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Author: [[Oren Klaff]] Full Title: Flip the Script Category: #books I don’t like being pressured into making a purchase. And I’m not alone. Over decades of being marketed, pitched, sold, and lied to, we’ve all grown resistant to sales persuasion. The moment we feel pressured to buy, we pull away. And if we’re told what to do or what to think, our defenses go up. In other words, buyers don’t put much trust in you and your ideas. However, everyone trusts their own ideas. Accordingly, today, products are bought, not sold. As this unfolded, I was watching myself fall back onto the classic sales approach, with its tired old script: First become likable and build rapport, then explain “features and benefits,” next do a trial close, and then fight like an alley cat to overcome all the objections the buyer has come up with. The next three minutes were silent and stressful, and I finally drank the warm vodka that had been poured for me an hour earlier. The silence grew uncomfortable for Viktor, and I let him be uncomfortable. He scratched some numbers on a notepad only because he wanted to end our staring contest. No matter the pressure and risk, I was not going to chase him. He had to chase me, if only a little bit. And then, at last, the ice broke. “Can we see the data again, please?” he said politely. My method had worked. He was chasing me, ever so slightly. Anything new and foreign is untested and, therefore, not to be trusted. The human brain is thus wired by evolution to distrust any information from the outside world and to greatly favor that which originates inside us. Consider these sales scripts: “I have another buyer on the line who wants it.” “This is the last one we have in stock.” “It’s thirty percent off!” But today, everyone can find, research, and buy anything online—so high-pressure sales scripts are not just unwelcome, they are hated. In fact, these tactics are so outdated that even car manufacturers are abandoning them. In their studies, car companies found that the high-pressure scripts do more harm than good, often causing people to do the opposite of what you’re asking, just to prove that you aren’t controlling them—a phenomenon known as psychological reactance. But the buyer always responds in the same way: First, by pacifying the seller: “Yes, yes, this looks terrific, you really have a great product.” Second, by backing away: “I just need to look a little more closely at the numbers.” Finally, by deferring the decision to an unavailable third party: “I will need to talk to my partner; he needs to approve an important decision like this.”

AI Summary

Flip the Script by Oren Klaff presents wisdom from the contemplative traditions.

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