We’ve all come across the smarmy sales person who leaves us with the strong desire to take a shower after only shaking our hand and we can usually spot them from a distance too.
However sales people are getting better training these days and while we are told it’s all about building relationships nowadays, there are still tricks of the trade being implemented and it is still very much a case of “buyer beware”.
I’ve listed a few of the sales techniques that get implemented regularly and the reason behind them. See if you’ve fallen for any of them.
Fast Action Bonus Offer
– This is for the person who is prepared to sign upon the dotted line NOW!
There is always a sense of urgency about these types of offer, padded with bonuses to get you to sign quickly, along with a sense of scarcity (covered below). These are 
promoted as offers only clever people will take up because they are life’s action-takers and successful go-getters and to be in the elite club you need to ACT NOW!!
The amazing thing is the people who tend to promote these fast action bonuses are also promoters of doing your due diligence.
I’ve signed up for some of these bonuses and got some very good bargains in doing so, however I did it on the third or fourth time it was offered, not the first. I took the time to research the person/company before taking them up on their fabulous offer. There are many others I’ve chosen to pass on.
The ONE TIME Only Offer
– This is the only time we are going to offer this, so when it’s gone, it’s gone!
Lets amend that slightly, when it’s gone it’s gone – this time! We’ll repackage it, possibly rename it and offer it again either later in the year or next year. Or we’ll re-offer it due to popular demand – sound familiar?
There is no way we are going to close down or permanently remove a viable part of our business, we want you to buy it NOW! not in round two of the offer and we are going to use scarcity to motivate your action for fear of being excluded from it.
Available To The First XX Only Offer
– This is the typical scarcity factor which is a huge sales tactic. Humans have a colossal fear of being excluded from the pack and this offer feeds on that fear.
Make it sound that there are only a limited number of places/pieces on these lower priced offers and you activate the greed in them. The want to make sure they get it before it runs out.
I’ve been to events where there has been a surge of people rush to buy things that they had previously said they weren’t interested in once the limited number offer was mentioned.
Just look at the sales in the shops when something is limited, Lidl & Aldi do this really well with some of their offers and people queue up at ridiculously early hours to ensure they get them.
The 100% Money Back Guarantee Offer
– The idea behind it is to make you feel secure about buying from them when you might not have before.
This usually comes with a list of terms and conditions that would make your head spin and leave the seller with a get-out-clause that you hadn’t considered before you signed
up.
The small print is deliberately small so that you won’t take the time to read it before you sign. Watch the face of the person selling to you the next time as you say “just give me twenty minutes to read all of the small print first, you can answer all the questions I’m gonna ask, can’t you?”
That being said, there are more and more companies/individuals that offer the 100% guarantee with a bonus on top, if what they offer does not meet your expectations and they do this because they seriously believe in what they have to offer.
So where do you come on the suckered-cynical scale? Do you get suckered in easily or do you have a healthy dose of cynicism to make you stop and consider before you buy? How do you incorporate these offers into your sales in a way that is genuine?
