As the species whose thinking ability supposedly separates us from the animals, we really don't spend much of our life reasoning. Most of the time our minds get stuck on cruise control. Thinking takes up too much time and requires too much energy. Imagine having to think about every decision we make. It wouldn't leave us much time to accomplish anything else, would it? Most of us have a systematic way of looking at the world. When this mode is operating, our minds are perfectly primed to automatically respond to persuasion triggers. I call these triggers the Laws of Persuasion.
The Laws of Persuasion operate below our conscious thoughts. When employed properly, your prospects don't even realize you're using them. On the other hand, if you blunder your way through a persuasion situation, your audience will be totally aware of what you're doing. It's like seeing a police car on the side of the road--it jars us back to reality. If the persuader is skilled, he or she will use the Laws of Persuasion so the message is delivered below the radar.
Understanding the Laws of Persuasion involves understanding the human psyche. Such knowledge empowers you to improve your persuasive abilities. It magnifies your effectiveness in relationships, improves your parenting skills, enhances your leadership ability, and helps you sell yourself and your ideas. In short, it maximizes your influence.
In his book Triggers, Joseph Sugarman estimates that 95 percent of the reasoning behind a consumer's purchase is associated with a subconscious decision. In other words, most buying is done for reasons a person hasn't even fully formulated. Dr. Gregory Neidert estimates that our brains actually run on idle 90 to 95 percent of the time. Let's face it, thinking is hard work. It is human nature to conserve cognitive energy. Thinking burns three times as many calories as watching TV. Those who use their brains for a living have traditionally been among the highest paid professionals. Consider the incomes for doctors, lawyers, and engineers, just to name a few. Most of us feel we don't have the time or even the desire to think on the level that these professionals do each day.
What are the main reasons we choose not to think? First, sometimes the amount of information available is so overwhelming we don't even attempt to digest any of it. Sometimes our decisions simply aren't weighty enough to warrant the effort of researching all the available information. Consciously and subconsciously, from the bombardment of information we receive, we selectively choose what we will acknowledge and what we will ignore.
Whether we realize it or not, we love shortcuts to thinking. When we buy an item, we don't always take the time to research the product or read the latest consumer guide's ratings on the product. Instead, we often rely on the salesperson's advice. We might just buy the most popular brand, or we might bring a friend along for his opinion. Although we would never admit it, we sometimes even buy an item just because of its color or packaging. Certainly we know this is not the best way to make decisions, but we all do it anyway, even when we know we might make a mistake or feel regretful afterwards. If we thoroughly considered every single decision, we would constantly be overwhelmed and we'd never get anything done.
Recall a situation where you where persuaded or acted without thinking? The Laws of Persuasion are so powerful because they capitalize on two very predictable things: one, what we expect from human nature, and two, how people will respond in certain situations. People react predictably under a given set of circumstances. If we learn to recognize how the Laws of Persuasion work, we will know how to use them in our interactions with others. We will also become more aware of how others will attempt to use them on us.
There are two paths to persuasion: the conscious and the subconscious. Both paths can persuade others to your way of thinking, but each path uses a very different means of processing information.
In the conscious path, both you and your audience make an active or conscious attempt to understand, define, and process an argument. A person who is interested in your persuasive attempts will be highly motivated to listen. As such, she will also be able to consciously evaluate your message by carefully weighing the pros and cons of the evidence you present.
On the subconscious path, the listener spends little or no time processing the information. This approach results in those automatic triggers we previously talked about. These knee-jerk reactions happen when you follow your intuition or use a mental shortcut. Your mind reaches a decision without doing any logical processing. These subconscious decisions are largely driven by instinct and emotion. Individuals who spend lots of time on the subconscious path do so because they lack the time, motivation, desire, or ability to really listen to your message. They're not really involved in the subject. They use their instinct or emotions instead of their intellect. Passive processing and automatic decision triggers rule their decision making.
Our minds are programmed with automatic persuasion triggers. Most of us experience persuasive situations without realizing or thinking about it. Master Persuaders know what these triggers are and how to utilize them to their advantage. Understanding the Laws of Persuasion helps us become aware of how we are influenced without having conscious knowledge of it.
