How to sell more using one magic word

February 15, 2012 7:24 AM
By Tom Searcy Topics Marketing .
CBS Money Watch

This is the year for all sales people to learn a new language to increase their sales. No, not Chinese, Spanish or Korean (although those are all good ideas, too). Learn how to sell more with the tongue that contains the sweetest words of all to a prospect: the language of increase. Here are four ways to attract more revenue with these magic words:

1. Go to the Source. You should read the classic best sellers of success authors like Napoleon Hill, Dale Carnegie and Og Mandino, and the recent generation such as Stephen Covey, Rhonda Byrne and Ken Blanchard. But go to the source and read a book that inspired all of these authors, titled "The Science of Getting Rich," by Wallace Wattles. Byrne told a Newsweek interviewer that her inspiration for creating the 2006 hit film and book "The Secret" was her exposure to "The Science of Getting Rich." Byrne's daughter had given her the Wattles book to help her recover from a breakdown. To sell more, Wattles says we need to convey the impression of advancement with everything we do. In addition, communicate that we advance all who deal with us. "No matter how small the transaction, put into it the thought of increase, and make sure the customer is impressed with the thought," wrote Wattles.

2. Talk About More. So when potential clients ask you what you do, please don't just give them a list of services and capabilities. Instead, use the language of increase to describe your products and services. For example, you can say that you:

-- Improve lead generation

-- Help clients maximize revenues

-- Increase lead conversion rates

-- Improve company productivity

-- Reduce wasted expenses

-- Enable clients to maximize prices

-- Help departments exceed goals

3. Sprinkle the Words Around. Add the language of increase to your conversation, your websites and your proposals. This is what clients want. There are fortunes to be made by giving clients what they want. Back these statements up with testimonials that document the increase with numbers, percentages and time factors and you are way ahead of the competition.

Here is a real (but not real name) example:

"In one year, all of the 70 employees we hired have gone through XYZ personality profile testing and candidate screening. This improved hiring process has helped our company increase productivity per sales person a total of 21 percent in the last two years. In addition, while the national average for sales person turnover in our industry is 40 percent, we've been able to cut that in half with the help of this sales force screening."



John Smith

President, ABC Company



4. Follow My Lead. Here is how I use the language of increase in my work. I say we're aiming at accounts ranging from $500,000 to $100 million and add that, typically, people hire us for one or more of three reasons:

-- They're looking to "double their double." They want to double the speed with which they can double the size of their company and they believe that landing large accounts is the way to do it.


-- They want a manageable and scalable approach to running their sales process, measuring it and improving their success rates.

-- They have a mega-sale that they want to land and they want me to be their adviser and coach.



Overall, focus on creating the impression of increase to attract more sales. According to Wattles, increase is what all men and women are seeking. His advice was that you should feel that you are getting richer, and that in doing so you are making others richer and giving benefits to all who deal with you.