Yes….It’s time to embrace the persuasive skills of a salesperson in order to get better at convincing others the value of your ideas. If you’re an introvert, you might cringe at the thought of selling your ideas. There’s an art to getting your clients on-board with one of your ideas and you can learn it by following these 7 simple steps. Below we’ve pulled key points from an excellent article, How to Sell Your Ideas by Jami Oetting editor at Hubspot.
To get your clients, companies that you’re pitching to or investors to say “yes” more often to your ideas, follow these tips to increase your persuasive jedi powers.
And remember as Yoda said it best, “Do or do not. There is no try.”
How to Sell Your Ideas
1) Make the other person comfortable.
Offer people a preview of what’s to come. Jami explains, “Presenters need to master attention and time, not the details, by respecting an audience’s limits. This approach also plays into anticipation, which will drive your clients to remain focused because they know how long they have to wait for the big idea and the conclusion of the meeting.”
2) Use data to back it up.
“Data is one of the best ways to make it easy for the client to say “yes.” With data from either previous tests you ran on the client’s behalf, another brand’s successful marketing experiment, or your previous clients’ results, you can easily prove the value and the potential ROI from the investment in the idea,” states Jami.
(To get you started, here are some of the best tools for gathering accurate and compelling data.)
3) Provide case studies.
“If you pair data with highlights from a case study, you’ll be an even more powerful persuader and a more credible presenter,” say Jami. According to Agency Management Institute, one of the biggest influencers in the selection process is industry expertise, and case studies are the perfect vehicle for showcasing past successes.
4) Pitch it like you’re telling a story.
Jami recommends, to forget the slides — or include only the most essential ones — and pitch the idea by telling a narrative. Captivate their attention through a story.
5) Focus on them.
“No one cares how long it took you to come to a solution — as long as there is a solution, and it’s the right one,” explains Jami.
6) Make it simple.
The author recommends, using shorter words and more straightforward language. When you explain things simply and clearly it makes people seem more likeable and smart.
7) Lead them to the answer.
“You ask people question after question after question that slowly leads the person to the right answer,” states Jami. When you let people answer the questions they feel like they discovered it and are more likely to be open to your ideas.
If you liked this article you might also enjoy reading, 10 Tips for Conveying Confidence – Fake It Till You Make It.