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Salesmanship Art of crafting the deal.
The art of crafting the deal
Everyone is born a salesman.
“But I’m not into sales…” No, that is not true. We are born a salesman or woman since we are a baby. We cry to get the attention of our parents. We convince our grade school friends to come to our parties during our birthdays. We ask others to go out on a date with us. Even when you recommend a movie to a friend, you are selling. So since we are all salesmen and women, how does it relate to networking? In any networking event or situation, you are usually ‘selling’ a part of yourself for something in return. We sell ourselves when we convince others about our accomplishments. At the end of the day, you want the other party to agree with what you have to say. The art of crafting a deal is closely linked with the power of persuasion and how to handle it without damaging the ego of the other party. Here are a few tips on how to get the other party to agree with you: - Don’t act too forceful, aggressive or use high pressure tactics.
A person convinced against his will is of the same opinion still. When you force them to agree, they will only nod externally but you didn’t gain anything. Do not resort to ridicule, character attack, threats or anything that will cause the other party to feel uncomfortable. The human mind usually rejects ideas that are inherently foreign or ideas that goes against the grain of their thinking so you must learn to appeal to their subconscious mind rather than what they say on the surface. - Agree with them initially.
Don’t try and reject their opinion outright. Remember, appealing to the subconscious mind is very important and no matter how good your argument may sound, the moment you disagree with someone outright, their minds will clam up. Once you agree with them, you can start to steer the ‘argument’ towards your favor. - Don’t be too quick to answer back
Always leave a gap of silence before you reply back. This is crucial because the other party will respect your opinion more when you don’t fight so hard to talk without listening to their opinion. At least let them know that their opinion matters before countering their argument. - Find points of agreement rather than points of disagreement
If you focus on points of disagreement, you will wind up getting into a blood bath rather than a mutual understanding. Don’t insist on winning the argument every time. - Use a third party, especially if the third party is a credible source.
When justifying facts, learn to refer to the words of others rather than beginning your sentence with ‘I’ all the time. This is a softer approach and it won’t make you appear as a boastful or arrogant person - Always give them a back door
Even after you finally convince someone that you are right or you get a person to agree with you, a person who is strongly opinionated or proud may not concede even when they are finally persuaded of the ‘truth’ At times like these you must always give them a back door of escape and save them the embarrassment. Let them know that initially you were of their former opinion before presented the facts. Now that you’ve learned the truth… this is one method to save your prospect’s ‘face’. The other way is to ‘blame’ the source that has led the other party to hold that opinion and tell them, “If I were in your position without the information, I too would believe as you did. But now…”
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