mojcazirovnik.com

HOW TO PERSUADE (EVEN) BETTER?

A Series of Short and Useful Tips on How to Boost Your Persuasive Power

I got an inspiration for this series of posts in one of my May 2010 workshops. We had a meeting simulation, we recorded it to have a clearer idea of the feedback I gave to all the participants.

At a certain point one of the participants started his argument as follows: »To overcome this inconvenience, I believe we should look for a completely different approach!«

What bothered me was that the sentence suggests an argument, based on a rather subjective point of view, using “I believe”. And this makes it poor in terms of being persuasive.

So, why not sharing with all the readers a few useful tips on how to verbalize better their arguments. And you can use them at work and at home.

“IT’S A BRAND NEW THING”

When you start an application, very often you are offered to update it: “A new version of XYZ is available. Update now?” How many of you click “yes” immediately and how many “later”? Actually, I am one of those who, at least in IT, would go for “never” if it were available. It’s not.

What if the invitation for an update read differently: “A version similar to the one you’re already using is available. Update now?” I bet the number of users, who would be willing to update to a newer version would increase instantly.

What if the invitation went like this: “A version similar to the one you’re already using is available. It just offers two new features, A and B, which can save you around 15% of time doing the reports! Update now?” I can only guess what would happen, but according to the principle explained below, we’d all be updating the version like crazy.

WHAT’S THE STORY BEHIND?

When you want to persuade either your clients to buy something or your staff to change their current mode of working or your children to go to a new school, because you’ve moved, using words like: brand new, completely different, you’ll be the first using it, it’s just come out … it’s very likely it will produce counter effects.

Why is that? By trying something new, not tested, unknown, used by very few makes people feel unsafe and endangered. It also encourages change, which we all want to avoid at all costs, because changes involve time, energy, money …

So, when you want to sell a new product just tell your client that it’s exactly as the one they already have, it only allows them to do this and that, which can save them time and money. You can do the same with your staff suggesting that the use of the proposed system can make their work easier, reduce the number of errors and like this – saves time and money. And the school is never new, it’s been there for years. They have the same curriculum, your son will be going in the same grade, it’s just that this school gives him the chance to meet some new friends. That’s it.

Instead of taking your listeners to the unknown, make them feel safe, secure, leave them in their comfort zone. On their old and scruffy couch.