The Most Important Second In Sales

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Can I single moment in the sales process be more important than all the other moments?

I believe that it can.

I believe there’s one second in your presentation that has more influence on whether or not you win the sale than any other.

That’s an important second to get right! Let’s talk about it…

Here’s a recap of everything in this episode of 5 Minute Sales Training:

Think of the sales process as a series of seconds strung together.

Can one of those seconds be more important than all of the others?

I say yes.

So, when is that one magic second?

The magic second in the sales process happens just before the first word is spoken.

When we meet somebody for the first time, we make a decision about that person within one second.

ONE SECOND!

This one second is your only chance to make a positive first impression with your prospect, and first impressions are the key to likability.

This goes back to the most primitive form of our wiring when we had to decide in a hurry if the person (or saber-toothed tiger) standing in front of us was a threat.

Those first impressions have kept us alive over the centuries, and those first impressions still weigh heavy in our brains today.

The first impression is critical because of something called the Halo Effect.

Here’s how the Halo Effect works:

If I like you right out of the gate, then I’m going to continue liking you until you prove to me that you’re not likable.

The converse of that is also true.

If I don’t like you right away, I will continue to not like you unless you can change my mind.

First impressions lead to a very quick decision.

Do I like this person or do I not?

And that quick decision tends to stay with us.

The Halo Effect lingers on and on either to your benefit or to your detriment.

When our prospects like us, then they trust us.

And when they trust us, we are stronger influencers.

In other words, we’re better salespeople when we’re working with prospects that we like and that like us back.

The key to establishing early likability is to mentally engage 100% in that one second before you talk to a prospect for the very first time.

It’s a simple truth.

If your prospects like you, then they are more likely to buy from you.

Great interpersonal connections make us happy.

There’s a little dopamine rush that gets kicked off the brain, that happy hormone, when we are around people that we like.

Your customer will translate that happiness in the way that they evaluate your product.

This is what great salespeople do. They transfer dopamine to their customers.

Until next time, learn more, earn more.


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About the Author: Jeff Shore

Jeff Shore is the Founder and CEO of Shore Consulting, Inc. a company specializing in psychology-based sales training programs. Using these modern, game-changing techniques, Jeff Shore’s clients delivered over 145,000 new homes generating $54 billion in revenue last year.