Want Customers to say YES?

Part #1

How to ethically persuade others to move in your direction.

This series of blogs will share with you how to use persuasive principles to help your clients make the best choice for them with that choice being your business services or products.

This article, the first of a four-part series is based on the research of Dr. Robert Cialdini Regents Professor Arizona State University, the most frequently cited living social psychologist in the world.

Dr. Robert Cialdini believes you are not looking for a change of perception, but a change of behavior getting people to say yes to your proposal. I will do more than just share theories, I will teach you the practice of influence where two competitors are presenting their proposals to a potential client ,with both proposals being identical yet only one salesperson will walk away with the sale.

I have personally used Cialdini’s strategies for over 25 years and recently sold one of my businesses using his methods. The lawyer handling the business sale stated this was the smoothest, stress less business sale he had seen in over 40 years.

Cialdini's strategies works.

I promise that if you will employ the principles you are about to read you will become significantly more effective agent of influence in your professional environments. These principles are universal, they will work not only in your profession but with your family, your friends, and one of the toughest groups I have encountered, our children.

You will learn the answers to the following 8 questions.

1.     How do you use the law of reciprocation to help you attain your goals?

2.     Which should you lead with 1st, your larger or smaller proposition?

In the second blog

3.     Applying the law of scarcity.

4.     Are your clients more interested in what they will gain from buying your products, services or by what they will lose if they do not do business with you?

In the third blog

5.     You are becoming the expert.

6.     How should you handle the products strengths and weaknesses, as all offers have both within them? This builds immediate trust.

In the fourth blog.

7.     Building consensus and consistency with customers.

8.     How do you build fast rapport?

In this blog you will receive answers to the first two questions.

“Pay every debt, as if GOD wrote the bill” Ralph Waldo Emmerson

1.The law of reciprocation. The good old give and take. If you remember my birthday, I need to remember yours, If I give you a present, then you feel obligated to give me a present. If I do you a favor, you will likely do a favor for me. All societies teach this rule of reciprocation to their people.

 We all want to give back to those that have given to us. This works because every society that trains its people in reciprocation gives them a great advantage. Whoever in the group needs resources, help, information they can get it from other members of the group.

The people in the group feel free to share with their members because they then have a credit with that member. Now when they need a favor, they will feel comfortable asking the other person for a favor.

We want to give back to those that have given to us.

One of Cialdini’s fellow psychologists teaching in Chicago tried a Christmas experiment covering the context of obligation. He mailed out 200 Christmas cards to names he randomly picked unknown to him. He expected 8-20 replies and was stunned by over 100 Christmas cards sent to him.

 People give back to those that give to them.

 In Cialdini’s research he states one of his psychology students by the name of Evelyn, living in Arizona shared her story on the context of obligation. She had received a Christmas card from a Marshall family in Santa Barbara California. She and her husband discussed the name, they did not know any Marshall's or anyone else living in Santa Barbara.

Yet the two families kept writing Long Christmas cards with letters to each other for 10 years. Then Evelyn’s daughter Courtney went to school in Santa Barbara as an honors student arriving 3 days before the regular students arrived but found her housing was not ready yet!

By then both families knew of the other children, vacations, and activities.

Evelyn called the Marshalls and sure enough, the daughter could stay at their home for the 3 days until the college dorm room was ready.

And if the Marshalls needed a place to stay while traveling through Arizona, they could depend on a return of the favor to stay with Evelyn.

How can you use this theory in your business?

While at a networking event consider the following. To gain persuasion strength you should look at a room of people and think. How can I genuinely help promote the business prospects of the people in this room? Help them and they will want to promote the business prospects of your business.

I was attending the National Speakers convention in Washington D.C. and had the opportunity to attend author Harvey Mackay’s program. As he finished, I ran backstage to get a picture with him. Harvey was exceedingly kind, asked me all kinds of questions and shared two friends of his I could contact for free advice. He then asked me if I would share with others his volunteer outreach efforts to gain followers. I handed out over 40 of his flyers and talked his program up to everyone I met.

Here is one more advantage of this law. Individuals you know sometimes ask you for a big favor and you deliver on that big favor for them. After you deliver that big favor, they will thank you. This is a moment of power my friends. Instead of just saying you were glad to help them state "You would have done the same thing for me wouldn't you?" This will give you a favor chip to be used in the future when you need a favor from that individual you helped. You may need an introduction to someone or their help in a project.

2.Which should you lead with 1st, your larger more expensive or smaller less expensive proposal? Dr. Cialdini's research class went out into the city of Phoenix Arizona and identified themselves as leaders of the local Juvenile detention center. They asked passerby's if they would take one day and chaperone a group of kids from the local detention center for a day visit to the local zoo?

The results? Not surprising 83 % of the respondents stated no way they would be chaperones.

Yet later when the same researchers made a much larger request of other passerby's in the same area of the city , asking if they would volunteer for 3 hours a week for 2 years to be a big sister or big brother to these same juvenile detention center kids.

 These passerby’s all answered no. They did not even know if they would be living in Phoenix in 2 years and they could not commit to that.

Then the researchers asked a second question, if they could not commit to 2 years would they be willing to take these same kids on a one day visit to the zoo?

This is the same question that was asked before to a different group with only 17% agreeing to take the kids.

Yet by asking a moderate request after their refusal, a whopping 52 % said YES.

This was a 300 % increase in gaining a yes to the proposal.

When you are making a proposal to a client ask for the larger request first and then if needed retreat to the smaller of the two requests which may be what you wanted in the first place.

TIMEFRAME- It is critical if you retreat from a larger request to a moderate request you do so in the same timeframe, not the next day or week. If done later, it will be perceived as a new request. At our local supermarket, a girl’s group was selling candy bars. I do not eat candy bars or buy them. They asked politely if I would like to buy a 5 pack of candy bars for a good cause for $10 and I said no thank you. They then asked me if I would buy 1 candy bar for $2.50 and I said yes.

As I climbed into my car and smiled it occurred to me, they knew one of the laws of persuasion. Think of ways you can use this strategy of moving from a larger request to a smaller one in your proposals. Have your backup proposal ready if they say no and immediately offer them your moderate proposal.

Anytime you do something different it is difficult. I have been using these strategies for 25 years and if you would like a FREE call to make this easier for you contact me Jim McEntire, Blueprint for Selling. No strings attached or sales pitch just some free advice.