People Don't Care How Much You Know
Until They Know How Much You Care
This is a post from Paperdolls.Today, under the section “Sales Techniques.” The intent of this section is to help people, particularly the vulnerable such as sexual assault survivors, to understand if and when they might be manipulated by sales techniques. If you wish to unsubscribe or subscribe to any sections of Paperdolls.Today, please follow Substack’s instructions.
Sales Technique:
People Don't Care How Much You Know Until They Know How Much You Care
Therefore a sales professional must convince their prospect or potential buyer that they care. This is easy for sales professionals with integrity, because they do care. For others, the “caring” is contrived. Hopefully, being aware of this premise will help you determine such nefarious manipulation.
The most important sales technique is to get people emotionally involved, and then give them the facts to justify their purchase. In my introductory post of this section, I provided the cliche that sales/marketing organizations:
"People buy emotionally and justify it with logic."
Building on that premise, a sales person can expedite that emotional experience for the buyer by convincing the buyer that the sales person cares about them (the buyer, AKA you).
This taps into a fundamental need of every human on this planet. Karen Fisher1 explained it to me years ago when she said, "I really think people just want to be okay." A good therapist can support and help their clients/patients to achieve that status. An exceptional therapist tapping into the core strengths of a willing patient/client can support that client to healing and freedom.
This circles back to the sales techniques. Typically sales guys and gals aren't highly trained with higher levels of abstraction. At best, they love the products they are selling and want to share the joy. At worst, they are manipulators selling non-existent products to try to alleviate the gullible public's pain and fear of not being well. Think snake oil salesmen.2
For sales/marketing folks with integrity, establishing the connection that one cares about their prospect is easy--simply because the sales person with integrity does care.
An easy way for you to determine if a sales person cares is to ask questions of the person assisting you in the purchase: Ask if they own it. Ask how they use it.
An "assembly line" sales team working in an organized and canned sales firm has pre-scripted responses (many now use AI to generate typical objections and responses). Listen to the response and ask another question. If you are sensing a prequalified script, more poignant questions can start cracking their prepackaged verbiage.
Be aware of yourself. If you really want to buy this product or belief, that's okay and probably why you are having this interaction. Just don't be swayed or manipulated by something or someone who really doesn't care and simply wants to make a commission--or keep their job.
In summary, always tune into yourself. Pause.3 You can even leave the situation or person and "think about it"
My long term therapist.
Typically sales guys/gals don't want you to take a break and think about it. Because the prospect (you in this example) doesn't come back. However, if you do take a break and come back, then you know it's something you really want or need. Taking a break and thinking about it, can help give you the assurance that you aren't being manipulated.