The Science of Selling Quotes

“The peripheral route of influence refers to factors that are outside of the message itself, but still have considerable sway on how we make decisions. It includes essential elements of selling such as building rapport, compellingly presenting a product or service, and enhancing trust. This method of influence is made up of a series of mental reflexes, known as “heuristics.”
― David Hoffeld, The Science of Selling: Proven Strategies to Make Your Pitch, Influence Decisions, and Close the Deal

“A meta-analysis that analyzed fifty years of research found that expertise is a primary component of trust.17 Cognitive psychologist R. Glen Hass maintains that when the brain recognizes that someone is an expert, it is far more likely to comply with that person’s suggestions.18”
― David Hoffeld, The Science of Selling: Proven Strategies to Make Your Pitch, Influence Decisions, and Close the Deal

“3 STEPS FOR APPLYING DISTINCT VALUE Step 1: Understand what matters to your buyers. Step 2: Identify something about your company, product, or service that competitors cannot match. Step 3: Convey steps 1 and 2 to buyers and ask for their buy-in to the value you have presented.”
― David Hoffeld, The Science of Selling: Proven Strategies to Make Your Pitch, Influence Decisions, and Close the Deal

“CREDIBILITY STATEMENT EXERCISE Take a moment to think of one credibility statement you can incorporate into your sales approach. Make sure it clearly and convincingly communicates how you or your company is an expert in an area that will provide meaningful value to your potential customers. Once you create it, begin to use it when selling and you’ll see how the statement will increase buyer receptiveness.”
― David Hoffeld, The Science of Selling: Proven Strategies to Make Your Pitch, Influence Decisions, and Close the Deal

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― David Hoffeld, The Science of Selling: Proven Strategies to Make Your Pitch, Influence Decisions, and Close the Deal

“However, let me reiterate that while this was happening, potential customers did not realize it. Never once did buyers blame their distorted view on their negative emotional states. Instead, they blamed the salesperson, product, service, or company. From their perspective, because they could not discern high levels of value, they believed there were none. By now it should be clear that emotional states dictate how buyers will respond to you and whether or not they will choose one direction or another.”
― David Hoffeld, The Science of Selling: Proven Strategies to Make Your Pitch, Influence Decisions, and Close the Deal

“Positive emotional states can even raise your average sale price. That is what an experiment led by social psychologists Karen O’Quin and Joel Aronoff found when they had sellers joke, “I will throw in my pet frog,” when disclosing the price of a piece of art.9 The amusing quip disrupted the tension and injected buyers with positive emotions, which caused them to agree to a higher price for the art than those who had not heard the remark.”
― David Hoffeld, The Science of Selling: Proven Strategies to Make Your Pitch, Influence Decisions, and Close the Deal

“It does not matter if it is a painting, antique, limited-time offer, or even a toy, when something is valued and rare, demand always spikes. Because of this, scarcity is a driving force in economic decisions. Likewise, when you convey that your product, service, or company offers buyers something your competitors cannot, it will increase desire and boost the perception of value.”
― David Hoffeld, The Science of Selling: Proven Strategies to Make Your Pitch, Influence Decisions, and Close the Deal

“It is helpful to think of trust and risk as opposite ends of a seesaw. When trust goes up, the perception of risk is reduced. When the estimation of risk is high, then trust is always lacking.”
― David Hoffeld, The Science of Selling: Proven Strategies to Make Your Pitch, Influence Decisions, and Close the Deal

“HOW TO ANSWER “WHY YOUR INDUSTRY SOLUTION?” Let’s stop and apply what we just learned to make sure you are demolishing competitors outside of your industry. What are some of the positive results your company, product, or service delivers that those outside of your industry cannot match? What are some of the problems that potential customers have experienced when they have chosen a solution outside of your industry? Once you have some evidence-based answers to the above questions, contemplate where you can incorporate these insights into your sales process.”
― David Hoffeld, The Science of Selling: Proven Strategies to Make Your Pitch, Influence Decisions, and Close the Deal

“For our brains to make a positive buying decision, we must commit to acting now. If we don’t, our brains will naturally procrastinate.”
― David Hoffeld, The Science of Selling: Proven Strategies to Make Your Pitch, Influence Decisions, and Close the Deal

“They don’t want to feel pressured to act one way instead of another. Yet they often need a nudge in the right direction. So how can you do this? You can frame the nudge with statements that minimize reactance, such as “Of course, it’s up to you,” or “This is a great offer that you can participate in if you choose to do so,” at the conclusion of your requests. This will reduce reactance and make them feel that they’re still in control of their choices.”
― David Hoffeld, The Science of Selling: Proven Strategies to Make Your Pitch, Influence Decisions, and Close the Deal

“Reactance is our intrinsic desire to push back or resist when we perceive that our ability to freely choose is being restricted by another person.”
― David Hoffeld, The Science of Selling: Proven Strategies to Make Your Pitch, Influence Decisions, and Close the Deal

“Buyers only put off those decisions they lack the confidence to make, so help them gain the certainty they need to commit right then and there.”
― David Hoffeld, The Science of Selling: Proven Strategies to Make Your Pitch, Influence Decisions, and Close the Deal

“In contrast, those countries with extremely high rates of organ donation asked citizens to opt out by checking a box if they do not want to be an organ donor. One of my clients used this concept to grow their average sale. Here’s what they did. Instead of allowing buyers to choose the product options they wanted, they set up standard product packages and allowed buyers to customize (remove) the options they did not want. This simple change increased revenue and helped the company provide solutions that better met the needs of their customers.”
― David Hoffeld, The Science of Selling: Proven Strategies to Make Your Pitch, Influence Decisions, and Close the Deal

