This month our Influencers from Around the World post comes from Marco Germani by way of Italy. Marco has been a guest writer for Influence PEOPLE from the start. He combines great knowledge (he wrote a book about persuasion in Italian) with real world experience (he travels the world selling wine). This month’s post is excellent because I can attest to the need for preparation in sales, or any endeavor in life, if you want to succeed. Read Marco’s words of wisdom and enjoy!
Brian Ahearn, CMCT® Chief Influence OfficerinfluencePEOPLE Helping You Learn to Hear “Yes”.The Importance of Preparation Before the SaleA professional athlete would never dream of starting a major competition without any warm-up. This would increase the risk of getting injured and, in the best scenario, drastically reduce the possibility of delivering a great performance. Similarly, a professional salesperson should never approach an important sales call, without the proper “warm-up.” What you do in the 10-15 minutes prior to a face-to-face or telephone conversation with a potential customer may determine the outcome of your presentation. It is therefore surprising how most salespeople completely ignore this principle and too often enter a meeting with a client having no strategic preparation of any kind. Far too many people just listen to the car radio on the way to the appointment filling their brain with commercials, low quality music and what I like to call “chewing gum for the ears.”Let us instead summarize, in three points, what a professional salesperson should do in the minutes leading up to a sales appointment.The first – and Golden Rule – when we are in front of a customer is not to ask any question where the answer can be easily found somewhere else. For example, if I ask my customer information about his company, which I could have found on his company’s website, I am just showing him I didn’t care to do my homework before the meeting. This is a very bad start for any salesperson. If, on the other hand, I say to the customer, “I understand your company has manufacturing facilities in three countries, sells about 80% of its production outside the U.S. and is one of the top three players in the market,” I’m showing my potential customer I’m a professional, serious and committed person who cared enough to learn as much as possible about his business. In addition to showing concern it also prevents wasting the prospect’s time. This is a very good start, which builds trust and opens the door to the possibility of starting a partnership. In the minutes immediately prior to the meeting, it is also a good rule to briefly review your marketing material (presentations, any samples to show, etc.) to make sure everything is in order. Mentally summarize the objectives of the meeting, recall any previous contact with the customer and how you initially met. This is necessary in case you need to refer to past details and it gives you a clear, ideal picture of how you wish your perfect meeting would unfold.Shortly before the meeting put yourself in an upbeat mood and be sure to establish a positive winning attitude. Picture in your mind’s eye the best possible scenario, in which everything goes as planned, and the sale ends in the best possible way, with great benefit to all parties involved. This positive attitude will be perceived by the customer, who will understand he is dealing with a sales professional, who is prepared, confident and ready to help him make the decisions that are in his best interests. These three simple steps, if carried out diligently before a sales appointment, can greatly influence the final result. Often I hear salespeople complain about how hard it is to “bring home” a sale, or how customers are difficult and never seem ready to make a buying decision. If they do not do the preparation I’ve described, or preparation of any kind, then they’re the ones to blame, not the customers! Preparation is 80% of success; let us never forget about it!
Marco
James Bond needs no introduction, but you do!
I read an article not too long ago that a friend passed along and felt compelled to share my thoughts about it. The article appeared in Forbes.com and was titled “Why Public Speakers Need To Copy James Bond.” That’s a compelling title for Bond fans and speakers alike – of which I’m both – so I got sucked in and read. The author’s piece was well written and compelling…unless you know something about the psychology of persuasion. The gist of the article was this – Bond movies open with compelling action-packed scenes, not the credits, to immediately hook moviegoers. Speakers should do the same by starting immediately with a compelling story. I wholeheartedly agree that a speaker starting with a good story hooks the audience but foregoing a brief introduction misses out on a golden opportunity to utilize the principle of authority which will make you more persuasive, according to the science of influence. Imagine going to a conference and getting ready to listen to a speaker you’ve never heard of before. Will you pay more or less attention if you quickly learn beforehand the speaker was the top salesperson in their organization, or had a doctorate, or was one of only a handful in the world who does what he/she does, or had some other fact that established him or her as an expert? I’m willing to bet you’ll be more interested to listen after learning something compelling about the speaker. Several years ago, Joshua Bell, one of the most accomplished violinists in the world, was playing a million dollar Stradivarius violin in a public subway. Despite the fact that people pay several hundred dollars to hear him in concert, hardly anyone paid attention that particular day in the subway. His beautiful music was the equivalent of a compelling story but it wasn’t enough to grab people’s attention. Do you think people would have stopped to listen if they knew he was one of the greatest violinists in the world and that he was playing a million dollar instrument? I’d bet you any amount of money that many, many more people would have paid attention to him and his music. James Bond enjoys a brand very few individuals can claim. Warren Buffett, Bill Clinton and a few others would need no introduction before giving a speech, but you and I do, so here are six tips for your intro when presenting to a group of any size: You write the introduction. Don’t leave this to chance because nobody knows you and your expertise like you do.Keep it short. An intro of 100-200 words is plenty because too long and it’s boring, but too short and you may omit something important.Make sure it’s audience-appropriate. There may be interesting things you’ve accomplished that have nothing to do with the talk so leave out those things.Include something personal. This allows audience members to connect with you on a personal level which invokes the principle of liking.Have a third party introduce you. You do this because someone else can say things about you that will sound like bragging if you say them.Make sure the introduction happens before the talk. Unlike the movies where the credits come later, you want people to feel compelled to listen before you even open your mouth.Talking about Bond as a model for speaking makes for a compelling headline but not everything he does will work for you and me. That’s the difference between movies and reality. So my advice is this; find out what the science says then diligently apply it and you’re sure to give a more persuasive presentation.
