In the workplace, people talk about encouragement as if it is something reserved only for managers to dole out to their employees.
Nothing could be further from the truth. In sales, encouragement is essential if you are to advance the sale. Sellers need to be effective in encouraging their buyers.
To encourage means to "put courage into." The dictionary includes the following phrases as definitions of encouragement: to inspire with confidence, to stimulate through help or support, to promote, advance, foster.
Many solid solutions do not turn into sales because the buyer has not been encouraged. When you are offering a solution that truly meets a need, you may be very, very close to making a sale. And then you may be left wondering "what happened?" When the buyer says "no."
What may have happened is that you overlooked the one missing ingredient of encouragement. Because you did not pour courage into your buyer, he or she could not make the final commitment.
Think about it. When you are asking someone to buy the products or services yourself, you are asking them to make a change, take a risk, invest in something new, and potentially disappoint others they are not choosing.
That takes courage!
If the courage doesn't come from you, where will it come from? No one else is as likely as you are too pour courage into the buyer at the exact moment when the buyer needs it to say "yes" to what you've proposed.
So you need to become a strong and steady encourager. You need to include a confidence-boosting, courage-building, value-demonstrating inspiration for each and every buyer.
You also need to be stimulating courage by holding the hand of your buyer, talking about just how easy you will make the purchase and the use of your product or service. Your support must be apparent.
Finally, if you are to encourage your buyers, you can't stick to facts and figures. Encouragement is emotional. Courage is a feeling. Inspiring with confidence happens at the gut level, not at the level of logic.
Work on encouraging your buyers, and you will find that they are more willing to advance all the way through to a close because of the courage you pour into them.