Learning to influence and persuade takes time, skill, and experience. What most people don't realize is that we already instinctively use many of these laws in our daily communications. The same Laws of Persuasion that we unknowingly use every day are the very same ones Master Persuaders use deliberately, consciously, and consistently. Master Persuaders make persuasion a habit. Think about how conscientious you were when you first started driving. Now, after years of practice, driving a car doesn't require as much thought or focus. Master Persuaders understand the rules of persuasion and practice them constantly. They can apply the techniques subconsciously, without even thinking about them. For them, the application of persuasion has become second nature.
Application Questions
Why do you think most decisions are made on a subconscious level?
Can you think of a time when you bought something and rationalized it later with conscious thought?
How can you use this information to benefit you in your ability to persuade?
Conclusion
Learning how to persuade and influence will make the difference between hoping for a better income and having a better income. It is the missing puzzle piece 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 because of your inability to persuade and influence. Think about it. Sure you’ve seen some success, but think of the times you couldn’t get it done. Has there ever been a time when you did not get your point across? Were 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 accomplish their goals? What about your relationships? Imagine being able to overcome objections before they happen, know what your prospect is thinking and feeling, feel more confident in your ability to persuade.
Go to http://www.prewealth.com/iq and take the free Persuasion IQ analysis to determine where you rank and what area of the sales cycle you need to improve in order to close every sale! Take your test now at http://www.prewealth.com/iq
Kurt Mortensen teaches over a hundred techniques to give you the ability to effectively work with every customer that walks in your door. Professional success, personal happiness, leadership potential, and income depend on the ability to persuade, influence, and motivate others. Kurt Mortensen’s trademark is Magnetic Persuasion; rather than convincing others, he teaches that you should 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 within the last five years. Most persuaders are using only 2 or 3 persuasion techniques when there are actually 120 available! Learning how to persuade and influence will make the difference between hoping for a better income and having a better income.
Go to http://www.prewealth.com/iq and take the free Persuasion IQ analysis.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
The Hidden Use of Reciprocity as a Powerful Persuasion Technique (by Preston Campbell)
How would you like a quick and easy Persuasion Technique to get just about anyone to feel they "owe" you? Imagine what a persuasion technique this would mean for a sales call, a sales letter (yes you can do in it writing too), a negotiation, business discussions, or a situation where you are trying to get someone to do something.
There is a simple way you can create this sense of obligation in someone. You do it by using the principle of reciprocity. That is, when you give something to someone, that person will almost always feel obligated to give you something back. The sense of reciprocity is so strong that in research studies where one person treated people nicely and the other person treated the same people poorly but gave them something (lets say offered them a soda), these people were more likely to do something for the person who treated them poorly. Reciprocity is one of the most powerful persuasion techniques that you can employ.
Now if you are familiar with reciprocity don't stop reading yet, because I have a little different twist on this whole concept to share with you in few moments.
It's very likely that when you think of reciprocity, you think of giving someone a "thing" ... it could be a gift, food, something to drink, or some other physical object. The problem with this is that in business situations current ethics guidelines may prohibit gifts (this is certainly the case in government contracts). In personal and business situations, giving a physical object creates a sense of obligation to provide something in return which can at times be awkward. Have you ever gotten a present from someone at Christmas, but didn't have anything to give in return. Next thing you know you’re sneaking out of the house to run down to the store or looking in the closet for left over gifts. Reciprocity is not always an effective persuasion technique if used the wrong way at the wrong time.
Another way to create a desire to reciprocate is to expend some of your effort for someone. While my wife and I were on a trip recently our neighbors were kind enough to pick up our newspapers every day and hold them for us (we forgot to stop the delivery). That was a very nice thing to do. Shortly after we returned home, they saw the car in the driveway and brought the newspapers over. After our neighbors left, my wife looked at me, I looked at her and we both said at just about the same time "we need to do something to thank them." Five minutes later, I was standing at the neighbor’s door with a bottle of wine to repay them for the effort.
The problem with doing something for someone is that this persuasion technique won't work in situations where you don't have the opportunity to use it due to time constraints or other factors or where you may not have the desire to put out the effort.
Another way to induce reciprocity persuasion technique is to share information. The most common way to do this is for you to share information that the other person doesn't have (and would find valuable). As a marketer when making sales calls to prospective clients, I would almost always try and have some information that the client would find valuable. For example, I would often offer some upfront recommendations on how to fix current advertising to make it perform better. Another tactic I found very effective would be to tell the prospect something they didn't know about their competitors or their customer buying preferences.
