Here are 3 powerful ways to do this:

1. Ask the person

This is quite a bold approach that can be very effective. In response to someone raising a price concern, you reply:

“Mr Jones we never offer the lowest price in the market. Why do you think that even though we aren’t the lowest priced provider that so many people buy from us?”

The person will then usually reply along the lines of quality, service and so forth. Whatever the person offers as the reason, you respond:

“Mr Jones, you are exactly right and…” and then you can add in any additional reasons that are appropriate and move into re-selling the benefits of your high quality, service etc as described above.

2. Talk the difference

In response to someone telling you that, “You’ll have to do better than that, XYZ offered a similar product me a much lower price!” a method to pursue is:

“Can I ask you how much cheaper?”

On many occasions the person will tell you the price (or perhaps an even lower price than they really have been offered as a negotiation ploy!) and you can work out the difference between the two prices.

Then sell the benefits that the person gets for the difference:

“Mrs Jones, the difference is only £400. For that investment you get…” and sell the benefits that your product and service offers over and above the competitor.

3. John Ruskin

John Ruskin was a prolific writer in the 19th century. I have two of his quotes printed onto cards that I sometimes show to people when they are attempting to haggle over price. The quotations are:

“It is unwise to pay too much, but it is unwise to pay too little. When you pay too much you lose a little money and that is all, but when you pay too little you sometimes lose everything, because the thing that you’ve bought isn’t capable of doing the thing it was bought to do.

The common law of business prohibits you from paying a little and receiving a lot – it can’t be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder it would be as well to add something for the risk you run, and if you can do that you can afford to buy something better”.

“There is hardly anything in the world today that some man cannot make just a little worse and sell just a little cheaper, and the people who buy on price alone are this man’s lawful prey”.

John Ruskin, English art and social critic, 1819 – 1900

Mr Ruskin (God bless him!) has overcome many a price concern with his wise words. Not many people are comfortable with being someone’s “lawful prey”!

1. The instant reverse

This very bold (and somewhat cheeky) technique often shocks the other person and overcomes their price concerns. Here is how it works:

John: “That’s expensive!”

You: “John, that is exactly the reason you should take it!”

John will usually look a little shocked and confused at this stage and you continue with anything that sounds logical! E.g

“John, you want the best value at the best price, don’t you? Well you’ll never get a better chance than today!”

2. The trim

With this technique you commence lowering the specification of your product and service to meet the person’s price concern.

“OK Jane , it looks as if I am going to have to trim the specification to meet your price requirement. What aspects of the proposal could you do without?”

The thought of having to lose some of the benefits of your product or service is often enough for a customer to re-think their price concern!

3. The add to

Sometimes the person wants to think they have got a better deal than the average individual (a great opportunity to stroke their ego), and adding something to “sweeten the deal” can satisfy this desire. This does not have to be expensive. Think about what you can offer that has a perceived high value to people but a low actual cost to you.

4. Scratched record

This technique is named after the tendency of the old fashioned vinyl records to jump when the playing surface was scratched and repeat the same part of the song again and again.

With the scratched record technique you just firmly and politely keep repeating your price position and the reason behind it in slightly different ways e.g.

“The price is because the specification meets your needs exactly”

“In order to give you what you really need we need to supply the specification that costs X price”

“I appreciate your point John however this price guarantees our ability to give you the specification that’s right for what you need”

With firmness and persistence you will be able to wear down many price concerns in this way.

I appreciate that this seems counter intuitive as you would probably prefer that the person sits their in rapt admiration as you eloquently explain your idea, closely followed by their immediate acceptance. Get real! This is very unlikely to ever happen and actually the fact that they are verbalising some objections or concerns could be very good news!

Firstly, they may be genuinely considering your idea and as they are thinking about it some possible hurdles spring to mind. This does not mean they are rejecting the idea, it could mean that there are just some practical considerations to be addressed.

And secondly as you will see in a moment, far too many people give up at the first sign of resistance leaving those of us who are comfortable handling concerns with the business!

