Tweet

Mars and Venus Part II. "Moving towards" or "Moving away from".

Written by: Peter Lawless

Article Overview: All too often sales people assume that buyers use the same criteria to make a purchase as they would. This can lead to frustration and indeed some serious self doubt on a sales person's behalf. "They just don't get it", you may think to yourself. The reality is that not everyone thinks the same way. This is the first in a series of articles that looks at how you make choices, your customer makes choices, and how to realign your sales strategy, should they be different to you.

Mars and Venus Part II. "Moving towards" or "Moving away from".

Without knowing a person's strategy, you could be emphasising all the wrong points.

What does moving towards or away from mean?

With all of us, two things matter. The first is engaging activities that please us. The second is avoiding activities that cause us pain. So when I say people are moving towards, I mean that they tend to spend most of their time trying to move towards pleasure.

On the other hand, some people predominantly spend their time avoiding pain. In NLP, this is often referred to as one of their strategies. I say predominantly, because most people will do both; however one of them figures more in their life than the other.

So what has this to do with selling, you may ask. Lots! Because if you are a moving towards type person, who is selling cars, you may wish to emphasize the looks, time from 0-60, the power of the engine etc. But what if the person is looking for reliability, a car that is safe, and has low fuel consumption? They would be a person who wants to avoid the pain of breakdowns, the danger in a collision and the high cost of fuel!

Without knowing a person's strategy, you could be emphasising all the wrong points. It is therefore vital to ask the person some questions, so as to elicit their strategy, so that you can emphasise points that match their way of thinking.

What questions to ask, to elicit someone's strategy?

In the above example, the obvious question to ask is; "what do you look for in a car?" Interestingly enough that question can work in a most situations, along with "what do you look for in a house" and "what do you look for in a relationship.

The answers will give you a very good idea as to whether they are a, "moving towards" or "moving away from", type person.

There are many questions that you can ask, indeed you should ask questions relevant to your business or offerings, so that not only do you get a clue as to a person's strategy, you also help in the sales process.

A question that I might use in my business would be as follows; "What do you look for in a sales coach?"

While there are many different answers, why don't you see which of these answers is most appropriate to you?

* I want someone to help me achieve my targets, so that I can buy that Lexus I have had my eye on.

* I don't believe I am reaching my true potential, and I want to ensure I don't miss my targets again.

* Can you see how the addition of "because my current car keeps breaking down" to the first response changes the emphasis from moving towards to moving away from?


What to do if their strategy is different to yours?

One of my clients had two partners who were selling the benefits of managed services for small to medium sized companies. One of the partners seemed to have the most success with clients who were looking for these types of services to avoid downtime and save costs.

While the other guy, found most success with customers who wanted someone to look after their IT systems, so that they could focus on what they were good at.

Given that most people can relate well to people who think the way that they do, it is not surprising that without this understanding, which they will often fail to convince someone who thinks differently.

The mere fact that you now understand one of the ways that people make decisions, and that it could be different to yours, in my opinion, you should find it a lot easier to sell your offerings.

Conclusion

First understand your own strategy. Then try out these simple questions with a few of your friends, to get an understanding of how they think. There is a good chance that you will be amazed at the insights these simple questions give you into people.

Translating these insights into questions that you can then use to move buyers closer to your products can still seem a challenge to some people, maybe then you could do with some help.

This series of articles will explore the different psychological buying patterns or your customers, and help you to identify how they make decisions.

Mars and Venus I - Introduction
Mars and Venus III - How does Venus know they got it right?
Mars and Venus IV – What makes sense to buyers?
Mars and Venus V - Buyers and Sellers Want to Close the Sale for Different Reasons

Related Articles
  Mars and Venus - Part III. How does Venus know they got it right?
  Mars and Venus Part I. Sales people are from Mars, Buyers are from Venus - Introduction
  Mars and Venus – Part IV. What makes sense to buyers?
  Salespeople and Their Fantasies
  Turning A Small Business Franchise Into Big Business

Article Tags: breakdowns, busines, clue, fuel consumption, nlp, offerings, pleasure, relationship, reliability, selling cars, type person



Related Forum Posts
Re: The Future of SEO (Video) - Well it do have. Moving towards to video promotion, yes its future of SEO promotion and it also work in present times. Videos are also getting leads in Search engine rankings.
Hello From Movex Moving - Hello, my name is Stuart Suddath and I am the owner of Movex Moving Company. Movex blends the value of a rental truck with the convenience of a full service moving company. Our business model is unique in that the customer loads/unloads, and we drive. I am looking forward to sharing some of my wisdom with this great forum!
Re: Differences between men and women entrepreneurs - I appreciate what you've shared, Wendy. I understand what you mean about men needing a sounding board that they usually don't get from other men. I can't help but wonder if this is society that teaches them to hold their tongue and be brave to one another, while all along, they would conquer even greater enemies if they had that extra support from one another. No wonder executive coaching has given such great results in the business world. As far as the cave, I've been known to retreat to my own cave when I've gone into self protection mode. However, I would say I've experienced more "Venus" than "Mars". We may have some general gender differences, but each one of us is unique and special in our own way. This is why I feel that each one of us needs to focus on succeeding at being ourselves and not try to fit into anyone else's box. The reason I brought up this thread about what makes us women different is because some women find it a relief to hear that they are not the only women who struggle in the ways we've talked about.
Thank You Kevin, Welcome Ringo! - Anyone who has been in the forums in the past couple of years would likely have been welcomed by Kevin Lee upon their arrival. Kevin has added over 2,500 posts over the years and has been a big part of this forum's success. Moving forward Kevin is focusing in on his passions for teaching and baking and our new Marketing Manager is Ringo So. You may recognize the name from a flurry of posts that he created late last year (as part of my hiring process). So please join me in thanking Kevin for the great work he's contributed and in welcoming Ringo to the team! You'll hear more from Ringo in the coming weeks once he gets adjusted to our systems and learns what it's like to work at EvanCarmichael.com!
Fundraising for school activities such as sports, clubs - About a month ago, there was a two week time span when I entered my local Walmart, and saw a bunch of kids (with an adult supervisor) stationed outside each door asking for donations for their track team, or their swim team. (Never saw one for a debating or science club, but they may have been out there.) They weren't selling anything - no cookies, no candybars - just asking for donations. And I felt sorry for 'em because most people were just walking on by, so I contributed a dollar each time. But it got me to thinking.... was this really good training for the younger generation? Stand outside stores 'guilting' people into contributing to their wants, but without giving anything in return (ie those cookies or candybars.) And usually every weekend I drive by people standing by the side of the road holding up signs advertising car washes, again presumably sponsored by an organization in order to earn money. And I remember reading somewhere that these types of events rarely do make money. (Especially when any signs pointing people to them are usually so small and illegible that drivers can't even read them and drive on by in frustration...) What activities can kids do to earn money for their school, that isn't equivalent to begging? Moving lawns, dog walking... what? Should they form an entrepreneurial group and do something that way?


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

You Have A Website What Now

Five Daily Marketing Habits to Increase Sales

How To Be Happy at Work? Acknowledge Yourself

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.