Brian Ahearn, CMCT® Chief Influence Officer influencePEOPLE Helping You Learn to Hear “Yes”.As noted last week; Dr. Cialdini has a new book coming out that he’s coauthored with Steve Martin and Noah Goldstein, Ph.D. The book is called The Small Big and can be pre-ordered here.
No Pain, No Gain – A Sports and Persuasion Motivator
It’s almost August and football season is right around the corner. All across the country football coaches from Pee Wee leagues up through the NFL are exhorting players to push themselves to be the best they can be. Many will go through grueling workouts; some enduring “two-a-days” and a familiar cry from coaches will be “No pain, no gain!”I remember my high school football coach repeating that phrase many times during my three years of varsity football. The meaning was simple – sacrifice now and reap the rewards later. Lifting weights, running wind sprints, repeating drills, and long practices in the hot summer sun would all be worth it when we achieved victory on Friday nights under the lights in front of our parents, friends and community. In persuasion, “no pain, no gain” has a different meaning but can lead to success just as is did on the gridiron. When trying to influence others it’s good to know this simple concept – people are more motivated by what they stand to lose (pain) versus what they might gain. This is a form of scarcity. The late Amos Tversky, a cognitive and mathematical psychologist, and Daniel Kahneman, a psychologist, studied this phenomenon of human behavior. In fact, Kahneman won the noble prize for his work in this area in 2002.Here’s what Tversky and Kahneman learned – people experience the pain of loss anywhere from 2.0-2.5 times more than the joy of gaining the same thing. So imagine you find $100 bill on the way to your car after work. You’re elated! You drive home with a broad smile, feeling great about your good fortune. You pull into the driveway and walk into your home with extra spring in your step. As soon as you see someone you begin to tell him or her about your good fortune. You reach into your pocket to pull out the big bill…and it’s gone! How do you feel at that moment? Odds are you feel much worse than however good you felt when you found it. And here’s your litmus test; you left the house in a good mood without a $100 bill, got home without the $100 bill, but now you feel bad…really bad!Why is this important to know? Sometimes you have a choice about how you’ll frame a request – highlight the gain or highlight the loss – and that small decision could be the difference between a “Yes!” or “No!” quite often.In one study of homeowners by the University of California, people were given energy saving ideas. One group was told if they implemented the recommendations they would save an average of $180 on their electric bill over the next 12 months. Another group was told they would lose $180 during the next 12 months if they didn’t adopt the recommendations because they would overpay on their electric bill.It’s the same $180 but when the group that was told they would lose heard this, 150% more decided to implement the energy saving recommendations. That’s a pretty significant difference just by changing the way information was presented. It costs no more to say it either way but the end result was huge.What does this mean for you? Next time you present to someone think about how you might highlight potential loss instead of what someone might gain. For example, if you’re in financial services encouraging someone to save a bit more could make a huge difference in their retirement.Gain Approach – Bob, if you can find a way to set aside 1% more of your income that could mean an additional $250,000 by the time you retire.Loss Approach – Bob, if you can’t find a way to set aside 1% more of your income that could mean losing $250,000 by the time you retire!The financial rep employing the loss approach will be more successful over the long run and clients will appreciate the advice when they hit retirement because they’ll have much more in their bank accounts.I’m not encouraging you to be a negative Nellie but I am encouraging you to use language that scientific research has proven will be more effective in helping you hear “Yes!” That’s what this blog is all about – making small changes in your persuasion approach with people in order to generate big differences.
Brian Ahearn, CMCT® Chief Influence Officer influencePEOPLE Helping You Learn to Hear “Yes”.
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