Notes on Selling - Five

by Greg Woodley

Today I would like to look at the " Law of Conformity " and then finish up with some comments on Sales Models

"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go" - T.S. Elliot

LAW OF CONFORMITY

Most people tend to agree to proposals, products or services that will be perceived as acceptable by the majority of other people or a majority of an individual's peer group. Generally, we follow the crowd.

Canned laughter. Do you like it? I hate it. I think most people do. So, why do television companies use it? Research has shown that the use of canned laughter causes audiences to laugh longer and more often and when questioned later on tend to rate the material as funnier. IN addition, some evidence indicates that canned laughter is more effective for poor jokes

Advertisers love to inform us when a product is the " fastest growing" or the " biggest selling "

Billy Graham, the Evangelist preacher, was caught in the act of advanced preparations by an Arizona State University research team who infiltrated his organisation " By the time Graham arrives in town and makes his alter call,an army of 6,000 wait with instructions on when to come forth at varying intervals to create the impression of a spontaneous outpouring"

Professor Phillip's research demonstrated that immediately following a front page suicide story the suicide rate increases dramatically only in those areas where the story had been highly publicised..

He examined the statistics of suicides in the USA between 1947 and 1968.Following a front-page suicide story and average of 58 more people than usual committed suicide in the ensuing 60 days

The mass suicide of the "People's Temple" in Jonestown Guyana led by Reverend Jim Jones is a chilling example of conformity.

The People's Temple existed in relative obscurity until November 18, 1978, when four men of a fact-finding party led by Congressman Leo J. Ryan were murdered as they tried to leave Jonestown by plane.

Convinced that he would be arrested and implicated in the killings and that the demise of the People's Temple would result, Jones sought to control the end of the Temple in his own way. He gathered the entire community around him and issued a call for each person's death in a unified act of self-destruction. The first response was that of a young woman who calmly approached the now famous vat of strawberry-flavored poison, administered one dose to her baby, one to herself, and then sat down in a field, where she and her child died in convulsions within four minutes.

Others followed steadily in turn. Although a handful of Jonestowners escaped rather than comply and a few others are reported to have resisted, the survivors claim that the great majority of the 910 people who died did so in an orderly, willful fashion

Perhaps an even more shocking example of this principle conformity was the murder of Catherine Genovese in New York city!

Catherine was brutally stabbed to death in March 1964. It was a long, loud, tortured public event. The murder was actually witnessed by 38 of her neighbours from their apartment room windows.

Twice during the 35 minutes Catherine's murderer was scared off by lights turning on in apart windows but he then returned to finish his gruesome task. Why didn't any of these people intervene or even just call the police?

This became the subject of an intense survey and many psychologists investigated the case and put forward various theories. The only theory that seemed to fit all the facts was that people were uncertain as to what was going on and each was waiting for someone else to react.

It would take too long to go into here but the influence of Conformity is greatly enhanced by the existence of uncertainty. When people are unsure of what to do they " follow the crowd"

Sales Models

What is a Sales Model ?

Well, simply put, it's a sequence or procedure to follow during the process of a sale. It's basic advantage is that it keeps the sales person on track, i.e. you know where you are up to and what should be the next step.

Below are some well know sales models.

Are there any you can add ? Please send me an email and let me know.

AIDC

A = Attention
I = Interest
D = Desire
C = Close

5 Step Sales Model

1 & 2 Establish Rapport and Ask Questions ( operate simultaneously )
3 Find a need
4 Link need or value to your product or service
5 Close - and answer any objections

SPIN Selling ( Neil Rackham )
Situational Questions
Problem Questions
Implication Questions
Need-Payoff Questions

Greg Woodley is an NLP Master Practitioner who has spent over 20 years in Sales. Greg is also a successful life coach and corporate leadership trainer. He can be contacted via phone on +61-4627-6582 or
gregwoodley@aol.com