Social
proof is the psychological phenomenon that encourages people to follow the
crowd.
It
is human nature to believe that a busy restaurant is a better bet than an empty
one…even if, by every other measure like food quality and atmosphere and cost,
the empty restaurant would be the better choice. Social proof lets people off
the hook. They don’t need to conduct their own evaluation. They simply trust
that others know best.
Does
this phenomenon have an application to successful selling? You bet. Think how
you could use social proof to tout your offering.
- Use social media to create online buzz around your solutions to indicate their popularity. Then watch your web site’s increased activity.
- Use your consultative selling training. Once you understand your client’s situation, present case studies of clients (competitors included) with similar business problems and describe your solutions.
- Be busy. Just like nightclubs create lines outside their doors to attract clientele, do not be afraid to put up some hurdles between you and your clients to increase their desire to work with you.
