The Persuasion Rx
Is the RX more important than RECIPROCITY?!
Yes.
Is the RX more important than EMPATHY?
Yes.
Is the RX more important than FRAMING?
Yes.
Is the RX more important than IDENTITY?!
Yes.
Is the RX more than Scarcity, Consistency, and Social Proof COMBINED?
It is.
The most important element of hearing “yes” is not by saying something tricky.
Can you imagine trying to get through this with a sales pitch?
The most important aspect of getting “yes” from your client is changing their fear of manipulation, loss and disaster to her sense of comfort and security.
Causing your (future) client/customer to be comfortable and secure in your care is the very first hurdle you face, and you often must do this at the stage where you gain attention and allow the other person to see you from the throngs of other people with offers and services.
The failure to allow your client’s security is why they OBJECT to your proposals. Objections are rare when people are secure. Getting rid of resistance is the literal door the open mind.
And of course like just about everything in effective human behavior, especially in persuasion and selling, very few people know how to make someone else comfortable and offer security.
One of the six aspects of making them comfortable by allowing them see and FEEL your mastery. Your mastery is not power over them (where you are the interloper, the outsider, the bad guy) but power with with them (where you are the protector, the wise one, the one who cares) and there is a gaping difference.
Write this down and put it everywhere you go:
“No!” is an instant reaction to your trying to change the status quo for someone without their permission.
The fear response is a simple but evolutionary (very sticky!) response that comes straight from the flight/fight center of the brain (the amygdala).
If you want someone to say, “yes,” you MUST bathe the flight/fight center with tranquility, calm, certain, and secure messages, both verbal and nonverbal…and of course those feelings MUST be derived from the context of the situation.
When people are certain they are safe in your presence they experience instant comfort. They experience instant relief of having to make a decision when she has no information to do so.
There is rarely a “no” reaction when she is truly comfortable, certain and free of fear.
“Yes,” is all I want to hear, so I only sell the best. I only do the best. I only want the best. If the stuff literally isn’t the best, don’t sell it. Simple.
You cannot congruently ask someone for their money in exchange for something they don’t want or need. Thank God.
How easy is it to tell your kids to get out of the street when the car is coming? Does anyone ever wonder if the kids will feel buyer’s remorse? Any fear of how they will respond once they listen to you?
Of course not. Communication can be simple. It’s in the child’s best interest to not get run over by the aforementioned car. Thus you communicate, loudly, clearly and couldn’t care less about the response you get as long as they do as they are told.
The same is true with your clients. Whatever your service or product menu is, you MUST be as certain that one choice on that menu is ideal for the person sitting across from you that you can say, “get this.”
Rx? Six Ways
When I finished my presentation at the Million Dollar Round Table, I was escorted to an area outside the theater called, “The Speakers Corner.” A nice gentleman came up to where I was sitting. I had been answering questions and talking with people the day after the presentation. It was his first year he qualified for the Round Table. (Essentially the top 5% of the industry.) He held up two of my programs, seemingly at random… Science of Influence CD set and The Complete Body Language program.
“Which should I buy?”
Not a GREAT question coming from a guy who makes at least $100,000…(Smart question would have been: “I want to make and extra $150,000 next year. What do you want me to get?”)
“How much more do you want to earn this year than last year?”
He said, “I don’t know, 20%?” (He is in a professional where he can do much better, but oh well!)
“Then only get one and make it the Science of Influence because it will get you there faster.”
And indeed that is what he bought. Had he said he wanted to double his income, then I would have told him to get both and master both and then go to Influence: Boot Camp 2019. But he only wanted 20% more income so I made it easy for him. Next year he will see that for less than the price of a nice dinner in Las Vegas, he returned home with the keys to open the door to a gold mine.
Let’s transfer this to working with your clients:
The Keys to the Door of the Persuasion Gold Mine
Always be in an environment that you choose.
“Your choice” does not mean that YOU are going to select it for your personal comfort.
Instead, this the LOCATION you are at where it is most likely a person will say, “yes?” Tip: People say “yes” far more often when they are eating…if that helps…run with it.Every scientific study done in this area reveals that the CONTEXT is everything. Every context has a MUCH different influence on the behavior and decisions of your client. There are dozens of factors that go into environmental triggers that are compliance inducing.
In a restaurant, which can be an excellent setting for gaining compliance, bright light and well lit simply doesn’t trigger as much agreement. But that same restaurant with romantic lighting or a darker (not black) setting is one that can gain agreement. I’ve discussed this at length in the Comprehensive Body Language Home Study Course.
Similarly a restaurant tends to be a carbohydrate heaven. I’m not a big carb fan, but carbs convert into all kinds of cool chemicals in the body and brain. One of them is serotonin. Serotonin doesn’t make you happy but it does make you feel less depressed. Thus within a half hour of eating carbs they’re going to feel better. You’re the person their nonconscious mind connects that better feeling to.
Many restaurants that meet various influence criteria are superb at bringing people to agreement.
Be absolutely certain of your service or product. If you are a doctor and the procedure has risk, you convey that risk factually then tell the client that you are going to make sure it is done perfectly. Period. Never hide risk. Bring it out front near the beginning of your proposal. This increases the confidence, liking and trust of the other person, in you. (Claim, Risk, Proof of Claim)
Have prescriptions ready for the client in your mind from your experience with similar clients. Never Rx for someone when you aren’t sure it is best for them. Diagnose properly, wisely and carefully, then transfer that certainty by letting them see your personal mastery of the nuances of the subject. Mastery is typically observed in detailed diagnosis.
Offer as few choices as possible. One is a good number. So is two if you can clearly contrast them from each other. Three is a fair choice. Don’t offer four or more choices unless you can immediately 86 almost all of them.
Remember that people buy YOU first and then your service or product. Put your best foot forward and give people a few minutes to like you, then believe in you, then know you are real and for real. Then everything you say will be accepted without question.
Serve them like you want to be served in an elegant restaurant. This prepares the cycle, the relationship, for the next step forward.
Trust is triggered by speed of service. Quality if triggered by attention to detail. Caring is triggered by checking in on the table. Professionalism is triggered by seamless service. Comfort is triggered by seeing others being comfortable, calm or at ease, or in some environments, “free.”
Want to know more?
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.
