Thursday, June 02, 2005

Rhetoric applied to sales

Here is an article even more dated than the last one I wrote about. It's by a fellow named Garry Cosnett, and it's called "The Art of Persuasion: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Sales Professionals." Funny, this article was written in 1996 and was originally hosted by salesdoctors.com, but they don't have it there any more. You know how Web sites can be -- the old stuff will get pruned away, even if it's classic. So this article is getting harder to find. This school system in Iowa hosting it now won't do so forever.

Anyway, the point is that this article IS classic. Cosnett shows us how the act of selling is tied to the practice of rhetoric, and in particular how each vertex of the rhetorical triangle (pictured) contributes to our relationships with customers, and to ultimately making the sale. The argument Cosnett makes is beautiful in its simplicity. His summary goes like this:
To [apply rhetoric to sales], a sales presentation should be:
  • clear, simple, and direct
  • systematic and easy to follow
  • expressed in the prospect's own terms
  • tailored to the prospect's needs
  • supported by solid, memorable examples
  • easy to visualize (illustrated, where possible)
  • as brief as possible
So sales is all about having enough discipline to follow rules nearly as old as Western civilization.

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posted by Ron @ 7:37 PM

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