That Aristotle was one smart Greek. He wasn’t even thinking about sales people at the time, but he still laid some of the key foundations for successful selling. When we think about Greeks and geometry we might think first about that other guy, Pythagoras. But it’s Aristotle and the triangle that are most relevant to us.
Aristotle authored a work called “The Rhetoric”. From this work comes a framework called the Rhetorical Triangle. Understanding and mastering the Rhetorical Triangle is foundational to our sales. In “The Rhetoric” Aristotle describes the three elements that must be present to make a successful argument. If we define sales as persuading people to make decisions in our favor, we are essentially mounting a form of argument and expecting our customer to buy it. The three elements are called Ethos, Pathos and Logos. For those of us who are a bit rusty with our Greek I’ll translate in very simplified sales terms. Ethos refers to our credibility (and our company and solutions), Logos is the logic of our argument. Finally, Pathos is the emotional impact on the buyer.
When we present, if we miss one of the three elements, we may fail to persuade. When we try to close, if we have only addressed two of the elements, the deal may stall. When we seek action, if we don’t have a complete triangle, we may fail to build momentum.
Each of Ethos, Pathos, Logos needs detailed, conscious development. How often do we do this? How often do we nail one or two, but ignore the third, to our cost? When we present, how much thought do we give to the development of a logical argument, or how we will emotionally effect our audience, or establish our own, solution or company credibility?