There are a number of ways to deal with concerns when they are expressed. The first important point is that you mustn’t panic. It is quite rare for any proposal to go through to completion without the person you are attempting to persuade expressing at least one concern!

The fact that the other person has raised a concern does not mean that they are not going to go ahead. Relax- the proposal is not lost!

Professional persuaders understand that people raising concerns are just part of the persuasion process, and they prepare to handle them with persistence. This puts them into a different league.

A piece of international research into the reaction of salespeople to customer concerns when making proposals revealed that:

• 44% of salespeople gave up after receiving the first customer concern
• 22% of salespeople gave up after receiving the second customer concern
• 16% of salespeople gave up after receiving the third customer concern
• 10% of salespeople gave up after receiving the fourth customer concern

This leaves just 8% of the salespeople still selling after the fourth concern.

The other startling conclusion from the survey is that 73% of the customers voiced five or more concerns before being sure enough to go ahead!

Combine the figures together and the research tells us that just 8% of the salespeople will win 73% of the business that’s available. If we apply this data to authors making proposals then we can see that being able to handle concerns and being persistent will put some clear blue water between yourself and the majority of authors whose proposals will never get off the starting blocks.

It is therefore vital that unless you want to join the ranks of the persuasion no hopers that you need to get really superb at handling people’s concerns. Being able to do this will place you into the top few percent of all of the authors competing against you.

Truly great persuaders enjoy eating concerns for breakfast!

As stated earlier I view people expressing concerns as a good sign. They can mean that they are really starting to think about going ahead and are starting to consider the practicalities involved.

Or they can indicate that there is some aspect of the proposal that the person is seeking more information about. You can reframe all expressed concerns as being requests for further information. The customer is looking to you to answer this request.

Initial Response

How you initially respond to the person’s concern is important. You want to appear calm, professional and unruffled but also grateful and even delighted that they raised the concern. For example, after hearing the person express a concern say,

“That’s a good point. I’m glad you brought that up.”

“That’s an important point and I thought that might be your initial reaction!”

“I’m really glad you raised that point”

Once you have initially responded in this manner you can then move onto handling the concern in a variety of ways.

Drill further into the concern

It is often necessary to drill further down into a concern to understand it more fully.

You can ask, “I’m sure you’ve got a good reason for raising that concern. Can I ask what it is?”

This will result in the person expanding upon what lies behind the expressed concern so that you can deal with it more effectively.

So rather than get concerned about concerns – learn to love them!

If you are taking a holiday to an exotic and tropical location the common wisdom is to visit your doctor to get inoculated against various illnesses and diseases. You don’t wait to catch yellow fever or typhoid, you get inoculated against them.

In the same way, you can inoculate some concerns both before you make your proposal and during it. Most of us can anticipate the concerns that people are likely to express. If specific concerns are raised fairly frequently in response to your proposal it can be effective to nail these either before or whilst you are making your proposal – rather than passively waiting for them to emerge. Get on the front foot!

There are two ways to do this:

Don’t make the same mistake…

People don’t like to make mistakes and they don’t like to look stupid. The fear of making mistakes and looking stupid can be one of the reasons that customers don’t want to proceed with purchasing. We can use this same concern to kill off specific concerns both before and during the presentation or discussion of your proposal.

Let us assume that you predict that people may express a concern that your new book or information product is quite technical and therefore may be perceived to be complicated. You can inoculate against this by saying:

“Mr Smith, some people make the mistake of thinking that as my book / product is so cutting edge that it may be complicated and difficult to understand. What they find is that in fact the straightforward step by step structure makes it simple to understand and use.”

No-one wants to make a mistake do they? So our customer, who does not want to make a mistake, will immediately decide that your product is simple to understand and use!

Another variation upon this is, “Mrs Smith, some of my most satisfied readers initially made the mistake of thinking that our new cutting edge information product must be complicated. What they have found is that in fact it’s clever and carefully planned structure makes it simple to understand and use.”

Don’t be a whiner!

