Five Tricks to Successful Persuasion and Influence

Persuasion and influence are the best ways to make sales that stick. You may have tried to influence others before and found that they responded negatively to your tactics. Putting pressure on people, belittling their opinions or approaches, or trying to force others into doing what you want are all sure fire ways to fail at the fine art of persuasion.

Whether in business or in personal life, there are some great tricks that the pros use to persuade others to their way of thinking. Here are five great tricks to get what you want:

1. Be the diplomat. This means you show both sides of the argument you are making. You want to appear fair and balanced so that your audience will trust your opinion as one of sound judgment. You do not want to come across as a bully or someone who does not respect the opinions of others. So show both sides; list the pros and the cons of your position. The trick to this approach is downplaying the cons and putting subtle emphasis on the pros.

2. Appeal to their self-interest. Be sure when you cover the pros of your idea or product that you emphasize what your audience will gain from it. Of course, to do this, you need to know something about them first. Study your target demographic and think about their needs and desires, then aim to satisfy them with what you have to sell.

3. Flatter them. Yes, flattery is an old trick, but done correctly this is a winner. Aimless flattery will be obvious to a savvy consumer, but if you can find out what a person takes pride in and compliment it, you will have gone a long way to gaining their confidence.

4. Quote the experts. People respond positively to facts and figures, especially when they come from recognized experts in the field. So use the authority of another person’s findings to endorse your product or service. You may find someone to endorse the entire thing, or you might discover a specialist who has endorsed a certain element of what you have to offer.

5. Finally, create a group dynamic. One person buying a product may feel like a pioneer. But if you can tell that same man that hundreds of other savvy businessmen have bought this product and used it successfully, you make him a member of a group, and the purchase will feel less risky.

(C) 2006 Keith MacLean, Persuasion Seminars

Contact info@pop-seminar.com to learn how you can book a custom tailored Persuasion and Influence Workshop.