Kevin Hogan

International Speaker

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It’s a remarkable result of fear propaganda when governmental restrictions for, say, flying on an airplane…you know, security check in’s – are actually getting stricter.

That is a quality propaganda job.

There are no frequent flyers who are remotely afraid of terrorists hopping on board the plane any more. Not that they couldn’t, just that they would be taken down.

Kevin Hogan on Influence Triggers On the other hand, real issues like the security of luggage causes potential vulnerability and we do little to nothing about it. Certain kinds of batteries can cause fires that continue to happen every now and then and it’s by sheer luck that we haven’t seen planes go down because of the terrorist in your computer.

The fear factor certainly allows governments everywhere to get more personal information about you, where you go, when you go. “Why were you in England, Dr. Hogan?”

Because I bloody well wanted to be, you moron.

But I didn’t say that because I was in a hurry to get home.

And now Iris Scanners. Cool technology and Big Brother no longer is Big Brother….it’s a MONSTER Brother. And it’s all accepted by a blind public as OK because the frame of the picture is brilliantly manipulated to justify all of the violations of ….well, the law! (Bill of Rights and so on.)

Today I show you some of these IMPULSE triggers and how you can use them ethically (unlike your government)!

Trigger: Fear

You probably don’t sit around thinking about worst-case health scenarios, but insurance companies do. They use those scenarios and the fear attached to them to shock you into buying a product that you wouldn’t have considered otherwise.

Now stop here.

Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

It is OK that someone makes money selling you insurance against something you couldn’t afford to pay for yourself?

Of course.

Keypoint: Our fears, whether they’re of illness, loss, or social rejection motivate us to make decisions by forcing us to consider negative possibilities.

Now, what YOU think someone will be “afraid of” and what they really will be afraid of are two different things.

For example: Some people aren’t afraid to die (at least now, or, in the “now,”) and couldn’t care less about what happens after they do die.

In fact, here are some statements to consider.

Which is the most effective motivator?

  • “Will I die if I don’t follow this diet?”
  • “Will my business collapse if I don’t purchase this software?”
  • “Will I be humiliated if I don’t use this deodorant?”

Kevin Hogan on Influence TriggersDing!

Yep, the third one.

No one thinks they’re going to die (at least not today) if they don’t follow the diet. No one who owns a business will think it will collapse if they fail to purchase software. The first two options will be ignored by most people, unless the fatal issue is imminent.

BUT…

Check out how you can “use fear” to get people to move!:

NO ONE wants to be humiliated. That happens today and it triggers a powerful response inside of both you and me. It is IMMEDIATE and has POWERFUL feelings attached to the experience.

So, knowing this, how could we sell the diet or the software?

What’s more important to me IN THIS MOMENT than dying SOMEDAY from failing to diet?

DON’T THINK.

Kevin Hogan on Influence TriggersThink of what you look like in the mirror.

Imagine you take your shirt off.

50 people are watching.

You are either OK with that because you have a heck of a body, or you slam the door shut because your privacy was invaded (that means you are 20+ pounds overweight) and someone else saw that to be the case and you felt HUMILIATION. (Exaggeration sometimes helps make a point, by the way.)

That will get you and keep you on a diet.

Keypoint: We want to be ACCEPTED. Everyone knows that when you get to a certain body type, you become invisible except to the skinny gal next to you on the plane who actually fits in the seat in coach.

When we are NOT ACCEPTED, we are REJECTED.

Rejection = Humiliation

KEY POINT: And the fear of rejection/humiliation is enough to make us do just about ANYTHING.

Stop Again.

(Thanks)

KEY POINT: The fear of rejection/humiliation is a BIG part of why people stay in the hamster wheel right? If you get out of the hamster wheel, you have to be secure enough to believe that YOU JUST MIGHT BE MORE QUALIFIED than at least ONE person who is employed out of the 300,000,000 people in the United States.

And, if you haven’t whipped that —(self doubt)—- you will *stay* in the hamster wheel until you do.

There are at least four kinds of consumer ‘fears’ that you can leverage to persuade when dealing with customers.

  • Fear that the status quo will go from good to bad and from bad to worse if he/she doesn’t buy your product
  • Fear that the consumer will be paying more than is necessary unless he/she does business with you
  • Fear of making a mistake in choosing a solution unless it’s YOUR solution
  • Fear of losing out on an opportunity unless they act now and purchase your product

And how do you take advantage of that?:

Trigger: Fear of Loss

When writing your marketing materials, your sales copy, when preparing to give what you hope is a persuasive presetnation; bear in mind that people respond more to what they are going to lose than to what they are “going to gain.” It’s called “fear of loss.”

And this fear is BIG.

Kevin Hogan on Influence TriggersPeople will do a lot to avoid loss. Think about this. The hurricane is coming. The water is getting higher. People are going to die, and they still grab stuff to bring out of the house. They don’t want their stuff to be lost!

You VALUE what you have as being VERY valuable. Your kids are 10 times more important than the neighbors’. Your wife can’t be touched by any other guy or you have to delete both of them. Your job is so valuable that you would get upset if it disappeared tomorrow to some guy west of Shanghai.

You don’t want to LOSE what you have. All the scientific research points to all these facts, and it comes down to this: You will do anything to avoid significant loss.

$10,000 KEYPOINT: Ask yourself: What will my customers stand to lose if they do not buy my product or service?

When you’ve figured out the answer, you’ve identified a key sales point for your presentation or marketing plan…to your customer (whether in print or face to face or on the web).

A word of caution: Fear works when an optimal level of fear is evoked. Not too much, not too little, but a level of fear that’s just right.