By the way, a comment on ethics is important here. Do not share information that is inappropriate to give away. That is information given to you in confidence, company sensitive or proprietary information, or information which if divulged would hurt someone else.
There is one other very cool way to create the reciprocity persuasion technique. It doesn't require giving a physical object, it doesn't require expending any real effort and it puts a different slant on sharing information. If done properly, it creates a desire to "return the favor" without the person it was directed to even realizing what has happened.
This hidden use of the reciprocity persuasion technique is to SHARE A SECRET. This little twist can really build the value of information that would otherwise seem very trivial. It gives you the ability to offer something very simple to another person and quickly induce a desire to reciprocate (often at the unconscious level - it just kind of slips through).
A great example happens every day in just about any restaurant. It goes like this. The waitress walks up to your table to take your order, she bends down, looks around conspiratorially, lowers her voice and says "I shouldn't be telling you this ... normally I would recommend the Salmon, it's one of our specialties, but today, the fish just isn't fresh, I'd recommend the Swordfish or the Ahi instead. Most people don't know this, but the Swordfish and Ahi actually cost less and you get more to eat." Guess what happens at the end of the meal? Research studies have shown that the waitress gets a bigger tip.
A second type of secret you can share is something about yourself. This is a form of giving and can create a strong desire on the part of the other person to share information, open up, or give back in some other way. You might say something like "let me share something with you about myself that I've only told a few other people ..." Think of all the ways you could use secrets as a reciprocity persuasion technique in sales, negotiations, or other types of persuasion situations.
A third class of secrets you could share would be little known, exclusive, insider information. People are curious and people love to be on the inside, to feel exclusive. If you have information that is exclusive, that you can ethically share, and that is relevant to the person you are trying to persuade you can offer this and quickly induce the desire to reciprocate. The neat thing is, it doesn't have to necessarily be monumental, just the fact that few people know about it can create value. Make sure you let the other person know the information being offered is exclusive. You might say something like "I want to share something with you I just found out, only a few people know about this, and it will only be shared with a handful of people ... (offer the information)."
Before we wrap up, let me offer a couple of quick guidelines on using reciprocity persuasion technique. First, you typically want to induce it up front early if you are in a conversation. Reciprocity lowers resistance which is something you want to do early in just about any dialogue.
Second, don't offer something too large. If you are giving some sort of an object or even some information with very large value, it could be looked upon more as a bribe and might actually create resistance.
If you want to learn more about the reciprocity persuasion technique and other persuasion and influence principles, I highly recommend Kevin Hogan's "Science of Influence" Course.
That's it for today! I'm about to spend several hours on the phone (oh boy). Use the reciprocity persuasion technique, and particularly add secrets to your reciprocity arsenal. You'll be amazed that the results are even better than you expected.
Preston Campbell has been a professional in marketing, sales and persuasion for over 20 years and is an expert in applied persuasion. He is a clinical hypnotherapist and PhD candidate. He has created one of the leading web sites on persuasion and influence resources at http://www.PersuasionToolbox.com
Copyright 2005 Profit Zone Marketing. This article may be reproduced as long as the content is not altered, this author summary is included and all web links remain intact.
There is a simple way you can create this sense of obligation in someone. You do it by using the principle of reciprocity. That is, when you give something to someone, that person will almost always feel obligated to give you something back. The sense of reciprocity is so strong that in research studies where one person treated people nicely and the other person treated the same people poorly but gave them something (lets say offered them a soda), these people were more likely to do something for the person who treated them poorly. Reciprocity is one of the most powerful persuasion techniques that you can employ.
Now if you are familiar with reciprocity don't stop reading yet, because I have a little different twist on this whole concept to share with you in few moments.
It's very likely that when you think of reciprocity, you think of giving someone a "thing" ... it could be a gift, food, something to drink, or some other physical object. The problem with this is that in business situations current ethics guidelines may prohibit gifts (this is certainly the case in government contracts). In personal and business situations, giving a physical object creates a sense of obligation to provide something in return which can at times be awkward. Have you ever gotten a present from someone at Christmas, but didn't have anything to give in return. Next thing you know you’re sneaking out of the house to run down to the store or looking in the closet for left over gifts. Reciprocity is not always an effective persuasion technique if used the wrong way at the wrong time.
