How Sales Managers Use the Magic of Persuasion to Drive Sales

Most of our buying decisions are influenced by the power of persuasion. We often walk into a store with a specific purchase in mind, only to leave with additional items or even a product from a brand we hadn’t initially considered. Have you ever wondered how this happens? What drives us to explore new products or switch from our go-to brands? It’s all about persuasion.

Persuasion is the art of convincing someone to embrace something new or to think differently. In the business world, it’s a crucial element in how we interact with customers and, ultimately, in making sales.

Sales and marketing are two sides of the same coin when it comes to achieving success. Sales managers wield persuasion to turn potential customers’ interests into concrete action. At the same time, marketing creates the foundation by crafting messages that resonate and draw in the right audience. When sales and marketing collaborate, they create a powerful synergy—marketing attracts leads, and sales, through the art of persuasion, transforms those leads into loyal customers. Together, they drive sales to new heights.

Formula for Successful Sales Persuasion

With businesses operating in extremely dynamic ecosystems and catering to highly knowledgeable and aware customers, sales function just doesn’t remain a mere act of convincing and floating the newer products and services in the market. Sales and its allied act of persuasion are more geared towards relationship building with the customer through a mechanism of constant conversation and feedback acknowledgement. Persuasive techniques applied these days are backed by a lot of psychological and socio-cultural study. Some of these industry-acknowledged techniques are:

• Establishing a common ground for initiating fresh conversations
• Highlighting major benefits of the pitched product or service
• Transforming criticism into opportunities for elaborating on the strengths of the product or a service
• Applying the reciprocity principle wherein the salesperson appreciates the buying decision of a customer through a small token
• Showing proof of people through testimonials to positively influence the buying decision
• Creating a scenario of scarcity wherein if a customer doesn’t buy a particular product, then he or she stands to miss out on a golden chance to avail a great product offering

Apart from the above-mentioned techniques, a sales manager needs to be a keen observer. Many times, striking a conversation in a customer's preferred language can create a magical impact. Over the last decade, innumerable theories have come up regarding the art of persuasion. At the end of day, it all revolves around the AIDA model of:

• Attracting attention towards a particular product or service
• Developing interest towards the product or service
• Creating a desire for the product or service
• Encouraging customers to take desired action

So, persuasion is needed at every step, and it has to be backed by market data, advertisements and testimonials. So, sales pitches are great opportunities for direct customer interfacing and understanding the pulse. Therefore, sales managers need to continuously polish their skills of persuasion, conversations and crafting smart, captivating messages for the target audience. Though the art of conversation might come naturally crafting the content might call for executive programmes designed by top B schools in the country. With the growing demand for sales and marketing expertise, the newly introduced IIM Lucknow Executive Programme in Sales and Marketing empowers professionals to excel in today's dynamic business landscape. 

This comprehensive 10-month program provides participants with essential skills through engaging sessions, hands-on learning, and capstone projects. It’s designed to meet the key needs of sales and marketing professionals, focusing on strategies to retain customers profitably, attract new ones, expand markets, and harness technology and digital media for growth.

Click here to learn more about the IIM Lucknow Executive Programme in Sales and Marketing course!