The Mind of the Buyer

TH E P SY CH O LO G I CAL M OM E N T (^179)
descrip tio n o f th ei r m ethod, th ey w oul d p rob
ably say, by i ntui tio n, a n d this may se rve a s
well a s any o th er word. B u t th e p roc es s o f
i n tuition m ay b e furthe r analyze d in to a
p roc ess o f c onsciou s app reh ensio n through
sen se avenue s which w e all p osses s. M any of
th e things th a t warn of th e app roach o f the
m ome nt i n th e sal e are smal l i nvol untary
m ovem e nt s o n th e pa rt o f the b uye r, such a s
sligh t inclination s o f th e h ea d a n d t runk,
min ute c on trac tion s a nd rel axa tion s of bodily
m uscle s. E ve n so sligh t a ch ange a s th a t i n
t h e siz e o f th e p upil of t h e ey e may serve to
indic at e to th e p ra c tice d sale sm a n th a t the
po rte nto us m omen t h a s a rrived. O the r m ore
ob vi ous sign s m ay c onsis t o f verbal re sp onses
of th e b uye r, for th e skillful sal esma n do es
no t do all th e talking i n e n ginee ring a sal e ;
inst ea d h e t h rows ou t frequen t feel e rs i n th e
form of questions, an d by th e w a rm th o f the
re sp onse, c a n j udge h ow n early a deci sion
ha s b ee n rea ch ed. A h undre d c ue s such a s
these a re p resen t a n d a re a utoma tically use d
by th e exp er t salesma n i n identi fyi ng th e psy
chol o gical mom en t.
H ow meet it? Up on re cognizing th e m om en t
wh a t step s may th e sal esma n take to see th a t
i t i s pa sse d m ost a uspici ously? O u r psych o