of guys who illustrate this difference very clearly. Present an idea for them to consider and you get two reactions. One is more interested in how it might improve control, or reduce costs. He asks a lot of questions. The other is more interested in how it might deliver marketing advantages or added value.  He tells me how he sees it working. One likes to carefully read through back-up information and maybe even create an excel spread sheet before making up his mind. Give his partner the supporting papers and he will push them aside with instant boredom. He wants to talk about it and hear how it will work.
And that is the reality of selling and persuasion. People are different. How we would go about deciding on a particular idea is not how others will do it. Roughly speaking, 3 out of 4 people will by varying degrees of difference have their own reasons and their own ways of deciding.
So don't rush to present what you want to hear. Take some time to listen and learn what it is that they want to hear.

For more helpful tips and advice on how to influence and persuade others visit http://www.persuadability.co.uk/