Ever heard of the idea of reverse selling?

Membership clubs employ a great selling technique that you should learn.

Reverse selling is essentially getting your customers to sell you on buying your products and services. Instead of you constantly straining to drive the sale forward, you are instead creating an environment where the customer can convince themselves to own your product. Best of all, it becomes their idea to purchase from you.

It may seem odd that a customer would ever want to sell you on buying your own products, but it happens every day.

Think about an exclusive club or organization such as EO (Entrepreneur Organization) or a prestigious country club. They are perfect examples where the customers, new and prospective members, sell the club on granting them its membership. To become a member, money is not enough. Often the customers need to justify their qualifications through other means.

Realize that customers make a majority of purchases based on status, or perceived status. If you could paint a picture of increasing their status by owning the product or service, they are much more likely to take action.

It is normal that we often focus on highlighting the features, advantages, and benefits of what we sell; but we must understand the key drivers behind the customer making a buying decision in order to make the sale.

By having this idea of status elevation in mind, you will be able to own and utilize the power of reverse selling.

This is by no means a ‘new sales methodology’ nor does it claim to be one. Rather reverse selling is a powerful tool to add to your repertoire that brings your selling process to the next level. There are many strategies to go about getting your customers to sell you but generally, the methods share a combination of three core elements: storytelling, questions, status control.

Questions

What is one of the biggest problems facing salespeople today? They talk too much and ask too few questions.

Why questions? Questions allow for a number of things. You empower the other party to share information, thoughts, and feelings with you. Such a process allows you to understand their concerns, their needs, and their desires.

By asking effective questions you will be able to tailor your sales pitch to suit your customer.

We can use questions to find out more information, clarify what was said, mirror what the prospect has said, handle objections, and screen intent. Each type of question can be used to gauge and have the prospect slowly sell themselves by answering them with increasing investment.

One of my favorite questions to get them to justify the sale is, “How do I know you are committed?”

When you ask this, they will come up with their own reasons why they should buy. When you tell them, they are hesitant to believe it. When they say it, it becomes truth.

Another great question is, “How could you make sense of this?”

Asking ‘how’ questions put them in a position of ‘power’ and now it seems as if they are advising you on how they would like to proceed.

Storytelling

Outstanding salespeople do not just present a product; they will paint a vivid picture with stories. Humans are visual creatures, and as visual creatures we love to be told a story, to be taken into a scene, to be shown a movie.

People buy with emotion, justify with logic.

A great way to accomplish this is to share with your prospect a case study or customer success story. Instead of merely putting in details of what was done and what the results were, also share some of the emotions that were felt before, during, and after.

You could say that the customer in the success story also felt uncertain and worried before purchasing the product, that they didn’t know what to expect. Then afterward they felt relieved because of how quickly and effectively the product was able to solve their needs.

The results and figures are also important for the prospect to justify the deal but are not what gets them excited to take action.

Status Control

Think about the choices you have made in life; the choice of universities to attend, the jobs you applied for, the types of food you eat, the venues you are a patron at with your friends.

Consider these choices. Did the choice increase your status or decrease it?

Our purchases are rarely fueled by necessity, rather it is driven by our wants and the perception of status they carry.

You want to boost your prospect’s status by his or her association with you and your product. When that happens, the prospect is much more likely to make a purchase from you, given the product could be had elsewhere, potentially for less.

The key here is words. By simply changing the words you use, you make it possible to elevate your prospect’s status and charge their emotional state.

Take this example: “Hi Sir, how may I address you?”

Typically, when a sales rep approaches you in a retail store they will probably say somewhere along the lines of “how can I help you?”

By changing a mere 2 words, you elevate the status of the customer. Status elevation enforces the positive emotions that the customer has about you and your company.

It is probably one of the most effective ways to sell high-ticket items. Items that no one really ‘needs’ but wants.

Here’s another example of a status elevating question, “What seems to be missing from your [fill in]?”

You can fill in the blank with words like, ‘wardrobe, garage, portfolio’. What you are doing is implying that the prospect not only could afford to own the products and services that you offer, they are used to owning similar products, and that a purchase today is commonplace for them.

Use questions, storytelling, and status elevation to be able to get your customers to start selling you on buying your products and services. Try it in your next sales interaction and comment below on your results