There is something about a whinging and whining voice that people really dislike. Remember the last time you heard a small child (or even a fully grown adult) use a whining tone of voice. Its effect is similar to fingernails being dragged down a blackboard. Cuts right through you, doesn’t it?

You can use this to great effect to inoculate against concerns. Using the same example as previously, here is how this technique works:

“Mr Smith, when people first hear that our new information product is cutting edge they say (Now use your very best whiny voice for the next sentence), ‘It’s so complicated to understand!’“

The vast majority of people have such a dislike of a whining tone of voice that they will instantly move away from ever having had such a concern about your information product themselves. They don’t want to be associated with that horrible, whiny voice!

Inoculating against concerns is a very powerful way of making sure that commonly expressed concerns are killed off deader than a Dodo before and during your proposal presentation.

Take some of the concerns that people may bring up in response to your proposal and devise some ways to inoculate against these. Remember that you can use them before you make your presentation and during it when discussing particular elements of your proposal.

“Persuasion is the key to power!”

The three vitally important secrets are what Aristotle called Ethos, Logos and Pathos.

ETHOS

Ethos means “source”

Questions to ask yourself:

• Who are you when you are communicating as an author?
• What do you stand for?
• Are you credible?
• Are you congruent about what you are communicating?

LOGOS

Logos means “word”

This is about the words that you use and the message you convey.  Take care about the quality of the words you choose.  Logos is concerned with logical reason and rational principles.

PATHOS

Pathos – means “emotion”

What emotions are you communicating?

People usually make decisions based upon their emotional responses which they then post-rationalise intellectually/logically afterwards.

How are you adding emotional fuel to your communication as an author?

Aristotle’s Advice To Authors:

1. Ethos – As an author make sure you present yourself in a credible, congruent and authoritative manner.  Authority figures are perceived as being more persuasive and influential.  Please remember that Author = Authority.  Make sure you leverage this as much as you possibly can!
2. Logos – You only need to appear to follow the rules of logic.  Aristotle believed that not everyone is capable of logical thought.  However, it is important that your message appears logical and robust.  The use of statistics, data and other researched evidence will enhance the credibility and therefore the impact of your message.
3. Pathos - Appeal to the emotions of people rather than just their intellect. Emotions provide the rocket fuel that powers people to make decisions to purchase what you have to offer so it is vitally important that you incorporate them.  The emotional centres of the brain exert a powerful effect on people, so ensure you stimulate these.

As an influential author you can expect to receive a number of benefits, including (but not limited to): increased book sales, increased demand for your other products and services, media attention and increased fees for whatever additional services you provide.

Master salespeople are adept at utilising powerful psychological strategies to make people like them. Here are three highly effective secrets that authors can use to make a positive impression:

1. Flash at People!

Don’t worry this is quite safe! Body language experts have noted that when people meet people who they know and like, they lift or ‘flash’ their eyebrows upwards for a fraction of a second when first making eye contact.  As this movement occurs outside of people’s conscious attention it is often referred to as ‘the unconscious hello’. It sends a powerful message of liking and acceptance to the other person which they will usually reciprocate.

2. Be More Like Them

When people like each other they unconsciously mirror each others body language.  Psychologists call this “postural echoing”.  A very fast and very effective way to encourage people to like you is to subtly match and mirror their body language.  They won’t notice what you are doing at a conscious level but the positive impact of mirroring occurs at a deep unconscious level.

The rapport building strategies explained in my bestselling book, “Bare Knuckle Selling”, will add tremendous power to your ability to make people like you.  Please forgive the shameless plug for my book “Bare Knuckle Selling” but I am an author on the subject of selling, and therefore I am sure you appreciate that I have to role model the behaviours I advocate! (wink)

3. Be Interested To Become More Interesting

Be genuinely interested in the other person.  It is human nature to be interested in what is important to us.  When someone else is interested in what is important to us, we cannot help but like them!  It is very rare for people to be truly listened to.  When this happens people develop a deep bond with the person doing the listening.  Say less and listen more, and people will like you for it.  Don’t give people a good talking to.  Give them a good listening to! And they will like you all the more.

