I spent three years of my career selling advertising. There are a few kinds of advertising that pay off and quite well at that…but not many. I learned a lot about advertising by selling it.
Influence is Not Always Complicated
One thing I learned was that I probably would never actually buy advertising at least not at retail prices…and as a rule, I spend about 2% of my total revenues in business on traditional advertising. When you sell advertising you have an inside opportunity to learn numerous client strategies that bring a “sale” to “yes” or “no.”
One of the strategies you learn from clients is that they want to advertise but they don’t want the biggest ad. (This is usually a mistake, by the way, as the smaller an ad the less productive per dollar it tends to be across mediums and especially in print.) Because of the tendency for most people to buy a smaller unit of advertising, selling advertising was sadly easy.
“Would you prefer the full page at $2000 or the 1/4 page at $750?”
“I think I’ll go with the 1/4 page.”
“OK great.”
It was always this easy:
Two options.
Big price distinction.
Customer purchased the smaller option almost all of the time.
I never understood why all the sales reps didn’t do this. Did they know something I didn’t?
Apparently not, as some 20 years later, we now know how most people respond in situations like this whether in business or personal life. The research shows that when people turn down a large request, they often comply with a significantly smaller second request.
Of particular interest is the fact that if the second request is made by a different person than the first request, compliance tends to reduce.
Perhaps we can surmise that people feel compelled to comply with requests that are very small because they feel a sense of guilt for saying no to the first larger request. Perhaps some other emotion or affect is in question, but the fact remains…the smaller second request is often accepted if the first is rejected…and more often if the same person asks for the second request.
Finally, the shorter duration of time between the two requests, the better chance of compliance. Best? If the request comes in the same conversation!
The Science of Influence is the place to begin. What makes the Science of Influence different from every other program about persuasion? This material is fresh, potent, tested, and has nearly all of what you will discover is new! There is no rehash of past salespeople or scholars.
Science of Influence Master’s Home Study Course (12 CDs)
with Kevin Hogan, Psy.D.
This program is the culmination of years of selling synthesized with the last five years of academic research into compliance gaining, persuasion and influence. You won’t find a program like this, designed for you, anywhere else.
