Do your prospects visualize themselves using your product or service?
No one can carry out an act or message without first thinking or seeing in their mind that it is possible to do so. You can mentally engage by helping your audience visualize and see in their mind how your product or service will help them. Real estate agents try to help their clients envision living with their family in a given home. By showing the house, the agent wants people to see it as their own.
I remember spending some time in Key West in the Florida Keys. Every night before dark, everyone would gather at Sunset Pier to watch the sunset and enjoy the view. It’s a great time of day to relax and enjoy the beauty of nature. It’s also the perfect opportunity for vendors and street artists to hawk their wares. We saw jugglers, sword swallowers, magic tricks, the works. One night, while watching people go by, many of them wanted to watch but felt shy unless a crowd had already gathered around the performers. The artists knew that if they didn’t get a crowd, they wouldn’t make any money. When someone remains anonymous, they feel little pressure to donate. I saw someone who was doing a magic act calling someone who was trying to remain anonymous. Soon the artist involved the man in his act. This brought more people to watch and also got a donation from the gentleman, who was no longer anonymous.
A group of researchers went door to door selling cable television subscriptions. When they included the phrase “imagine how cable TV will bring you more entertainment,” they immediately became more successful. Forty-seven percent of those told to imagine cable TV bought a subscription, while only 20 percent of the control group did. The mind is activated when you help your prospect to visualize your product or service.
In many persuasive situations, your audience may not be interested in your message, service, or product at all. How do you shoot in passe-by? Many times when we see a persuasive situation, we like to remain anonymous. We don’t want to feel any pressure, so we watch from a distance. If someone in the clothing store asks if we want help, we say “no.” We avoid getting involved because deep down we know that getting involved will lower our resistance.
If you see someone around you or in your audience who is avoiding or rejecting your message, try to involve them. You can get a volunteer from your audience and by getting them to volunteer, you will completely change their perspective. Pet store owners are famous for this. They see the children come in just to look around. Parents don’t want to have a dog in the house, but their son or daughter still wants to watch. The owner patiently waits to see the boy’s eyes light up and instantly she falls in love with a new puppy. The boy holds and hugs the puppy and the father knows that he will have problems. The owner is wise and does not want to fight with the father. He simply says, “It looks like she’s fallen for this pup. I understand her apprehension about getting a new pup, who will take care of him? If it doesn’t work out, bring him back.” Of course, you know the rest is history. Who can’t fall in love with a puppy after a weekend? The owner has gotten a reluctant customer involved.
Use questions that will generate “yes.” As you create your marketing and persuasive presentations, you need to design the number of times you get your audience to raise their hand, say yes, or nod. How many verbal yeses are you getting? An easy and effective way to get more yes answers is to design questions that will get a positive answer. For example, when a word ends in “n’t”, it will return a “yes” as an answer. Consider the following sentences:
It is not like this?
It is not like this?
I could not?
It is not like this?
Should not?
not?
You can not?
it was not so?
Making your audience physically move can also affect how your message is received. Participation can be something as simple as getting people to say “yes”, raise their hands, or even just nod “yes”. The more movement and involvement you can create, the greater your persuasiveness will be. Great persuaders look for moments when they can gain affirmation from their audience. They design their persuasive message to get as many verbal, mental, or physical “yeses” as they can throughout their presentation. And there is good evidence to support this practice. One study brought together a large group of students to conduct “market research on high-tech headphones.” The students were told that the researchers wanted to test how well the headphones worked while in motion (as the users danced up and down and bobbed their heads to Linda Ronstadt and the Eagles). After the songs, the researchers played out a discussion about how the university’s tuition should be increased from $587 per semester to $750 per semester. A group of students had been told to nod their heads up and down during music and speech. Another group was told to shake their heads from side to side. A final group was told not to make a move.
After “testing the headphones,” the students were asked to fill out a questionnaire not only about the headphones, but also about college tuition. Those who nodded their heads up and down (yes-shake) generally rated an increase in tuition as favorable. Those who moved their heads from side to side (no movement) generally wanted tuition reduced. Those who hadn’t shaken their heads didn’t seem really persuaded one way or the other. In a similar study at the University of Missouri, researchers found that TV ads were more persuasive when the screen featured repetitive vertical motions, such as a bouncing ball.
Engaging customers with human contact also works well for retail stores. Human beings are naturally drawn to other human activities. The sight of other moving humans attracts people and increases sales. Studies show that the more contact employees have with customers, the higher the average sale. In fact, any contact initiated by a store employee increases the likelihood that a shopper will buy something. A buyer who talks to a seller and tries something on is twice as likely to buy than a buyer who tries nothing. Talking to an employee has a way of bringing a customer closer and actively engaging them.
Everyone persuades for a living. There’s no way to avoid it. Whether he’s a sales professional, an entrepreneur, or even a stay-at-home parent, if he can’t convince others of his way of thinking, he’ll constantly fall behind. Get your free reports on Magnetic Persuasion to make sure you’re not left watching others get ahead on the road to success. Donald Trump said it best: “Study the art of persuasion. Practice it. Develop an understanding of its profound value in all aspects of life.”
Conclution
Persuasion is the missing piece of the puzzle that will crack the code to dramatically increase your income, improve your relationships, and help you get what you want, when you want, and win friends for life. Ask yourself how much money and income you have lost due to your inability to persuade and influence. Think about it. Sure you’ve seen some success, but think about the times you couldn’t do it. Was there a time when you didn’t understand your point of view? Are you unable to convince someone to do something? Have you reached your full potential? Are you able to motivate yourself and others to achieve more and achieve your goals? What about your relationships? Imagine being able to overcome objections before they happen, knowing what your prospect is thinking and feeling, feeling more confident in your persuasiveness.
Kurt Mortensen’s trademark is Magnetic Persuasion; instead of convincing others, he teaches that you must attract them, just like a magnet attracts metal filings. He teaches that sales have changed and the consumer has become exponentially more skeptical and cynical in the last five years. Most persuaders use only 2-3 persuasion techniques when there are actually 120 available!