Cutting-edge science can make all the difference for salespeople in a time when they are facing a business world in transformation.

In The Invisible Game: The Secrets and the Science of Winning Minds and Winning Deals, neuroscientist Kai-Markus Mueller and sales professional Gabriele Rehbock deliver a hands-on guide to the hidden dynamics that influence the outcomes of most business deals. In plain English, the book unpacks recently discovered insights from psychology, behavioural economics, and neuroscience and explains how to apply them to your advantage in real-life business situations.

The authors show you how to influence buying decisions and how to successfully respond to challenging business situations in order to put you in control of the levers that drive sales success. You'll also find

• Advanced strategies and tactics that offer a lasting edge in negotiations, sales and other business transactions
• Smart techniques to build rewarding customer relationships
• The psychology behind gains and losses revealing new keys to profitable pricing

• Real-life advice on how to counter a buyer's intimidation tactics: time, uncertainty, fear, and silence

  An essential, step-by-step playbook for sales professionals, The Invisible Game will also earn a place on the bookshelves of entrepreneurs, business owners, and other independent professionals--like lawyers, accountants, freelancers, consultants, and programmers--who regularly sell their services to other businesses.

  Autorentext

  KAI-MARKUS MUELLER is a professor of consumer behavior with a research focus on behavioral pricing. He is a neuroscientist by training and is the inventor of the NeuroPricing(TM) concept. GABRIELE REHBOCK is a multiple award-winning sales expert. As a top executive in the fragrance industry, she carried P&L responsibility for global customer relationships including Colgate-Palmolive, Henkel and Procter & Gamble.

  Inhalt

  Introduction: It's Never Been Harder to Be a Salesperson 1

  Part I: Building Your Situational Awareness 17

  1. The Forces Behind the Invisible Game 21

  2. All Sales Are Won and Lost on Illusions 33

  3. Controlling Illusions = Controlling the Deal 39

  4. Relativity and Anchoring: The Illusion of Numbers 53

  Part II: Playing Defence and the Power of "no" 63

  5. Price = Maths + Story 69

  6. Psyched Up or Psyched Out? 75

  7. Paying the Price of 'Yes' 81

  8. Overcoming the Fear of 'No' 91

  9. Expand Your Comfort Zone 105

  10. From the Buyer's Playbook: Time, Uncertainty, Fear, and Silence 119

  Part III: Playing Offence and the Powers of Influence 135

  11. Personal Versus Paper Power: Where's Your Leverage? 137

  12. What Buyers Think and How They Make Decisions 145

  13. What Is Your Re-pricing Strategy? 161

  14. Who Will You Anchor Today? 171

  15. Why Equal Things Aren't Always Equal 177

  16. The Power of Free and the Power of Now 185

  17. To Bundle or Not to Bundle: Is That Really the Question? 191

  18. Decoys and the Power of 3 201

  19. The Power of the Next Small Thing 209

  Conclusion: Has It Really Never Been Harder to Be a Salesperson? 217

  Epilogue: Some Final Takeaways from Gaby and Kai 219

  Acknowledgements 225

  About the Authors 229

  Notes 231

  Index 245