“3 STEPS FOR ANSWERING “WHY CHANGE?” Step 1: Find problems by conveying challenging insights and asking leading questions. Step 2: Identify the cause and scope of the problems. Step 3: Ask deeper questions that help buyers feel the painful outcomes of allowing those problems to continue.”
― David Hoffeld, The Science of Selling: Proven Strategies to Make Your Pitch, Influence Decisions, and Close the Deal

“it’s crucial to make buyers feel the negative impact their issues are producing. The more pain potential customers associate with their issues, the more urgency there will be to solve them, which is where you can help. Ask buyers questions that guide them into disclosing the detrimental outcomes their problems are generating.”
― David Hoffeld, The Science of Selling: Proven Strategies to Make Your Pitch, Influence Decisions, and Close the Deal

“Feature dumps: I dislike them and so do buyers, but without an ample grasp of the problems your buyers face you will fall into this inept selling practice. Feature dumping is when salespeople blindly list the various features and benefits of their product or service in the hope that one may pique their potential customer’s curiosity. This does more harm than good, because even if one feature or benefit does kindle interest, the salesperson has also given the buyer numerous other reasons why his product or service is not a good fit.”
― David Hoffeld, The Science of Selling: Proven Strategies to Make Your Pitch, Influence Decisions, and Close the Deal

“The scope of the problem is a second aspect you will need to be aware of. Who and what is the issue affecting? Is it minor, or is there a high cost to allowing this problem to remain unchecked? Asking probing questions that illuminate the scope will help you and your buyers more fully comprehend the issue, which will create urgency.”
― David Hoffeld, The Science of Selling: Proven Strategies to Make Your Pitch, Influence Decisions, and Close the Deal

“After a problem has been found, you must now assist your buyer in acquiring an accurate awareness of its cause (why is it happening) and scope (who and what is being affected). Look at it from your potential customers’ perspective; until they fully know what their problems look like, they will not be able to know what a solution looks like.”
― David Hoffeld, The Science of Selling: Proven Strategies to Make Your Pitch, Influence Decisions, and Close the Deal

“In the past, salespeople were taught to be problem solvers. In our modern business climate, if you only solve concerns you will struggle to sell. To stand out from your competition you must now be skilled at problem finding and at problem solving.”
― David Hoffeld, The Science of Selling: Proven Strategies to Make Your Pitch, Influence Decisions, and Close the Deal

“To identify buyers’ problems, challenge the status quo with insights that compel your buyers to think about how they can improve themselves or their business.”
― David Hoffeld, The Science of Selling: Proven Strategies to Make Your Pitch, Influence Decisions, and Close the Deal

“The best way to answer and gain commitment to Why Change? is to help buyers fully understand the problems that make change a necessity.”
― David Hoffeld, The Science of Selling: Proven Strategies to Make Your Pitch, Influence Decisions, and Close the Deal

“BD = f (SW, ES) The sales equation states that a buying decision (BD) is a function (f) of the Six Whys® (SW) (which we’ll get to in a minute) and the buyer’s emotional state (ES). This means that if you are selling to a qualified buyer who has the financial means and authority to purchase your product or service, and you guide that buyer into committing to each of the Six Whys®, and the buyer has a positive emotional state (the collection of emotions he is experiencing at a given time), you will always be able to earn the deal. Here’s another way of saying this.”
― David Hoffeld, The Science of Selling: Proven Strategies to Make Your Pitch, Influence Decisions, and Close the Deal

“The other important insight my research revealed was that the buyer’s decision to purchase is not made in response to the salesperson’s message after he has completed it, but rather throughout the salesperson’s message. Think about it like this: During the sale, potential customers are committing to or rejecting your ideas, statements of value, and recommendations. Then at the end of the sale, the results of this mental process are unveiled by whether they decide to purchase or not. In other words, though the buying decision may be revealed at the conclusion of the sale, it’s being cultivated throughout the entire sale.”
― David Hoffeld, The Science of Selling: Proven Strategies to Make Your Pitch, Influence Decisions, and Close the Deal

“The other important insight my research revealed was that the buyer’s decision to purchase is not made in response to the salesperson’s message after he has completed it, but rather throughout the salesperson’s message.”
― David Hoffeld, The Science of Selling: Proven Strategies to Make Your Pitch, Influence Decisions, and Close the Deal

“the research revealed that in larger, sophisticated sales, buyers were more likely to vigorously contemplate each component of the decision, but the buying progression remained unchanged. This is because the internal decision-making process is derived solely from how the brain makes a purchasing choice, not the scope or intricacy of the sale.”
― David Hoffeld, The Science of Selling: Proven Strategies to Make Your Pitch, Influence Decisions, and Close the Deal

“the brain’s decision-making process did not change regardless of the size or complexity of the sale.”
― David Hoffeld, The Science of Selling: Proven Strategies to Make Your Pitch, Influence Decisions, and Close the Deal

“The more your selling efforts are aligned with how the brain naturally formulates buying decisions, the more successful you will be.”
― David Hoffeld, The Science of Selling: Proven Strategies to Make Your Pitch, Influence Decisions, and Close the Deal

“This innovation is a substantial breakthrough in the field of sales, because equipped with this knowledge you will be able to judge the effectiveness of any sales process by analyzing how it guides buyers through their mental journey and into a positive buying decision. This will eliminate the need to try out a sales process to see if it works. From now on you will know if it will help you sell more—prior to engaging in it—since you will have an objective, evidence-based standard to compare it to. But now it is time to learn how to sell via the central route by learning the mental steps that comprise a positive buying decision.”
― David Hoffeld, The Science of Selling: Proven Strategies to Make Your Pitch, Influence Decisions, and Close the Deal