113: Sales Psychology: Expand Your Client Base by Understanding what Your Prospect is Thinking!

Sales Psychology: Ideas for Expanding Your Client Base by Understanding what Your Prospect is Thinking!

You’re sitting in a sales meeting and you are looking across the table at a potential client. In your brain, you wonder, “what are they thinking?” What is in their head? When your prospect isn't saying anything, we fill that space by talking. Often, we've talked ourselves right out of the sale without knowing.

Why don’t we give that prospect time to respond? Give them time to respond to objections and clarifying questions. These are classic buying signals. In this week's episode, Ursula Mentjes sheds some light on sales psychology and gives you ideas on how to expand your client base.

Part One of ‘Sales Psychology: Ideas for Expanding Your Client Base by Understanding what Your Prospect is Thinking!’

If your prospect isn't saying anything, they just want to know if this is right for them. You simply have to help them figure it out. Often, we make up stories about what they might be thinking. 

We have to give them time to think. When they're sitting across from you, most of the time they're not thinking about you. When they're out in the world, our prospects aren't thinking about us. They're thinking about themselves. They're thinking about their challenges in their business in life, their dreams, and their goals. 

“The fastest way to build rapport with your clients is to make them feel you genuinely care for them.” — Ursula Mentjes (20:12-20:44)

The reality is that nine out of ten people are prospects. They're not going to call us most of the time. They've got tons of stuff going on in their lives. Be prepared to create the space for them to think further. You should have three goals in mind: get a definite yes or definite no, or a next step on the calendar. If you're not getting those three things, then there's something that you got to tweak a little bit. 

Psychology is defined as the science of mind and behavior. What are people thinking about? How are they acting during the sales process? In sales, we have to understand how prospects are thinking and feeling. Otherwise, we're not going to be able to help them. It can be so easy to get in our heads and get stuck in that sales process and start to talk a lot. We need to take time to pull back and give our prospects the gift of silence.

Your job as a sales professional or entrepreneur is to guide them to the best decision. The first thing that they're thinking about is whether or not they like you. We tend to make a first impression about somebody, and that impression lasts for a long time unless we change it.

Think about the first impression that you're making. How do you hope that people see you? Are you showing the best version of you? That most confident version of you? Give them the best opportunity to decide how they feel about you. If they don't like you, they're not going to trust you.

If you can make your client feel like you're someone who's confident about resolving issues or meeting needs, they’ll want to accept your offer. They're going to think that your offer is a perfect fit for them.

Part Two of ‘Sales Psychology: Ideas for Expanding Your Client Base by Understanding what Your Prospect is Thinking!’

Let's say you've made it to the second level. You've established a connection with your client. The next thing you need to help them figure out is if they're willing to make an investment for whatever you're offering. To build rapport faster and better, you have to care. You have to care about the product or service that you're selling and how it's going to help them.

If you don't care and you're just transactional, you won't last long in the sales industry. Or even as an entrepreneur. It's tough when you don't care about what you're selling. People will always feel it whether someone genuinely cares for them or not.

You can show your client how much you care by first listening to the details of their message. You can make recommendations about things that they don't know about. Give them multiple options to choose from. Repeat the essential points of what they said, if possible. Ensure both of you are on the same page. In the world of psychology, it's called active listening. 

“You must be confident that you can solve your prospect's problem.” —  Ursula Mentjes (23:29-23:32)

Most of the time, salespeople tend to jump in and talk continuously. They aren’t asking open-ended questions. Be an active listener, back off and give them space. You must be confident that you can solve your prospect's problem. If you don't think you can solve their problem, you're wasting time. Think about your happy clients, either in this company or a past one. Think about people who ask for your advice in your industry. You've got to pull from that to grow your confidence. 

People buy confidence. Your prospects buy confidence. You buy confidence from someone else because you believe that they can solve your problem or meet your needs. Exude confidence but not in an arrogant way. The way you talk and your body language reflects your level of confidence.

How to Connect

Ursula Mentjes is the founder of Sales Coach Now, as well as a Sales Expert, Inspirational Speaker, Author and Certified Sales Coach who specializes in NLP to help her clients double and triple their sales. Sales Coach Now delivers a unique approach to sales training and coaching designed for ultimate retention and achievement. 

Discover how to transform limiting beliefs, make powerful shifts with intention, and authentically serve (sell) your clients with my free pdf, “6 Secrets to Doubling Your Sales! www.salescoachnow.com/gift 

Also, Ursula would love to partner with you at your next event, conference, or sales training session. If you’re interested in coming to Sales Camp, that’s her two-day live course then, you may find out more information here: https://www.salescoachnow.com/sales-camp/.