Hi Persuader,
We live in a world of distractions and this, I feel, is an understatement. We have so much coming at us from all arenas. . . Even as I sit here typing this, I’m getting alerts that I have new e-mail, I’m getting instant messages from my assistant, the dog wants to play, nature calls, I’m thirsty, the phone rings. Phew. It’s exhausting just to write a paragraph with all of the other things intruding on concentration and focus.
There’s an old saying, ‘If you chase two rabbits, both will escape.’ By scattering our energy, we are not giving adequate attention to the important task at hand.
Alexander Graham Bell once said, ‘Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.’
There are so many things we can and may be thinking about when we are interacting with a prospect or client. Our internal dialogue may have us worried about our breath or maybe we’ve got something stuck in our teeth. We might be worried about what the mechanic is going to tell us when we call them back or if the kids got to school on time. Issues large and small will battle for our attention and really what we need to be doing is focusing on our prospects and moreover, focusing intently on our prospects criteria and values.
I think of this focus as a flashlight. For example, if we aim our flashlight at a wall out in front of us, we might think we’re seeing quite a bit. But say there’s something on a shelf that you really want to see. . . what do you do? Well, if you have a flashlight like mine, you have the ability to make the beam wider or narrower. When it gets narrower, it penetrates further. And when it’s wider, it shows me more space, but less distance. By beginning to focus laser-like on one aspect, we can see more clearly what we want to see (in this case, what we want to know is what our clients want).
As persuaders, I would say one of the things to focus with our flashlight upon is the identity of the person that we’re talking to.
What did I just do? I adjusted the flashlight. I got clearer about where I wanted to focus.
I like to imagine that the client is a white board, I’ve wiped clean, wiped myself clean, and now they’re writing themselves onto that board of which I’m becoming a part of. If we can focus on identity as persuaders, this would be a key area for which we can develop parts, a key area that we can frame and reframe. It’s a very powerful area.
The whole point of what we’re s persuaders is to learn to shine that light in various ways to best understand and provide what it is that our clients and prospects want. So take a deep breath the next time you are interacting with a prospect, and really focus that beam on them shutting out all other distractions.
Kenrick
Hi Persuader,
A friend and marketing genius I know recently said to me, “A recession is a transfer of wealth from the scared to the bold.” This statement stopped me cold in my tracks. It’s an incredible revelation and a whole new frame around this the current predicament we find ourselves in.
Money is still being spent out there, folks. The million dollar question is, is this money going to be spent with you or is it going to be spent with your competitors? Say there’s been a decrease in spending by 5 or 10 percent. If you do the math that means 90 to 95 percent of the money is out there for the picking.
What distinguishes a skilled sales professional, business owner, real estate agent or financial planner from the rest is the realization that now is the time to boldly hone your message and target your clientele and the ability to enact this honed message. What does that mean? For one thing, it means that now is not the time to skimp on your marketing. Now is the time to reach out to your prospects and clients and delve deep into their values, their needs, their core drives and utilize your persuasion skills fully.
Most people believe that persuasion is something that is done externally to someone else. This is only half the story. Persuasion is something that we first and foremost need to apply to ourselves.
To that end, I’m going to share with you the first thing you need to do in this fear-based economy. This is a revolutionary idea. It’s invaluable. And yet, it’s somewhat scary. It’s what is making my students more money than their competitors and helping to keep their clients from straying at the same time that they’re acquiring new clients.
No one likes to be yelled at, no one likes to be on the receiving end of anger or frustration or disappointment or fear or devastation, and yet my advice to you is: get comfortable with being the recipient of all of this. Here’s the big secret: Allow your clients to vent. Most sales professionals will try to diffuse this or wiggle out of it. Many will become defensive and unload excuses. Simply put: Sit there and take it. I promise that the venting process will allow your prospect or client to release this fear and anger and disappointment. It’s not going to eliminate it, but it will go a long way to getting them to the point where they are again open to receiving your message.
This most certainly gives you an incredible advantage!
Warmly,
Kenrick E. Cleveland
Hi Persuader,
A number of years ago, several of Milton Erickson’s students decided to play a trick on the master.
They knew that he had legendary powers of observation but they wanted to know….
Just how good was he.
Erickson taught his week long seminars in his home. All around the room were little artifacts and souvenirs.
Along the back wall, out of the obvious line of sight, one of the students took a small statue of an owl and lay it down on its side.
When Erickson was wheeled into class, he promptly began the class and explain his theories through stories and inductions.
Hours later, his wife came in to wheel him out of the room. The class was disappointed. Erickson hadn’t noticed.
Mrs. Erickson had nearly wheeled Erickson out of the room when Erickson put up his hand to stop her.
You know that thing that you were concerned about?
Well, I don’t give a hoot about it.
Erickson had known all along and turned the tables on the students.
Can you imagine how effective Erickson was as a persuader?
