Sales techniques and buyer-seller relationships

Sales techniques are strategies used by salespeople to persuade customers to make purchases. These approaches can vary in focus and significantly affect the relationship between buyers and sellers, influencing factors like trust, cooperation, and repeat business. Research by DelVecchio et al. (2003) explored how different focuses – on the customer, competitor, or product – shape these interactions.

Key sales technique focuses

• Customer-focused - This approach treats each customer as having unique needs. Salespeople act as experts, providing tailored solutions and using active listening to understand problems. As a result, it builds cooperation and trust, encouraging repeat trade while reducing conflict. However, if too many questions are asked, buyers might view the salesperson as uninformed.
• Competitor-focused - Here, salespeople assume customers have similar needs and highlight how their product compares favourably to rivals, emphasising features, advantages, and benefits (FAB). This can lead to lower customer satisfaction and more bargaining, negatively impacting relationships. Excessive comparisons might signal incompetence.
• Product-focused - Customers are seen as passive, with salespeople providing detailed product information and demonstrations without comparisons to competitors. This positions sellers as experts, fostering trust and positive relationships.

Interpersonal influence techniques in sales

Interpersonal influence techniques are methods that leverage psychological principles to encourage purchases. One prominent example is the disrupt-then-reframe (DTR) technique, which creates momentary confusion before offering a clarifying, persuasive reframing.

The disrupt-then-reframe technique

The DTR technique disrupts a buyer's usual thinking pattern and then reframes the offer to make it appealing. For instance, in a study by Kardes et al. (2007) conducted in a supermarket, shoppers were approached to buy candy.

Examples of DTR in action:

Need for cognitive closure and ambiguity aversion

Ambiguity aversion refers to people's dislike of uncertainty, leading them to seek quick resolutions. Cognitive closure is the desire for firm answers to reduce this uncertainty. The need for cognitive closure (NFCC) varies among individuals – some have a high NFCC, preferring simple, rapid solutions, while others tolerate more ambiguity.

How NFCC relates to sales techniques:

• Humans are ambiguity averse; cognitive closure is sought through quick, simple solutions.
• Some people have higher need for cognitive closure (NFCC) than others.
• The disrupt-then-reframe (DTR) technique is more effective with people who have high NFCC.
• Reframing resolves ambiguity created through disruption.
• NFCC increases when time is short, the situation is boring, or the individual is from a high uncertainty avoidance culture (e.g., Japan).

Research study: Kardes et al. (2007)

Kardes et al. (2007) examined how NFCC influences the success of the DTR technique in a field experiment with students.

Aim

To investigate the effect of NFCC on the effectiveness of the DTR technique.

Participants

University students in the Netherlands who were approached on campus.

Method

A confederate (a researcher posing as a salesperson) offered club membership for half a year. In the control group, the pitch was: "You can now become a member for half a year for 3 Euros. That's a really small investment!" In the DTR group, it was: "You can now become a member for half a year for 300 Euro cents," followed by "That's 3 Euros. That's a really small investment!" Participants then completed a questionnaire measuring their NFCC.

Results

Buyers in the DTR group were more likely to have high NFCC than buyers in the control group.

Conclusions

DTR increases compliance but this is moderated by need for cognitive closure.

Evaluation

• Strengths - In Kardes et al. (2007), students were unaware of their participation, decreasing demand characteristics.
• Limitations - In Kardes et al., students were unaware of their participation so could not consent or withdraw. They were told the NFCC questionnaire was about 'lifestyles and opinions'. All students in Kardes et al. studied at a Dutch university. DelVecchio et al. (2003) had a sample that was 85% men (androcentric); this is not representative of how female buyers/sellers interact.

Cialdini's six principles for closing a sale

Robert Cialdini identified six psychological principles that salespeople use to influence buyers and close deals. These principles draw on human tendencies to respond to social cues, making persuasion more effective.

The six principles:

• Reciprocation - Humans have a tendency to return favours. The salesperson 'helps' us by giving a discount; we feel indebted to them and obliged to buy the item.
• Commitment and consistency - Humans prefer/expect others to behave consistently. If a person commits to doing a job at a certain price, we expect them to stick to this.
• Social proof - Consumers 'look to' others as a guide to how to behave, especially people they admire. Influencers on social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram can influence how we behave.
• Authority - People are more likely to buy from people with authority (e.g., expertise, charisma). Celebrities with connections to products are used in adverts, such as sports personalities selling vitamin supplements.
• Liking - Sales are more likely when there is good rapport between seller and potential buyer. 'Chuggers' seeking charitable donations from passers-by often pay compliments in an attempt to build a relationship.
• Scarcity - Rare products/services automatically become more valuable. Shops often state that 'stocks are limited' or that 'special offers' will not be available after a certain date.

Research evidence on sales principles

Research supports Cialdini's principles, particularly reciprocation. When given a free gift, participants rated a company more favourably than participants who did not receive a gift (Beltramini, 1992). However, gift recipients were no more likely to contact the company in future; gifts improved attitudes but not sales.

Methodological issues in sales research:

Issues and debates in sales psychology

Sales techniques raise broader psychological questions about application, culture, and human agency.

Applications to everyday life

Selling strategies can be tailored for different-sized organisations that respond differently to various techniques, based on evidence. DTR can be used to help organisations to increase sales, including not-for-profit organisations.

Cultural differences

Buyers in uncertainty avoidance cultures may respond more positively to product-focused selling techniques. Social proof is more effective than commitment/consistency in uncertainty avoidance cultures.

Determinism versus free will

NFCC is partly determined by time pressure but low NFCC customers may exercise free will when there is no time pressure. This makes purchasing difficult to predict.