Don’t Tell People What To Do

In David Mattson’s Book “The Sandler Rules”, I found Rule #27 particularly interesting. The Sandler Rule #27 states, “You can’t sell anybody anything – they must discover they want it”. What Mattson means by this is that you as the salesman generally are not going to be able to convince a person to buy something. In fact, when we do try and convince someone to buy something it often makes them want that product or service even less! Mattson uses the idea of a mother telling her child to eat their vegetables. The more the mother talks and tries to get the child to eat the veggies the less the child wants to.

So how exactly do you, as the salesmen, cope with this problem? The best thing to do is simply to not tell your prospect what to do. Often times, when selling, salesman do this much more then they even realize. A better way to approach things is by asking questions and relating third party stories that will help the prospect see the advantages of the product or service. When the prospect hears these third party stories and understands the potential benefits of the product or service, they own that. That feeling of ownership then makes them feel more in control of the situation and could cause them to be more inclined to buy.

I find this interesting because this rule is so true in that most people highly dislike being told what, and what not, to do. By approaching the situation this way, and giving people more power over the situation, it makes them feel more comfortable, and puts them into a better mood to actually buy something.