He could literally read the minds of the people in the room.
When you know what your clients are thinking, guess what happens to your closing rate.
It soars.
So please check out http://www.unconsciouspersuasion.com
And let your sales soar.
Talk with you soon,
Kenrick Cleveland
Hi Persuader,
I AM YOUR ATTITUDE!
I AM YOUR MASTER. I can make you rise or fall. I can make you a success or failure. I can work for or against you. I control your feelings and actions. I can make your heart sing with happiness. I can make you wretched, dejected, or morbid. I can make you angry and resentful. I can make you lonely, discouraged or depressed. I can make you sick, listless. I can be a shackle, heavy and burdensome. I can be a prism’s hue, dancing bright and colorful. I can be nurtured and grown to be beautiful. I can never be removed, only replaced. I AM YOUR ATTITUDE! (author unknown)
We all have our “moments”. . . moments of doubt, moments of feeling blue, moments of road rage. The wide spectrum of human emotions is within us all-from bliss and joy to feelings of sorrow and misery. The key is to remember that emotions are choices.
We are not victims. We choose to have and to hold the thoughts and emotions we experience every day. And with that choice comes a responsibility. When someone cuts us off in traffic or is wildly inconsiderate, we can either give them the horn (or the finger) and follow them at an uncomfortably close range, or we can let it go and not allow it to stick.
This, admittedly, can be very difficult. It’s a crowded world. There are people who have no manners, who couldn’t care any less that you have been inconvenienced by their rudeness. And yet, that’s the way things will remain whether you choose to get angry and filled with rage, or whether you let it slip right off you like water slips off a duck.
Of course, there are moments when confrontation is necessary, but is it really necessary or worth it to confront over everything? Someone “steals” your parking spot. . . do you make a huge deal out of it, or do you continue on and find your own parking spot? I’ve had moments. . .moments of anger, but have come to realize that these moments are way less productive for me than a simple readjustment or enlarging of the frame through which I am looking at the situation.
One readjustment I recently heard about is this: say you’ve gotten yourself into one of these moments, an angry or enraged or sad moment, and you are sitting there stewing in it but don’t want to let it linger. As incongruous as this might feel, smile. Put a big fat grin on your face. Let those dimples come out.
In doing this, you are very consciously choosing to not stew. And you are also tricking yourself into feeling better. You are becoming the master of your attitude.
Think of the people that are inconsiderate or rude, not as people who are trying to screw up your day, but as people who are testing your resolve to have a good attitude.
Until Next Time,
Kenrick E. Cleveland
Hi Persuader,
Previously in Let’s Get Emotional, I described the ‘whys’ of appealing to our clients and prospects on an emotional level. Now I’m going to give you some ‘hows’.
We all want to believe that we’re doing the right thing. We all want to believe that it makes the most amount of sense for our clients to act on what we tell them because we can back something up with logic does not mean the client will part with their money. In fact, backing it up with logic is largely irrelevant.
If you get emotionally involved with your product or service and you believe in it your odds of passing that enthusiasm and feeling onto your prospects and clients is greatly increased.
Say you’re a financial advisor and you nearly twisted somebody’s arm to buy life insurance one day, and they did, and a few years later one of them dies and the life insurance pays off and saves the family. The spouse calls you, in tears, crying, telling you that the loss of their loved one — they don’t know how they’re going to get over it, but at least they don’t have to worry about money. They tell you, ‘I want you to know, I didn’t like you very much. I told my husband I thought you were pushy when you were on us to buy insurance but I want to tell you, I was the one who was wrong and I’m so grateful that you did what it took to get us to make that happen. I don’t know how I’ll get over my husband’s loss, but financially I’m going to be okay.’
When you get involved emotionally with your product, you will most definitely pass that on to your customers, to your potential customers, to your current customers, to everybody, and they will know that they’re dealing with someone who really believes. That goes so far to help you sell powerfully.
On the other hand, think about what it would sound like if you were to logically argue the actuarial tables about the client being this age and by that age, odds are they’re going to die, and if they don’t have insurance up to this point, it’s a mistake. I’ll tell you, this is much, much less likely to work for you.
I heard a story about a Japanese insurance firm who hired widows to sell life insurance. It’s a somewhat manipulative tactic as I see it, but think about how ingenious that is. These women are calling secure non-widowed housewives and laying their story about — they too were once secure and had a husband and now they’re reduced to having to sell insurance to make ends meet. (Incidentally, I happen to believe that selling insurance is as noble a profession as any other and have no perception of this being something someone does when they are ‘reduced’ to do it. I am passing on the story to illustrate how one firm managed to really manipulate the heck out of emotional selling.)
Real estate agents, financial advisors, sales people of every sort — post some examples of the emotions your clients experience in the course of your interactions with them have impacted your business and think about how you can incorporate into your selling these stories for maximum persuasion.
Until Next Time,
Kenrick E. Cleveland
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