Use Society Pressures to Influence
Our society creates patterns of behavior in us and clients. Understanding these pressures and patterns will give us insights into influencing others. For example, have you ever been given a gift by a stranger? Did you feel obligated? I use to look down in airports just so one of those guys giving flowers out would not approach me. I always felt bad when they gave me something and I did not give them something back.
Reciprocation. The law of reciprocation is fundamental to human values. We all have the need to be โfairโ. If someone gives me something, I have to give them something back, because it is fair.
Effective sales people know additional information about this law. It really is not fair. It can be use in our favor. Example, I give the secretary a box of Gadiva chocolates, to โinfluenceโ her to get me an appointment. She schedules you in and you know that the potential sale is worth $20,000 in commissions. The law works very well if the client does not expect the item and it is specific to them.
I use to travel a lot for a financial author. I use to carry some of his books. I canโt tell you how many times, giving someone a free $10.00 book got an upgraded hotel room, an upgrade on an airplane, or a discount on service. What gifts could you give a client that would obligate them? (Free consultation, free reports, book, a personal gift).
The Law of Endorsement. There is good part of our society that is influenced by others. They NEED social proof.
They want to be like others or they believe because others use the product it must be good. Testimonials sell. If you have 100 people endorsing your product, if you have letters, evaluations, reports that tell how great your product is, it will influence the folks.
Even stronger are third party endorsements from companies, magazines, or celebrities. An article or personal endorsement from a celebrity can be a huge win-fall. I have pictures with celebrities: Tony Robbins, Charles Givens, Sir John Templeton, just to add to my creditability.
Write down some ideas of who could use your product in your community. It is even useful to give your product away just to get the endorsements rolling in.
The Law of Consistency. Still another example is the pressure of remaining consistent. Have you ever gotten into an argument and later in the argument, you know you are wrong, but you keep arguing? Once we go down the path, we are more apt to continue down the path.
All our lives, we are told to remain consistent, to develop habits, patterns and to develop symmetry. This causes us to desire consistency in our lives. We hate to say โyesโ then โno.โ Iโm right, not wrong. And once we buy into a position, it is hard to back out.
So, how can you get the client to commit in a small way, which will lead to a major commitment? Perhaps:
- Commit to a small step that leads to big one. Fill out a form. Take a gift.
- Agree to your probing questions. Ask them to do home work. Work on their plan
- Try a free trial that leads to the sale.