I talked about this in painstaking detail in The Science of Influence, Part 5.

(And yes, anyone who doesn’t have this specific program would be almost an idiot to try and get by without knowing what’s on those 12 hours of CDs!)

But, before you get to the program to learn all of this in detail, how do you know what’s optimal?

That’s tricky. You have to TEST to find out.

You need to go to a level of fear that’s strong enough to scare people into action, but not so strong that it makes them so disturbed that they just turn off and stop listening to you.

And, of course, you should only use fear as a trigger when it’s clear that there is a way to avoid the feared stimulus as explicitly indicated — and the way to avoid it is with your product.

And YOU are a product if you haven’t figured this out. YOU are the solution. Find out how…:

Trigger: “I AM THAT I AM”

Kevin Hogan on Influence TriggersOf the few words that the Bible says God actually verbally spoke to man…the above are on the short list.

We know a few things about God.

  1. He doesn’t mind being persuaded; and the Bible gives a powerful example of that in the story of Abraham trying to save a city.
  2. He makes decisions that he regrets to the point of repentance. (Creating man in the first place. “It repenteth me that I have made man.”)
  3. He’s interested in others’ welfare, but is also very self-focused. (See the above and see the book of Revelation.)
  4. and finally….He “made” you in his likeness/image. (According to the Book.)

So, we know that in some ways, you are like God. You regret things. You are sorry for things you’ve done. You can be persuaded, and you have a strong sense of self-interest. (I am that I am.)

….a.k.a. The Trigger of Self Focus

Even if they’re the nicest people in the world, your customers and potential customers don’t put you first. They do care about you, but they don’t care about your philosophy or your business anywhere near as much as they care about themselves. But don’t take it personally. God’s the same way. We all are.

Unless your customer is an EXPERT in the field, they don’t even really care about the technical specs of a product, either.

Their concern is much narrower.

What “floats the boat” of a consumer are the benefits they’ll receive from buying a product or service: how it will make their lives easier, how it will make them irresistible to the opposite sex, how it will make them the rich beyond their wildest dreams.

Don’t say you’re great in your persuasive efforts, your sales calls, your marketing efforts; demonstrate the benefits of buying from you, using specific facts and figures. Tell your prospect in simple, straightforward language how your products or services are better than all the rest.

KEYPOINT: It should be all about them, and very little about you. Everything you say and write should consistently answer the question, “What’s in it for me?”

The formula for how they think is: “I want that I want.”

And once persuaded, they want it now.

Consumers are especially interested in extra incentives, bonuses, and “value-added” packages because when they’re considering a purchase, they’re constantly trying to figure out what they’ll gain.

Pick five or six key words that will stir up the need or even greed if required; and plant them liberally throughout your communication to TRIGGER THE IMPULSE that’s the catalyst for persuasion or for a sale.

In private, where someone is reading something or has no one watching over their shoulder, “greed” is much more self-evident. When others are watching, you can’t appeal to greed as much, and remember, one of those “others” is you. You have to find the right balance, or you will lose by NOT persuading them on something they desperately want.

“Greed,” no matter what anybody says, is a part of the human psychological make-up. Everybody wants more of something…especially for less. If your message promises to help the individual get a bigger piece of the pie, then it will attract attention and generate sales.

Everyone should have sold out of the market this week. The Dow was at 6500 just 6 months ago. Today it’s almost at 10,000. A certificate of deposit at a bank pays 1%. It would take you FIFTY FRIGGING YEARS to get what your retirement account has got in the last six months….but because of greed…people “stay in” and they’ll get out soon….

I try and remind everyone to be very wary of greed. It is a powerful sensation.

Just remember: Greed is evolutionary. It’s not a “choice.” (So don’t hold it against them.)

Can you take advantage of someone’s greed?:

 

Trigger: Curiosity

You turned the page because you wanted to know if you can use someone’s greed to persuade them. You were curious. (And the answer is: of course you can; and you can do so ethically.)

All creatures are curious…especially humans. We explore our world rather than just respond to it, looking under rocks, pulling back curtains, and poking sticks into things.

Arouse Their Curiosity

Kevin Hogan on Influence TriggersTo arouse curiosity: The following words and phrases have been shown to turn apathy into interest on the Internet.

(I don’t use any but the first word, because I like “discovered” and maybe once in a while, “Sneak Peek,” but the rest of the phrases all sound awkward to me. But, they have been proven effective; and I want you to test them.)

Words and Phrases that Provoke Curiosity
  • Discovered!
  • Someone spilled the beans…
  • The answer you’ve been looking for…
  • Sneak Peak
  • For Your Eyes Only

To make curiosity work for you: After you create the “itch” that needs to be scratched, you must then make it abundantly and IMMEDIATELY clear that you can provide the solution to the itch. For example:

Our passion for discovery is hardwired, so stimulating curiosity is a powerful force that you can use to lure consumers to “go deeper” into trance. Curiosity gains and holds the consumer’s attention long enough for the rest of the persuasive message to be delivered.

Most people don’t like advertising and won’t make the effort to open a solicitation if they think they are getting an “advertising message” — unless they are sincerely interested in buying something that the advertisement offers…OR if their curiosity is aroused.


Are you afraid of screwing up by not knowing all the triggers?

Start here…

The ability to influence is the single most important element in communication in business, selling, a professional practice, intimate relationships and obviously in selling.

Every useful communication involves persuasion. You want people to believe what you say. You want them to understand what you say. You want your message to be accepted and acted upon. Period. Without effective persuasion and influence, none of this is possible.

The Science of Influence is the master’s home study course. What makes the Science of Influence different from every other program about persuasion is that 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.

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.

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