Archive for the ‘Persuasion/Influence’ Category

How To Frame Your Sales Presentations

Tuesday, September 14th, 2010

Short Term Gratification Wins 2 to 1. A study released on March 31, 2010 by the University of Texas at Austin showed that when given a choice between short–term gratifications versus longer-term benefits, that people chose 2 to 1 the instant pleasure over the longer benefits. Wow, 2 to 1 is a huge difference. It is also interesting to note that the subjects knew ahead of time what that longer-term positive benefit would be, and still chose to give it up for what they could get NOW. What is that old saying, “A bird in the hand is better than two in the bush?”

Research information like this is good to know for your business, because you can use it to your advantage. You now know that you can frame your sales pitch to take advantage of that 2 to 1 ratio. The other powerful point to note here; is that even with ALL the knowledge, the subjects still chose immediacy over the longer benefits. That tells you that you don’t need to give every bit and piece of information to your client. Don’t try to overload them with useless information that just seems to clutter their minds. What you need to do is frame your presentation in a way that shows them how buying your product or service will give them immediate pleasure and satisfaction.

That archaic method of selling and promoting “Return on Investment” over a long term is crap and is not doing anything to help you close a sale. Human behavior wants to know how buying your product or service is going to benefit them TODAY and TOMORROW versus the effects or savings it will have next month or two years down the road. Make sure your clients know how you plan on reducing their workloads, or streamlining their operation as soon as they get your product/service, not that it is going to save them money after 6 months of operation.

The full study can be read in the journal Judgment and Decision Making http://journal.sjdm.org/vol5.1.html

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Glamorous Retail Shopping

Sunday, September 12th, 2010

Can A Shopping Bag Make You Feel Glamorous? In the June 2010 edition of the Journal of Consumer Research, a new study shows that certain brands have a personality of their own and actually change the way people feel about themselves. Many companies such as Nike and Harley-Davidson spend a lot of money each year on their marketing campaigns to make sure that their band has an appealing personality. The latest research in this article says that the brand’s personality does indeed rub of onto the consumer – even if that product is only used for a short period of time.

We all experience this effect when we wear certain ‘designer’ clothes or when we spray a certain cologne / perfume. This ‘brand personality adoption’ effect can even be seen as far as carrying certain shopping bags over others. Women who carry a Victoria’s Secret shopping bag perceive themselves as more feminine, glamorous, and good-looking compared to others who carried plain shopping bags. The study also showed that others who carried a pen embossed with the MIT logo felt more like a leader and intelligent, compared to others who carried blank pens. How do you feel when you wear your favorite team’s jersey or sweatshirt?

How can you put this into action? If you are having a bad day, take an empty Cartier, Victoria’s Secret, or other high-end designer store’s shopping bag to the mall with you and put your other purchases in the bag you brought. Spray your favorite designer cologne / perfume to give yourself a ‘boost’.

What can you do if you own a small business? If you are a service company, have your salespeople write up proposals using a BMW, Mercedes, or Cadillac pen. Your prospect will see those logos and associate that other company’s brand feelings with your company. Why do you think so many companies hire sports and entertainment celebrities to promote their products? Because they know that the feelings and emotions associated from that celebrity will transfer over to their product. It could be as simple for you as hanging a picture of a Lamborghini sports car in your office to transfer the feeling of hip, sporty, and well built over onto your companies image – customers would see that when they are in your office.

For further information on retail persuasion techniques, check out http://www.RetailPersuasion.com

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Posted in Business Marketing, Mind Dynamics, Persuasion/Influence | 2 Comments »

Retail Persuasion Techniques

Thursday, December 3rd, 2009

With Black Friday just passed a couple days ago, retail stores are now into the full swing of the busy holiday season. Many retail stores don’t take advantage of numerous subconscious and persuasion techniques which could earn them much more revenue throughout the entire year.

Recent scientific research took a look at the difference between soft plush carpeted floors vs. hard tile floors in a retail store. The research concluded that although carpeting feels better on a shoppers feet, it makes those same consumers judge products in close proxemity to them as less comforting. So what does this mean to you in your store? If you have carpeted floors, the merchandise on shelves, tables, and racks that are in the arms reach of the shopper will be viewed as less meaningful to their needs. So what should you do to subconsciously have your merchandise more favorable? Have hard tile or wood floors in your store! Make sure to leave the soft plush carpeting behind the sales counter so your feet will be more comfortable for the long hours you are on your feet.

For futher information on increasing retail revenues, please check out my new website at www.retailpersuasion.com

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Classroom Expectations and Persuasion Skills

Thursday, May 28th, 2009

A friend of mine went to his first day of class today at UNLV for the Summer Term of Organic Chemistry.  Within the first few minutes of class, the professor, while setting the tone and expectations for this upcoming course, says, “I usually see a 40% drop out rate in my class!”  WOW, talk about negative programing for failure.  I could not believe that a college professor, with all his years of training, would do such a stupid thing to instill a subconscious trigger for failure within his students.  Now, I have to tell you that Organic Chemistry is why I changed my major to Business from Pre-Med.  After flunking Organic Chemistry, I decided that I better switch career paths - and I am glad that I did.  With that said, Organic Chemistry is a very tough course and when taken during a shortened Spring or Summer term, it makes it even harder to grasp the concepts.  However, I wish I knew then all that I know now about mind dynamics, influence, and persuasion skills.  If I did, I might have decided to stay with Vet or Med School. 

I hear horror stories like that all the time.  Teachers/Instructors/Professors are very influential people in the realm of their classrooms.  They have the power to set positive and negative expectations in the minds of their students; which thus leads to success or failure on the part of those students.  There are numerous studies which have shown these very powerful examples of mind dynamics in the classroom.

I don’t care if you are a Nursery School Instructor, High School Teacher, or College Professor - you need to hold yourself accountable for the tone you set within your classroom and within the minds of your students.  There are way too many teachers teaching today who should not be, because of their attitudes in the classroom, and this professor at UNLV is just another example.

A proper frame to set in his classroom today should have been, “I know that this is a tough subject and we have a shortened time frame to learn it in, but I am here to help and if we all work together, we can achieve the necessary goals for this course. However, if some of you do fail, just plan on retaking it over.” 

I truly believe that there needs to be some sort of accountability in the classroom and teacher’s hiring, firing, and salaries tied to the successful true achievement of their students.  We have a HUGE educational problem here in the USA and drastic changes need to occur.

I have developed a classroom in-service program to show teachers how to use the latest in persuasion, influence, and mind dynamics techniques in the classroom.  I show them how the subconscious mind implements various words and phrases into student’s actions.  We also look at spatial dynamics and how a classroom is designed can either help or hinder a student’s learning. 

If you are an educator or administrator in a school, then you need to view this link www.classroompersuasion.com

I am going to make sure that the Dean of the Chemistry Dept at UNLV reads this blog post too.  Any administrator that allows this type of negative programming to occur within their school should be ashamed of themself!  Knowledge is key to improving our educational system and I am glad that I can provide some knowledge on persuasion and mind dynamics to classroom educators.

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Posted in Mind Dynamics, Persuasion/Influence | 3 Comments »