Another way to create a desire to reciprocate is to expend some of your effort for someone. While my wife and I were on a trip recently our neighbors were kind enough to pick up our newspapers every day and hold them for us (we forgot to stop the delivery). That was a very nice thing to do. Shortly after we returned home, they saw the car in the driveway and brought the newspapers over. After our neighbors left, my wife looked at me, I looked at her and we both said at just about the same time "we need to do something to thank them." Five minutes later, I was standing at the neighbor’s door with a bottle of wine to repay them for the effort.
The problem with doing something for someone is that this persuasion technique won't work in situations where you don't have the opportunity to use it due to time constraints or other factors or where you may not have the desire to put out the effort.
Another way to induce reciprocity persuasion technique is to share information. The most common way to do this is for you to share information that the other person doesn't have (and would find valuable). As a marketer when making sales calls to prospective clients, I would almost always try and have some information that the client would find valuable. For example, I would often offer some upfront recommendations on how to fix current advertising to make it perform better. Another tactic I found very effective would be to tell the prospect something they didn't know about their competitors or their customer buying preferences.
By the way, a comment on ethics is important here. Do not share information that is inappropriate to give away. That is information given to you in confidence, company sensitive or proprietary information, or information which if divulged would hurt someone else.
There is one other very cool way to create the reciprocity persuasion technique. It doesn't require giving a physical object, it doesn't require expending any real effort and it puts a different slant on sharing information. If done properly, it creates a desire to "return the favor" without the person it was directed to even realizing what has happened.
This hidden use of the reciprocity persuasion technique is to SHARE A SECRET. This little twist can really build the value of information that would otherwise seem very trivial. It gives you the ability to offer something very simple to another person and quickly induce a desire to reciprocate (often at the unconscious level - it just kind of slips through).
A great example happens every day in just about any restaurant. It goes like this. The waitress walks up to your table to take your order, she bends down, looks around conspiratorially, lowers her voice and says "I shouldn't be telling you this ... normally I would recommend the Salmon, it's one of our specialties, but today, the fish just isn't fresh, I'd recommend the Swordfish or the Ahi instead. Most people don't know this, but the Swordfish and Ahi actually cost less and you get more to eat." Guess what happens at the end of the meal? Research studies have shown that the waitress gets a bigger tip.
A second type of secret you can share is something about yourself. This is a form of giving and can create a strong desire on the part of the other person to share information, open up, or give back in some other way. You might say something like "let me share something with you about myself that I've only told a few other people ..." Think of all the ways you could use secrets as a reciprocity persuasion technique in sales, negotiations, or other types of persuasion situations.
A third class of secrets you could share would be little known, exclusive, insider information. People are curious and people love to be on the inside, to feel exclusive. If you have information that is exclusive, that you can ethically share, and that is relevant to the person you are trying to persuade you can offer this and quickly induce the desire to reciprocate. The neat thing is, it doesn't have to necessarily be monumental, just the fact that few people know about it can create value. Make sure you let the other person know the information being offered is exclusive. You might say something like "I want to share something with you I just found out, only a few people know about this, and it will only be shared with a handful of people ... (offer the information)."
Before we wrap up, let me offer a couple of quick guidelines on using reciprocity persuasion technique. First, you typically want to induce it up front early if you are in a conversation. Reciprocity lowers resistance which is something you want to do early in just about any dialogue.
Second, don't offer something too large. If you are giving some sort of an object or even some information with very large value, it could be looked upon more as a bribe and might actually create resistance.
If you want to learn more about the reciprocity persuasion technique and other persuasion and influence principles, I highly recommend Kevin Hogan's "Science of Influence" Course.
That's it for today! I'm about to spend several hours on the phone (oh boy). Use the reciprocity persuasion technique, and particularly add secrets to your reciprocity arsenal. You'll be amazed that the results are even better than you expected.
Preston Campbell has been a professional in marketing, sales and persuasion for over 20 years and is an expert in applied persuasion. He is a clinical hypnotherapist and PhD candidate. He has created one of the leading web sites on persuasion and influence resources at http://www.PersuasionToolbox.com
Copyright 2005 Profit Zone Marketing. This article may be reproduced as long as the content is not altered, this author summary is included and all web links remain intact.
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