Sales Tip: Influence, Don't Just Inform

One of the biggest hindrances to selling success is being informative rather than persuasive. Information overwhelms us. Your role as a salesperson is to make the available information actionable for your buyers. To do that, you'll need to use all 'Five Prongs of Persuasion':

1. Word Choice: Positive, specific, precise words.
2. Rhetoric: Powerful phrasing and graceful grammar that pack a powerful punch on a buyer's memory.
3. Emotion: Feelings of pleasure, fear, safety, discomfort, pride, acceptance, rejection or prestige.
4. Logic: Reasoning and conclusions drawn from facts, information, opinions or ideas.
5. Trustworthiness: Trust in the principles, values and integrity of an individual or organization.

To persuade, you need to know and use the best words, to establish your own and your organization's credibility, and to identify the best strategies with each buyer -- whether that be primarily an appeal to emotion or an appeal to logic or a combination of both.