Seven Factors of Persuasive Messages

         7 Factors of Persuasive Messages

Not in any book I’ve published on Persuasion, PreManipulation or Influence. There’s lots of great and instantly usable information here…that you can put into play TODAY. (1) Knowing When Enough is Enough: Before You Begin

“Too much information!”

Obviously this is really about the content of the message where you hear something weird, gross or disgusting. But the same concept is true for the total message volume. Sometimes all a persuasive message requires is: – All good? -Sound right? -Make sense? -Not complicated right? -Simple enough? -Good answer? -Worth going for? -We’re good? -Feel a *little* better? And sometimes your message needs to be the size of PreManipulation. I’ve never liked sales “pitches.” They tend to feel very phony and are generally pretty tone deaf. Sometimes “too much information” is not disgusting per se,  but rather goes beyond the point or is not relevant, or is something they feel they don’t want to know about. When you tell someone something that they really didn’t need to know, neither person wins. Maybe it was about an operation or some bad food or changing the baby’s diaper. Just about anything about these subjects will draw a response, “too much information!” from some people. What about in selling? In the process of persuasion? How about asking for the date? Closing the deal? Is it possible to give too much information and lose up the sale? Yes, it happens all the time. So too much, or too much pressure or too off the point can be bad. Which takes you to: Is it possible to not give enough information and screw up the sale? Yes, it happens all the time. Can you predict when to give what amount of information? YES!! In fact, this one factor is *so* important that if you guess wrong you *will* definitely lose the sale. Period. How much information to give someone is just one crucial piece you must know to optimize every persuasive presentation. How you determine this is based upon whether the person you are communicating with is likely to mentally process your information peripherally or centrally. Now don’t freak out!!! That means… are they actually considering, pondering, analyzing, thinking (central processing) about your message; or, are they relying on other signals like positive images or positive values for the answer. (Your appearance, your expertise, your status, your company reputation and so on are all examples of peripheral cues that have nothing to do with your actual message: your presentation.) The Sexy Super Model can be your best person to deliver the message, or, the worst. You have to seriously think about this one metaphor. As you prepare your sales message, is she your best choice? If so you are gambling on the peripheral (her not the message) message and not the central (the message itself) message. There is a right answer. Beauty can matter. Here’s something I didn’t tell you in PreManipulation: Yes, wearing the color red causes people to see you as more attractive. It’s almost always more powerful, intense, strong, attention capturing. (That part is in PreManipulation.) What people don’t know is that the color red does not cause liking but arousal. It’s attention getting but not all about love (as you might think from Valentines Day). Generally speaking the more information your client considers and the more they evaluate, the more information you need to give them. The less information they want, the more likely they will say “no” if you go into great detail. I’ll come back here in minute. First… There are other things that are crucial to success as well. Message repetition, prior knowledge, self referencing and other factors will determine whether or not you will be successful in persuading someone to your way of thinking. How Much is Too Much? As far as how much information to give someone, here is a good rule of thumb: The more expert a person is in a given area, the more features (not benefits) that person needs information about to make a decision. They are going to match your message to what they already have stored in their memory and mind. If you come across as not knowing the actual working details of whatever your idea or proposal is, you lose. If you have quality information, you engage the client and optimize your chances of making the sale. When a person is not an expert in a certain area, less information is generally more likely to be processed more quickly and favorably. And because in this case, less is better, you want that message to be very different. You want to share benefits and not features with this client. When the client is not an expert, peripheral signals (like the beauty of the person delivering the message) become crucial. (2) Dramatic Difference This one is not so easy but it is critically important. What is memorable about you and your product? What is the dramatic difference between you and your competition? When I’m at a public event, I pretty much answer every question and sign every autograph and take every picture until the last person has had their needs met. Then I call it a day. That’s ONE difference I like to drill into meeting planners minds. Why? No one else does this. And you? If they don’t remember what your dramatic differences are between you and your competitors are, they will say…no. Stress