Customer is king in the world of business. You must understand customer behavior to boost your sales irrespective of the quality of your product or service. When it comes to sales, the presentation of your product or service is the real make or break. 

Our blog on the psychology of selling breaks down seven psychological principles that help you get inside the mind of your ideal customer. When you know how your customer makes buying decisions, you start to see increased sales and skyrocketing profits. 

These seven powerful psychological tricks have helped many businesses, small and large, influence customer behavior and enhance sales strategy.

1. Reciprocate

Optimize your sales strategy with the power of reciprocity. It’s a basic human behavior to expect gifts, favors and good deeds. Use this powerful psychological trigger to make your customers feel valuable. 

Offer them a free sample of your product, a problem-solving guide or exclusive access to your premium products or services. The right set of rewards leave your target audience obliged to reciprocate by making a purchase.

Actionable Tips: 

• Offer free trials of your product or service
• Offer a less-featured product or service as a gift
• Share valuable content to convert them into paying customers

2. Make Them Sense Scarcity

The fear of missing out (FOMO) makes people do certain things that they would not have done otherwise. Build up a sense of scarcity in the mind of your target audience. They would feel the urge to buy your product or service when you offer it in limited supply or make it time-sensitive.

People value things that are rare or short in supply more than the regular offerings.

Actionable Tips: 

• Promote your product with phrases like “limited-time offer,” “sale ends soon” or “only a few left” 
• Highlight product scarcity to create a sense of urgency
• Persuade customers to make a purchase decision quickly
  

3. Leverage Social Proof

Influence your target customers with the help of social proof. The actions of others influence us to make buying decisions. We often buy products or services that we see others are buying as well. 

Some common examples of social proof are positive customer reviews, testimonials of your satisfied customers and user-generated content. You can also collaborate with influencers to endorse your product or service.

Actionable Tips: 

• Place customer reviews, ratings and testimonials prominently on the website
• Share user-generated content on social media platforms
• Show feedback of your satisfied customers to potential buyers

4. Sell With Decoy Effect

The decoy effect is a popular psychological technique that tricks your customer into purchasing a higher-priced item. While offering your best product or service, display a less attractive option as well. Put a reasonable price tag on a premium product and see how desirable it would become.

To understand the decoy effect better, imagine you are a service provider offering basic and premium as two pricing tiers. Now, introduce a third “decoy” tier offering the premium option at a lower cost but with far fewer features. 

This psychological trick will make the customer believe that the premium option at the initial price was a much better deal when compared to the “decoy” option. The decoy effect has helped many businesses sell their higher-priced products.

Actionable Tips: 

• Develop a “decoy” option based on a pricing strategy
• Provide the best value to your customers in your premium option

5. Set Expectations With Anchors

With anchoring, your aim should be to set a cognitive bias for consumers to rely heavily on the initial information. This first information will act as an anchor to make customers make buying decisions. 

Set your initial price as an anchor and let customers expect subsequent offers. At first, show them a high price for your product, which you offer later at a bargain price.

Actionable Tips: 

• Cross out the original while showing a discounted price on ads
• Make customers feel that you are offering a higher-priced product at a reduced price

6. Connect Emotionally

Consumers make buying decisions based on emotions. Logic often takes a back seat when emotions take over. Make your target audience feel great about using your product or service. Later, give them a logic to justify their buying decision. 

You can effortlessly influence customer’s buying behavior by building an emotional connection.

Actionable Tips: 

• Tell your story to connect with your audience at an emotional level
• Use storytelling for brand promotion
• Share how your product makes lives better
• Ask your satisfied customers to share their personal experiences

7. Cover Risks

While customers have plenty of options to choose from in the current age of the internet, most of them choose products that either offer a guarantee or risk reversal. No one wants to pay for a bad decision. 

Offer a money-back guarantee on your best products. Cover the risks of your customers to encourage them to try your product. It will take the mental burden off their shoulders. 

Actionable Tips:

• If you can’t offer money back, give your customers a satisfaction guarantee or a free return policy
• Encourage them to try your product without any fear or risk