Being persuasive

Being persuasive is a key asset because as a business owner you will want people to do things for you.

You will want prospects to buy from you, and pay the full price. You will want existing customers to buy again and refer new customers. You will want employees to care about the business, follow your systems and put lots of effort and energy into their days work.

The truth is, some people (perhaps most of us) need motivating and it’s useful to have some strategies.

One way to motivate ourselves and others is to use fear. But, not too much because fear can paralyse like a dear or rabbit caught in the headlights of a car.

The fear that you can use could be the fear losing what they already have or of missing what you don’t yet have.

The other strategy is to use pleasure of keep what you already have or getting what you want. However, keep in mind that the research suggests that fear is twice as powerful.

Think about it, how much do you value making £50,000 more profit in your business and buying a second house, compared to making a loss and losing your current home?

Fear is an exceptionally powerful tool when it comes to influencing people to part with their money. It has been used to sell everything from bleach (who wants harmful germs taking over their bathroom) to anti-smoking products (using graphic adverts).

I am not reco0mmending you tell prospects that you are the only way to save them from some horrendous fate, but there are definitely ways in which you can tap into some extremely common human concerns.  And smart marketers use them all the time.

You are no doubt familiar with phrases such as ‘limited offer’, ‘while stocks last’ and ‘one-day sale’. And we’ve all seen offers and promotions that implore you to ‘act now’ before it’s too late. That is why a deadline is so important.

With your business, we may not be talking life or death but these phrases can work for you. This is because these strategies force people to make a decision. They compel people to take action or else miss out on a chance to save some money or get their hands on something they want.  It’s hardwired into human nature and is very powerful.

Think about how brands play on our fear of looking out of date and not being one of the ‘in-crowd”. This is why companies release slightly better upgraded products every year. They play on the fear of looking bad in front of others.

There are many ways for almost any business to use fear to their advantage. If you run an IT company, how scared are your prospects that a virus could wipe out all their data?

Fear can shift your positioning. It’s very hard to come across as desperate for the business, for instance, if you’re the one invoking the fear. Remember, nobody likes buying from someone who’s desperate. They key is to make your prospects desperate for your solution and then present it to them and they will buy.