Customer Focused Selling

Art of Persuasion

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Persuasion takes many forms, but the
underlying principles are:
We should seek commitment, not merely
compliance
Speed is highly desirable (the longer you wait,
the more bad things happen); and
Finding others’ self-interests and adapting to
them is essential

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Too many managers believe that they are trying
to convince when they are actually trying to
Coerce
Hierarchical power can command but not
necessarily persuade
Every day we are required to influence,
recommend, cajole, nudge, suggest, advise, and
threaten

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Politics, advertising, entertainment, health care
– you name it, rely on persuasion
Smoking has reduced substantially because the
public has been persuaded both through
education and appeals
One of the toughest persuasion challenges:
Peer to Peer
With no ability to reward or punish, everything
boils down to your ability to persuade

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 What is Persuasion?
Definition: “ethically winning the heart and mind of
your target”
Ethically means simply doing something honestly
and without trickery or deceit
Winning means gaining agreement with your
suggestion, idea, or position
Heart refers to gaining emotional buy-in
Mind refers to logical buy-in & target represents the
specific person you are attempting to persuade
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Persuasion is not coercive, conniving, or devious
Persuasion is not Manipulation
Persuasion requires intellectual heavy lifting.
Understanding your target, knowing how to
increase the value of your offering
(or, conversely decrease the resistance of your
target), choosing the right words, and
determining the timing of your persuasive
efforts

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 Two Primary Roles of Persuasion
Persuasion helps you get someone to willingly
do something
e.g. Enter into a business relationship: “Do we
have a deal?”
e.g. Support you initiative: “Will you back my
proposal at the board meeting?”

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 Second Role of Persuasion
Getting someone Not to do something
to dissuade him or her from taking action you
feel might be harmful
e.g. Not to go ahead with a new business
partnership
e.g. Rethink an existing initiative

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Even if you are attempting to dissuade someone
it is more effective to state it in the affirmative
e.g. if you want your target to not chose a
particular vendor, phrase your priority as:
I would like xxx to weigh other options before
choosing this vendor

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 Using the Power of Dissuasion
In an area where bicycle thefts are common
police use bait bikes which are GPS tagged to
catch would be thieves
It forces the would be thieves to ask themselves
one question before they steal: Is this a bait bike

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Behaviour is how you conduct yourself in a given
Situation
Assertive: Inclined to be bold and self-assured
Empathetic: Possess the ability to see the world
from another person’s perspective
Communicative: Adept at applying Verbal and
Non-Verbal communication
Tenacious: Extremely persistent when adhering
to or accomplishing something
Resilient: Possess the ability to recover quickly
after hearing No
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 The Halo Effect
Scientifically known as “Exaggerated Emotional
Coherence”, occurs when we judge others
positively in one aspect of their lives
(appearance, wit, charm, industriousness) and
then apply positive feelings to them for other,
often unrelated, areas (problem solving,
leadership, sales prowess)

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e.g.. if someone is attractive, s/he also usually is
considered smart
If a person appears enthusiastic, she often also
is perceived as hard working
Friendly? Must be a good leader, too.

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If someone you view positively possesses a
stubborn streak, you consider her a person who
takes a principled stand

But if you already have a negative impression of

that person, the stubbornness can be seen as a
sign of inflexibility and unwillingness to consider
new ideas

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 Creating Your Halo
The clear takeaway here is to everything you can
to create a positive entry point with your
target… dress well, be friendly, approachable,
well read, well travelled, conversational
Explore similarities, interests and unusual
aspects of the targets background
But Don’t overdo it and feel the need to become an
expert on every potential topic to be discussed

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 Targets, Technology, and Tactics
The people you’ll be attempting to persuade –
your targets – possess personality, gender, and
generational differences as well as individual
preferences
They will impact how you behave, what sort of
case you make, the language you use, and the
references you choose

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Your Targets will have multiple and varying
technological tendencies
Not everyone carries a new piece of tech in the
pocket
And not everyone uses technology in the same
way
Often such behavioral differences will be based
on generational gaps
Different technological propensities impact
everything from how you communicate with
your target to your target’s attention span 17
 Personality Differences
Behavior is “ What we say and do, and how we
say and do it”
Once you accurately assess another persons
behavioral preferences, you can predict how he
or she will respond in certain circumstances

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e.g. when your colleague receives a negative
critique, does she redouble her efforts to prove
the critic wrong? Or does she argue and
rationalize her position?

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 The Power of Negative Emotions
There may be times when you need to provoke a
negative emotion e.g. make the other person
feel frustrated, make them feel regret
Enthusiasm is contagious
Negative emotions are actually more contagious
than positive ones
So use them judiciously!

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 Emotional Objectives
Provoke, by causing a reaction, especially an
angry one
Inspire, by giving people hope or a reason to
agree with you
Invoke, by enabling someone to se a particular
image in his or her mind

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Awaken, by making someone experience a new
feeling or emotion
Touch, by generating a sad or sympathetic
emotion
Ignite, by invoking a feeling of success or
accomplishment

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Thank You!

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