How Persuasive Are You & Your Sales Team
In this edition I thought I’d do something slightly different by giving you a snippet of our Persuasion BluPrint Quiz which identifies how predictable we all our, and how, by understanding these simply persuasion principles you can dramatically increase your future sales.
So on to the quiz...
1: A super market sets up a cheese tasting table on two consecutive Thursdays. In week one they place [4] different cheeses to taste from and on week two they place [14].
In which week did they take the most sales from the tasting tables?
A: Week 1
B: Week 2
ANSWER = A: In this famous study the table with just the 4 cheeses resulted in the most sales [revenue] being taken. The reason for this is the limitation of choice which enabled the consumers to easily identify which cheeses they preferred and therefore make an easy buying decision. Conversely the table with 14 cheeses did create more interest but because there was so much choice the consumers found it difficult to narrow that choice down to a single product and therefore decided not to make a purchase.
[KEY POINT: The more products you introduce and the more feature/benefits you present ,you are actual diminishing the chances of your prospects being able to make a buying decision and will cause them to feel they need more time and to do MORE research!. More choice = 'I want to think about it']
2: You are looking for a home printer and on inspecting all the options in a High Street IT store you have narrowed it down to three possibilities.
Which one are you most likely to buy?
A: £79.00
B: £149.00
C: £549.00
ANSWER = B: In multiple retail studies and my own research shows that by far and away the most popular choice is the printer priced at £149.00. Retailers and advertising companies have known this principle for many years and have have used it with monumental effect to guide you to the products THEY most want you to buy. The psychology behind this 'Goldy Locks' principle is stunningly simply yet hugely successful.
i) Although in principle the consumer or prospect 'feels' like they have a choice of three, in reality the retailer has ensured there really are only two. By pricing the third printer at £549.00 which is significantly higher than the others ensures that 'in contrast' to the cheaper options it appears to be overpriced or too advanced for the purpose. This then leaves the two cheaper options to choose from, but even now there is a very deep human psychological process in play.
That process is the bad connotation of buying cheap! [We've all heard the phrases, cheap & nasty/cheap & cheerful] By adding the expensive printer at £549.00 ,it ensures that the £79.00 printer is viewed as being 'cheap and nasty' and therefore dictates that consumers and prospects migrate toward the £149.00 as it appears to be good value for money.
[KEY POINT: By using this pricing psychology you are able to guide your customers
toward the product YOU most want then to buy with the most margin or what you have exclusivity of]
ii) When only the two cheaper printers are on offer then the vast majority of prospects/consumers will choose the £79.00 as it appears to be good value for money.
3: Which statement in your opinion is statistically more likely to motivate a customer to take action?
A: Our product will gain you more customers
B: Our product will prevent you from ever loosing an existing customer
ANSWER = B: Statistics and human nature dictates that we are far more likely to make a decision if that decision eliminates either FEAR or LOSS.
Think about your own situations in regards to your utility bills. We all know that there are many websites available that will show us how ,by switching suppliers, we can potentially save on our annual bills for gas, electric, credit cards, loans, insurances etc, yet, as a population how many of us have actually done this? [Excluding car insurance as this is just a single supplier with relatively little hassle]
The major reason is that the potential GAIN of saving a couple hundred pounds does not outweigh the possible FEAR or LOSS over what you already know and what is already working and therefore we don't want to RISK [FEAR] entering into the unknown for a small GAIN.
[KEY POINT: To move a prospect away from the STATUS QUO it is imperative that your message is FRAMED from the perspective of what
they 'might/will/are' loosing by not using your product or service and NOT what they might/can potently gain.]
4: Research shows that ‘which’ of these 2 'offered' discounts is the most successful?
A: £500.00
B: £331.00
ANSWER = B:
Click Here to watch Gary deliver the answer at a 'Influence & Persuasion Conference' in Las Vegas
5: You are in a rush and need to pay for your basket of groceries. Which statement below would you believe increases compliance and gets you to the front of the queue?
A: Can I quickly pay for my groceries?
B: Can I just pay for my groceries because I’m in a rush?
C: I’m in a rush, can I pay for my groceries?
ANSWER = B: This simple principle is utterly amazing and hugely successful! Taken from a study at a pioneering university in America, the researches discovered that with the inclusion of the word 'BECAUSE' in a request statement, increased compliance to over 90%!
Think about it... Do you want to go out for a drink tonight? verses Do you what to go for a drink tonight because I could really do with a chat?
The 'BECAUSE' enables you to justify the request and it is what comes after the BECAUSE that is actually the major persuasive part of the message.
I have used this to great effect when training sales professionals how to negotiate 'BECAUSE' the justification for offering a discount is the reason why prospects excepts it, NOT the discount level itself. [SEE Q4]
6: Place these 6 words either on the left or right of the line depending on where you feel you would most logically see them.
_______________________________________________________________
Ugly / Good / Zero / Stunning / Ten / Bad
ANSWER: [You've been influence by this for many many years]
Ugly / Zero / Bad_______________________________Stunning / Ten / Good
Notice how the negative connotations for 'most' people will be placed on the left hand side of the line and conversely the positive on the right. This is no co-incidence BECAUSE it is how we are all wired and how we tend to receive messages to our brains.
WARNING: Brief Theory! Your brain is split into to halves or hemispheres. Roughly speaking, the messages received by your right eye are interpreted by the left hand hemisphere of the brain, which coincidentally is where most of your 'GOOD' feelings such as, happiness, tranquillity and well being stem from, whereas, your left eye is interpreted by the right hand side of the brain which is responsible for your bad emotions, such as, fear, pain, loss and anger.
In multiple studies it has been proven that speakers presenting from the left side of a stage [ie the audience is predominately looking at them from their right] receive far better feedback score than those presenting from stage right [audience looking at them from their left]. Other studies show how models being viewed from the judges left will receive lower marks than those stood on their right!
[KEY POINT: Is it important where you sit in a sales presentation? REMEMBER - It's called a right hand man for a reason! Ensure that
wherever possible you and/or your product is placed on your prospects RIGHT!]
Now have a look at the adverts on TV, where MP's stand etc.
You've been influence by this for many years.
What you have above is a 'very' brief insight into what is EXPOSED to you and your team during the Salesology's 'Persuasion training where you will discover the persuasion keys to unlock monumental sales success.