Salesmen?s Psychological Tools Influence Buyers

In the competitive marketplace, salesmen have to continually look for creative ways to attract consumers and hook them into a product or service.
Psychological tools can be a salesman’s best friend.
In the relationship between the seller and buyer, a proper application of psychology can add leverage for the salesman, said Ronn Smith, assistant professor of marketing & logistics at the Walton College of Business.
“They’re just little tricks where people almost go into automatic behavior, and they can’t put their finger on why they’re behaving a certain way,” Smith said.
A professor once mailed out Christmas cards to hundreds of random people he didn’t know, testing their response. The result was that most of the people reciprocated the gesture despite having no clue as to the identity of the sender.
The tool here is reciprocity. Gifts can lead to a sense of obligation.
“It pervades cultures, and so in any culture around the world really it’s a good form of influence,” Smith said.
Reciprocity can also give way to “reciprocal concessions.”
Smith used the example of a non-profit group asking for donations. They may first ask for $100. If that is unacceptable, they may then ask for $25.
“People feel bad that they turned them down the first time, and so there’s a concession there, and you feel more compelled to give $25.”
Commitment and consistency is another useful method in improving sales. The goal is to get the customer to say “yes.”
Do you like this car? Yes. Does the radio sound great? Yes. Do you like the color? Yes. Did you like the sound of the engine? Yes. Then, how about you take this home? The seller has set the buyer up for a consistent answer.
Scarcity is another motivator. A business may advertise that there are only two more days of sales prices or even limited quantities. An example of scarcity is an ad that says “limit two per person.” People may have wanted to only buy one, but may now buy two. They may even try to use someone else’s name to buy two more.
“Those sorts of techniques have been very successful over the years,” Smith said.
During the holidays, filling a retail store with the scent of pine can put consumers in a giving mood. Smith also was involved in research on gender-specific scents. The result was that using the right fragrance can drive sales.
“There were certain scents where the sales by women were through the roof on particular days versus sales by men, and the only difference or variable was scent,” Smith said.
Some businesses use free samples to attract shoppers and push items. But dishing out small samples of, say, peach cobbler actually can have a sophisticated effect.
Many shoppers enter a store with a strict list of items, completing the shopping experience like a strategic military operation — in and out.
“One obvious benefit may be you will buy those little burritos, jelly or whatever they’re sampling,” Smith said. “The other thing is it slowed you down. Now, it’s no longer that surgical strike.”
Shoppers can be distracted and redirected to other parts of the store, coming into contact with more items.
“You just go to the store for bread and milk, and the next thing you know, you have a cart full of stuff.”