Mental exercises for selling luxury items

Juma had practised the response countless times. He now had it down to a T. “When they ask me how much I want to be paid, I’ll say Sh30,000. That is a reasonable increment from the Sh24,000 I’m earning currently.” Suddenly his friend Abdi walked out of the (sales job) interview and Juma whispered, “How much are they paying?”

Abdi responded: “I don’t know but I asked for Sh40,000” And Juma instantly changed his target to Sh40,000. When his turn came and the question was asked, he tried to utter ‘Forty Thousand’ but his mouth rapaciously refused to release the figure, greedily guarding it like a sputtering fish trapped in a net. He stammered until he released it from its trap: “30,000”. And why? Because, in his mind, Sh40,000 was too much money.

If it’s impossible for you to fathom, it’s difficult for you to accept or say it.

This is the challenge for salespeople especially those selling big ticket (high-cost) items like high net worth investment services, a holiday home, enterprise wide software installation, or, even a luxury car.

The home could be worth Sh100 million, the car nine million and the investment target Sh50 million per quarter.

The challenge for the salesperson is to detach his situation from the price.

For instance, if I pay Sh10,000 in monthly rent, I might struggle to ask the potential buyer to buy insurance that costs Sh30,000 monthly. In fact, like Juma, I will likely stammer at the prospect of asking the buyer to pay an annual premium of Sh360,000. To me, this is a loan.

Small-ticket items

Possibly, when told by my sales manager to ask for annual premium I will hear but not internalise this. “No one has that kind of money,” I will possibly tell myself. And, therefore, I limit myself to selling small-ticket items which are more consistent (and, therefore mentally, acceptable) with my situation.

To resolve this challenge, the salesperson must enlarge his vision to what’s possible. Mental exercises abound that help with this.

Visit the dealer selling your dream car and ask to test drive it. (It’s free in case you’re wondering).

Call up the agent selling the house in the leafy suburb going for Sh40 million and go view it.

If that’s too much of a mental leap, start small. Visit a mall which is beyond you and after browsing, sit at a high-end restaurant and ask for a soda.

Imbibe it as you soak in the atmosphere. Graduate from that to asking to fit that jacket that’s worth six months your salary. Take a selfie in it. Not exposing your mind to what’s possible limits you to swimming in shallow waters and trapping minnows.

And in case you’re wondering, today Juma earns 10 times the amount he was choking on.