This can be directly applied to your books.  Books succeed because of high sales, they fail because of low sales.  If you want a bestselling book then you need to do some selling!

If you think bestselling books happen by accident then think again!  Most bestselling books achieve their status as a result of a focused and concentrated selling effort.

Therefore the most important thing you can do if you want your book to be a big success is to learn to sell.  Selling is a skill that can be learned by anyone.  You just have to follow some simple procedures and obey three simple rules.

Here are those three simple rules.  If you follow them then your success in selling is guaranteed.

Rule 1: Your readers (and readers to be) are not stupid.

In today’s world people are more educated and informed than ever before.  People are more sophisticated and discerning.  People just don’t fall for blatant and manipulative tactics.  I get a little frustrated when I am told that “the sale ends on Friday”.  I know, and you know, that it is immediately replaced with a new sale that starts on Saturday!
People know that there is no such thing as a free lunch.  No-one is very surprised when they get selected to enter the Reader’s Digest free prize draw.  The successful author will treat their readers and readers to be with respect.

Rule 2: Sell how you like to be sold to.

When I ask people how they like to be sold to, I always get some very similar responses.  People like to be treated with respect and courtesy.  People like to be listened to.  People like you to be interested in finding out what they want.  People want you to put their interests first.  People want to be helped to make a decision that is right for them.  Why then would anyone attempt to sell any differently?  To a certain extent you already know what good selling is!

Rule 3: People are convinced that you want to sell them something.  They are right, so tell them!

Perhaps because of previous encounters, people can be rather suspicious if they think people want to sell them something.  In the back of their mind they are worried that you will try to push them into buying something.  To overcome this fear, just tell people what you are doing.

Tell them that you are interested in selling your books.  You provide books that benefit people and they pay money for them.  However, what you do first is to understand what is important to the prospective reader.  When you understand this, you will see if your books can help them.  If they can, then you will recommend an appropriate title.  The person can then decide to say “yes” or “no”.  By being up front with people you remove any fears they may have and establish trust with them.

As a sales author I am very upfront and blatant with people about my objective – selling my books.  I am also equally upfront that I am only interested in selling my books to people who will benefit from them.  If I don’t think you will benefit from my books then I don’t want your money.  Satisfied readers provide positive testimonials that bring me more readers and that is what I want.

Mastering the art and science of selling is one of the best investments you can ever make to ensure your book succeeds in today’s competitive modern marketplace.

Secure your future prosperity and become a master of selling.

As an author you have to take responsibility for selling and promoting your book at every available opportunity.  You need to become good at persuading and influencing people.

One of the books I strongly recommend to people who want to become masters of persuasion is Robert Cialdini’s “Influence”.

Cialdini is a Professor at Arizona State University who has conducted extensive research into the factors that trigger people into automatically complying with another person’s request.

Here is the final one of these six factors, that will show you how, as an author, you can apply them to sell more of your books.

Key 6: SCARCITY

Psychological research shows that people assign more value to opportunities when they are less available.

The scarcity principle holds for two reasons:

1. Things that are difficult to get hold of are seen as more valuable. Think of the lack of availability of certain children’s toys or the latest games console in the market and the strong desire this provokes amongst children and parents to have the item whose availability is limited.
2. As things become less accessible, we lose the freedom to have them. According to psychological reactance theory, human beings respond to the loss of freedoms by wanting to have them even more than before!

The scarcity principle ensures that commodities that are perceived to be in short supply are valued more highly than those that are in abundant supply. Powerful human emotions are aroused when people experience scarcity.

Think of the scenes of people camping out overnight to be first in the queue for a department store sale and then almost literally fighting with each other as the doors of the store opens!

Think of the fuel shortage in the UK a few years ago and how this caused people to queue up for hours to get fuel (often as a result of the powerful effect of ’social proof’ discussed in an earlier article) and people who didn’t usually fill up their fuel tanks filling up to make sure they had as much of the scarce fuel as possible and inadvertently making fuel in even shorter supply!