the dramatic difference between you and the person next to you. The most beautiful wife, attractive boy friend, or most popular person in the room makes for a memorable image but it could be a lot of work in a relationship to keep the flies away. Show the quality difference, and repeat it over and over. They may not hire you today, but in the future, they may. When they think of you, they will think of the dramatic difference, and it will make a difference in the outcome of their decision. (3) Repetition Tik Tok recently expanded the duration of messages you’re allowed to post. You can make it 2200 characters or less. Then a comment can be up to 150 characters. That’s it. The same is true for video descriptions. The big change is in video length. Demand for longer videos is clear as Tik Tok now gives you 10 minutes. That’s a massive change. You can find ways to repeat your message without hoping they’ll play it again. When making a presentation, the simple repetition of key thoughts, ideas and concepts can pay off big-time. While listening to Dottie Walters give a presentation about how to give a speech, this is what she said: “tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them, and tell them what you told them.” That was it. There is a lot to be said for the ancient tactic of repetition. The Importance of Repetition? I can’t stress enough the importance of a repeatable message, a simple story that can be retold by word of mouth. Find a way to get your message in a form that is easily repeatable. When I have made mistakes in the past in influence, it is when I failed to create a true meme, or a message that can be easily replicated. Memes are ideas that pass from person to person to person. These are the ideas that catch like wildfire – and result in lots of sales! (4) Prior Knowledge How much does your client know about your product or service before-hand? When they already know quite a bit about your product/service, you must not share the benefits with them. When they are already experts and have that knowledge, you must speak to that knowledge in great detail. When your customer is not an expert, you must share the benefits with them. (Notice the trick of repetition used here?) (5) Physical Attractiveness of  Those Communicating with Experts Surprising research reveals that your physical attractiveness makes a difference when communicating with an expert. When you’re talking about the numbers, statistics and details, physical appearance does not seem to matter. But, when you are simply verbally communicating with an expert, you should always look your best. (6) Self Referencing This fact has been communicated randomly here and there in the past. I’ll do a complete article for you in a few weeks. But here’s how important Self Referencing is… When you are communicating with your client/customer, be absolutely certain to “paint them in the picture of your presentation.” Legend Point: Research clearly shows that your client will give far more consideration to your proposal and will REMEMBER it in greater detail if your presentation encourages the client to see themselves using your product or service. Remember that self referencing is a peripheral signal. If your client has tons of product/service/idea knowledge, and you spend time on getting them in the picture, you are wasting your time and blowing the presentation! However, if YOU are the expert or your sources are and they have marginal knowledge, then self referencing is a powerful peripheral signal to hit on. This is true for almost all advertising where the customer/client has some motivation to use your services. (If they have no motivation to make use of you, all the self referencing in the world won’t make the sale!) Legend Point: The more people self reference, the more likely they are to buy, and the more likely they are to remember you and your services. If you and your girlfriend or wife often share a computer screen that’s a self reference identification point. It’s strong. If you wear red lingerie or simply like to see it, that’s a strong identification point. But if you don’t relate, then you don’t influence. (7) Authority In a presentation, a person who is considered a credible source is more likely to make the sale. I have not yet shared with you this research on credibility. When talking with your clients, you must make it known that you are the source, the expert. But, you should also be aware that source credibility does not sell those that are experts also. The fact that you are an expert, can tend to create competition in the mind of your buyer. Short-term, anyone can be an expert. Long term, if you can show that you are the expert, you can make the sale. With this group of people it is not the message that matters, it is the fact that you are the source, the expert. With non-experts, you focus on the message. (8) Arousal Arousal decreases central processing in the brain, and increases peripheral processing. If you want your client to be persuaded by central signals, you will need to keep arousal to a minimum. If you want them to be persuaded by peripheral signals, you should utilize covert tactics to increase arousal and make them open to the peripheral cues you are optimizing. It is to be noted that arousal can be excitation, happiness, enthusiasm, and not simply physical arousal.