Providing positive sales experiences is for most people, not something that’s really up for debate. The better experience you provide for buyers, the better for you also, correct? They may return later for further business, let others know about their positive experience and generally speaking, good buying experiences equals more sales. And we have definitely had negative experiences as buyers too! Having said all this, it’s crucial for us to know what we can do to create a positive sales experience, for buyer and seller alike.

Overall, research shows that buyers tend to have more positive experiences with sales than negative. This of course makes sense because you wouldn’t survive in an industry if you were known for your customers having more negative experiences than positive. But, unfortunately, despite the overall positivity, customers will remember their negative experiences far more readily. It makes sense on a basic psychological level, right? We attach distinct emotions to negative experiences, so they stick with us for longer. It comes back to this notion about humans being wired to perceive threats. This threat to our emotional state lingers far after the sales experience.

One could argue that the negativity surrounding sales comes from a previous generation that at times tended to frown upon our most fledgling forms of selling. As kids, many of us had candy, baked goods etc. (Girl Scout cookies anyone?) to sell for fundraisers, but were often stifled by parents telling us not to sell to certain people because it would be bothering them. This self-confidence and positivity in being a ‘nice’ seller were stifled for many of us as kids, and something many of us carry still. There’s an unfortunate aura (or threat) that’s attached to sales culture because of this, which many of us need to shake.

What we can do to overcome this icky feeling as a seller is to focus on the good it brings to buyers. Treat every sale as a path to life improvement for buyers and as the seller, you’re merely helping them discover it. This motivating factor, for both the seller and buyer, goes a long way to improving the positivity surrounding sales and washing away that icky feeling for the seller, and the sense of threat for the buyer.

Selling the benefits of goods and services, as opposed to merely their features is positive for the psychology of sales. If the buyer has a positive experience based on your pitch and advice, it attaches a positive emotional reaction. Consequently, that positive reaction sticks. The buyer will experience time and again that same positive emotional reaction with similar products and associate them with you and your business. Let’s call it the pleasant trigger!

To do this effectively as a seller, strong communication is the key — have a small mouth and big ears. What do we mean by this rather comical imagery? Well we mean to be a receptive listener to your buyer and create the impression that they are the most important person in the room. Don’t bombard them with questions (which will come across as pushy), rather pepper them with broad, open-ended questions. You’ll find that the buyer will tell you what benefits they want from the thing you’re selling and all you have to do is check off the proverbial boxes for them when they stop talking.

As a buyer, when you make this shift in your approach to sales, that icky feeling will be gone in no time!

This article was written based on Episode 11 of the Simplifying Entrepreneurship Podcast (you can listen by clicking the link) with Catherine Brown where she talks about her new book How Good Humans Sell. You can watch the interview below.