Hard Selling vs Soft Selling: Which Sales Technique Is Better?

Success in B2B is all about honing your communication skills and experimenting with different types of sales approaches, such as hard and soft selling. 

But is one better than the other, or are they both tools you should use depending on the prospect?

It’s time to finally clear up the hard selling vs soft selling debate!

Hard Selling Explained

Hard selling is quite simple - it’s a direct sales technique in which a salesperson asks the buyer to make a purchase straight up. Hard selling is a no-frills approach where you are using determined language to convince the prospect to do something that benefits your company, like buying your offering. 

Since it’s a straightforward technique, if done with a dose of respect and skill, it’s possible to engage the prospect to take quick action.

So, is the hard selling vs soft selling debate settled since engaging a customer directly offers immediate results? Let’s see.

Soft Selling Explained

If hard selling is akin to a microwave, soft selling is like cooking in a stone oven. In other words, soft selling is a longer approach but the result is worth it. 

With this sales method, you’re leveraging the powers of subtle persuasion. Sales are in the background while the emphasis is on building a strong relationship with the prospect. 

This doesn’t mean you’re wasting your time, though. Your main goal is still closing a sale, but the way you go about it is different. For instance, you may use closing techniques like summary close to persuade the prospect that your solution is worth the money.

The Advantages And Drawbacks Of Hard Selling

The main benefit of the direct selling approach is that it offers instant results. While soft selling is a long-term strategy that may take months of explaining why your product or service is the right choice, hard selling helps you cut the sales cycle short when you make your offer.

As we’re sure you witnessed it firsthand, the world of B2B is hectic. You’re targeting decision-makers within companies such as upper management or even CEOs, all in the hope to get a meeting. These individuals have busy schedules and are swamped running businesses, seldom having time to chit-chat with sales reps.

This is where hard selling is advantageous as it can help convey your sales message without beating around the bush.

Arguably the best thing is that this approach works well regardless of your sales channel. You can pitch your offering over the phone, by text, email, or in person (if you’re persistent and/or charming).

Even though it seems like hard selling vs soft selling is a pointless discussion since the direct approach is so practical, there are some significant drawbacks you should consider.

The biggest one is that it’s not effective in every context and not every company executive will appreciate it. This is especially true when a beginner salesperson who doesn’t quite have their sales pitch figured out tries to leverage hard selling. They’ll crash and burn, and end up alienating the prospects in the process.

Even if you have a veteran sales rep making the call, many prospects simply don’t like to be pressured into doing something. As a result, they may dismiss the call and end up not even listening to what you have to say.

Furthermore,  there is another major thing to consider when deciding on hard selling vs soft selling - the direct approach usually ends up in just a one-time sale. What do we mean by that?

Generally speaking, hard selling doesn’t lead to repeat purchases. Since you’re skipping on building a relationship with your prospect, they won’t be emotionally invested in your brand even if they buy your product or service.

The Advantages And Drawbacks Of Soft Selling

When talking about hard selling vs soft selling, you have to consider the sales objections you will face along the way. This is where using soft selling techniques is preferable, since they’re just better at overcoming these setbacks.

Prospective buyers are rarely ready to make a purchase without long consideration, and they may think that your price is too expensive. By establishing a relationship with them, you can overcome these objections and close a sale that would have likely been lost if you used a direct approach.

With soft selling, you have the opportunity to discover the unique needs of your prospects, which is impossible to do with hard selling. So instead of spending the majority of your time peddling your offer to a customer, you can ask informed questions that will eventually help you seal the deal.

The Drawbacks of Soft Selling

Unfortunately, soft selling requires a lot more effort. Since your main priority is forming long-lasting connections, you’ll spend a lot of time researching your prospects’ needs, fine-tuning your approach, staying in touch, and regularly following up. 

This also takes more time. Since you can’t force anyone to buy from you this way, there’s a lot of waiting around for the prospect to make the decision.

To make matters worse, this may all end up being in vain if the prospect you’re nurturing is not ready to make a purchase. So in some cases, you’ll cause unnecessary delays and waste valuable resources.

Hard Selling Vs Soft Selling: Who Is The Winner?

Veteran sales reps never rely strictly on one approach and use both techniques when needed. Because not every prospect is the same, it takes a lot of experience and intuition to figure out the right approach when establishing that initial contact. 

For example, if you pay attention when making a sales call, you can begin with hard selling. If you notice the person on the other end pulling back, you can shift gears and use a more refined approach.

In doing so, you can potentially make the sale right away and avoid turning away a customer that needs a bit more time to make a decision, thus covering both bases.

So in conclusion, hard selling vs soft selling is pretty much a pointless debate. Both sales techniques are necessary to maximize sales and be the best salesperson you can be. You have to read the room, so to speak, and then decide which approach will yield the best results for the customer you are selling to. 

Good luck!