“Men must be taught as if you taught them not,
And things unknown proposed as things forgot.”
Let the customer feel that he is buying, not that you are selling to him.
Professor Hugo Münsterberg, in an article on the psychology of salesmanship, said: “If the customer knows exactly what he wants, and has made up his mind, no suggestion is needed.” It is then a case of letting well enough alone. An ill-timed or negative suggestion may spoil a sale, as in the following instance.
A farmer once went to town to buy a self-binder. He looked at one binder and was so well satisfied that he was about to buy it. At this point the salesman said: “I’ll tell you, this binder has given us very little trouble.”
Now, this farmer wasn’t looking for a binder that was going to give him even a little trouble. He had troubles of his own. That one suggestion scared him away. He went out and bought a binder from a salesman who said, “This binder has given us excellent satisfaction.”
In the offices of a New York business house there is a quotation framed, which serves the purpose of a very effective suggestion. This house is in the paper business, and, naturally, they wish to impress upon all buyers the value of using good quality paper. Here is the quotation which, I am sure, has suggested to many customers the advisability of buying good quality paper: “A printer recently uttered this truth: ‘Printing doesn’t improve the paper any, but, for a certainty, good paper adds considerably to the appearance and worth of printing.’”
Psychology in selling is in reality only a new name for the principles which good business men, expert salesmen, have used in all times. Diplomacy, tact, cheerfulness, the good-will habit, and the suggestion of confidence—all these form an important part of business psychology.