You will see the scarcity principle used in a lot of business marketing e.g.

• Sale must end Friday
• When its gone its one
• Limited time offer
• One-time offer

As an author you can make powerful use of the scarcity principal in your book promotions, copywriting, advertising etc. For example, in conjunction with my publishers I have run a promotional campaign where people could get a bundle of free bonuses for buying my books.  The bonuses were only available for a limited time period. This was to use to scarcity principle and to encourage people to take instant action.  Which they did!

Now that you are aware of this principle I am sure you will be able to think of lots of ways to use it to enhance your book sales.

As an author you have to take responsibility for selling and promoting your book at every available opportunity.  You need to become good at persuading and influencing people.

One of the books I strongly recommend to people who want to become masters of persuasion is Robert Cialdini’s “Influence”.

Cialdini is a Professor at Arizona State University who has conducted extensive research into the factors that trigger people into automatically complying with another person’s request.

Here is the fifth of these six factors, that will show you how, as an author, you can apply them to sell more of your books.

Key 5: AUTHORITY

Research evidence shows a strong pressure in our society to comply with the requests of an authority.

Systematic socialization practices instil into members of society the perception that obedience constitutes correct conduct.

People also often respond to authority in an automatic fashion particularly when we perceive people to possess high levels of knowledge, wisdom, and power.

It is interesting to note that people respond to perceived symbols of authority (and not necessarily genuine authority) such as titles, clothing and status symbols like cars.

Studies show that symbols such as these cause people to be more obedient to people displaying them. In addition, individuals who obeyed underestimated the effect that the perceived authority had on their behaviour.

So, if you want to be more influential make sure you are perceived as an authority!
For example, as an author you will be perceived as an expert and an authority (author = authority) in your field.

Therefore, what you say and what your recommend will have more impact!  As an author you are an authority, and as an authority you are automatically more influential.

It gets even better if you are a bestselling author as that carries even more gravitas!  Not only are you an authority because you have written a book, lots and lots of people have bought your book which makes you seem even more of an authority!

Once you are an author you will find that you can make use of this authority and the accompanying influence that goes with it in many ways.

For example, I have found that I get asked to speak at conferences and events because I am an author/authority on the subject.  And as an author/authority you can also charge higher speaking and consultancy fees!

Now that you are aware of this principle I am sure you will be able to think of lots of ways to use it to enhance your book sales and to maximise the benefit of being a published author.

As an author you have to take responsibility for selling and promoting your book at every available opportunity.  You need to become good at persuading and influencing people.

One of the books I strongly recommend to people who want to become masters of persuasion is Robert Cialdini’s “Influence”.

Cialdini is a Professor at Arizona State University who has conducted extensive research into the factors that trigger people into automatically complying with another person’s request.

Here is the fourth of these six factors, that will show you how, as an author, you can apply them to sell more of your books.

Key 4: LIKING

Research shows that people prefer to say ‘yes’ to individuals they know and like.

An important factor that influences how much people like another individual is similarity.

We like people who are like us, and are far more willing to comply with their requests.

There are several ways that as an author we can help people to know and like us:

• Have details about us (including some personal information such as family, hobbies etc) on our website and books.  Have photos featured so that people know what you look like.  Let your readers get to know you as a real and genuine person.
• Have a brief biography available so that people can see where you have come from and what you have done.  Let them see you are just an ordinary person like them.
• Be accessible to your readers. Answer their emails, respond to their requests.
• Keep in regular contact with your readers and people you wish to influence. I strongly recommend a strategy of contacting or “touching” your readers ten times a year. A useful information rich email newsletter is a good way of doing this.
• Share some personal stories in your newsletter, letting people see some of your day to day life, particularly sharing any mistakes you have made and poking some fun at yourself, which will make you seem very normal and approachable!

Now that you are aware of this principle I am sure you will be able to think of lots of ways to use it to enhance your book sales.