Hey, 👋 Scott from The Sales Mastermind here.

Today's edition is only 4 minutes.

Anything a seller says is a bald-faced lie. Anything a buyer says is God’s honest truth.

There is some truth there. A seller is motivated to sell rather than tell the truth. A buyer is motivated to solve a problem rather than buy something.

As this human psychology runs deep, sellers can either take advantage of it or be taken advantage of.

Customer Service

Imagine a flyer waiting at the baggage claim after a long, tiring flight.

And, our flyer’s bag doesn’t appear on the carousel.

So they wander over to the customer service desk.

The service rep has two options:

Notice the options are based on who is at the center: An underreaction is about the customer service rep. An overreaction is about the flyer.

Based on the options, how would our flyer respond:

The above is based on Reverse Negative Selling, popularized by Sandler Training. And possibly the worst-named sales techniques.

Reverse Negative Selling

In conversations, each person plays a part.

Reverse Negative Selling is the idea that those parts constantly swing from positive to negative, negative to positive. Each person plays their role based on the last person to talk.

In our airline example:

When you combine these roles with “sellers tell bald-faced lies, buyers speak God’s honest truth,” you’ll notice sellers should speak less and be negative. Then, buyers will be positive, speaking highly of their impending purchase.

To make this work, when your buyers say anything positive… drop a “really bomb.”

The Really Bomb

A “Really Bomb” is when a seller hears a positive sentiment and responds negatively. This encourages the buyer to be positive.

The structure is:

For example:

The technique is all about delivery, not the words.

• *Really?* should be an exclamation of surprise and slightly louder than the rest of the words.
• *Others have said* is vague, generic, and short.
• *Prompt* needs to relate to what they just said. It encourages the buyer to keep talking.
• *Silence* is as it sounds. Stop talking.

NOTE: you might be afraid of *Others have said* and how it promotes a potential negative. However, being negative allows the buyer to continue being positive.

When you drop a “Really Bomb,” your buyers will start convincing you they need to buy your product.

Examples:

When you get “really bombs” right, you’ll have to hold back your laughter as it’s so much fun. When you get it wrong, you come across as rude.

I suggest role-playing 10-15 times with a colleague to ensure your delivery is vital.

Until next time,
Scott Cowley

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