Rule no. 1: Never offer too many options to a prospect

It might sound like a paradox, but it's true. The more options you give a prospect to choose from, the bigger the chance is that he will choose neither of them. In psychology, this phenomenon is referred to as the „paradox of choice“ – the possibility to choose from various options sounds tempting, but in reality, it leads to frustration, paralysis, being overwhelmed with information and, ultimately, unhappiness. Here are several tips connected to the myths regarding the amount of information and the number of options that salespeople give to prospects.

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People don't have the time and will to decide

EyesOnSales correctly states that the current age forces people to decide fast, and act and think all the time. But one of the main tasks of a salesperson is to make the sales process as simple as possible, without overwhelming the prospect with information and making the decision process easy.

Primarily, you must not offer more than one or maximum two solutions. But you have to keep in mind that if you're offering one solution to the client, it should be one that is the most fitting. Your role as a salesperson-consultant means that you have to uncover the clients needs, understand their overall situation and offer a tailor-made solution, the best that the tools you have available allow.

Always ask

Here's one important piece of advice: Too many business people talk too much and ask too little. Interaction with a client should consist of 20% of you talking and 80% of the prospect talking! This is why you have to come up with a system of finding out the client's basic parameters and offering the best possible solution as quickly and economically as possible.

False offer

If you want the offer that you give to make the decision process as simple as possible, you can use the so-called false offer. Let's say that during the meeting with the prospect you learn what parameters the ideal product should have and you come up with the best possible offer that you're positive that the prospect will go for.

To make the decision quicker, you can offer one more solution that's somehow unsuitable on purpose – it could be too expensive, or too cheap, or not conform to the given parameters. You give the prospect these two options, and he'll logically and warmly accept the real offer. By giving the client a false sense of the ability to choose, you let him believe that he's the one who's making the decisions. And in the end he still gets the best possible offer, so it's a win-win situation.

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Article source EyesOnSales - popular sales blog for Sales Professionals around the world
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