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The Secrets of Power Persuasion for Salespeople

Roger Dawson | Career Press © 2003

Roger Dawson, a top speaker and writer on negotiation and persuasion, has written, in fact, a
very persuasive book. Solid research that identifies effective sales strategies and explains why
they work sets Dawson's book apart from many other volumes on sales techniques - even when
his advice is repetitive. He warns you away from manipulation, though he doesn't hesitate to use
some forms of it, along with psychological insight, time pressure, friendship, subliminal messages
and outright emotion to persuade clients to buy. Dawson writes in an easy-to-read, breezy, yet
authoritative style and includes tricks, techniques, clever anecdotes and chapter summaries. The
book is as well organized as a speech in which Dawson tells you what he is going to say, says it and
then tells you what he just said. getAbstract recommends this book to people who want to sell
better, and who have the starch to use intense powers of persuasion.

Take-Aways
• Persuasion is the key to successful selling today. Manipulation no longer works, although
psychological influence does.
• To convince the buyer, believe in your product or service with true enthusiasm.
• Use rewards to show the customer the value of buying from you, balanced with punishment
power showing what the buyer will lose if he or she doesn't buy from you.
• Create a personal relationship; bonding helps buyers want to buy.
• Be consistent in whatever you say or do, so the buyer will trust you.
• When you know more, you have the power of expertise and can sell more.
• Ask for more than you expect to gain in negotiating a deal, since you may get what you ask for,
or you can back off, ask for less and trade concessions with the buyer.
• Use scarcity and time pressure as incentives for the buyer to buy now, before the product is no
longer available or the limited offer ends.
• Look for favorable associations that make your product even more desirable.

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 • Recognize what's motivating the buyer, so you can appeal to each person based on what he or
she wants and needs, and how he or she decides to buy.

Summary

Persuasion Works

Manipulation no longer works well in sales. People are too sophisticated for that now and
customers want real value.

By contrast, persuasion works because you employ it to get people to see your viewpoint and agree
with you. Such persuasion is necessary not only with external customers, but also within your own
organization. You may need to persuade your people to be more understanding and flexible in the
way they treat your customers. Effective persuasion is based on learning a number of skills, which
include:

• Using psychological pressure points that influence a buyer.

• Being genuinely enthusiastic about your product or service.
• Being credible, so buyers believe and trust you.
• Using subliminal factors that influence others.
• Using specific verbal messages to appeal to buyers and to get them to talk.
• Developing personal qualities that give you charisma, including remembering names and faces,
and having a good sense of humor.

Key Ways to Influence Buyers

Very successful salespeople influence buyers with six "magic control keys":

1. Show buyers you can give them rewards for buying your product. Don't think that a buyer is
rewarding you by placing an order. That's a sign of the novice salesperson. Rather, show buyers
that they are lucky you are there to serve them and help with their problem. Don't dwell on
what your product does; focus on the help you can provide. Show the buyer you are offering
something that is in limited supply and so should be obtained now. Even suggest that you don't
do business with all possible buyers and that they have to qualify to be your customer.
2. Use punishment power to persuade customers to buy. "Your buyers need to believe in you so
much that they are afraid to buy from your competitor because they wouldn't get you." You
have to add personal value as the seller to use this technique.
3. To be more effective, use both reward and punishment to show the potential advantages
compared to the potential downside.
4. Use bonding. When you have a personal relationship with your buyers, they want to buy from
you. Combine business with friendship, since it's easier to get a friend to buy from you than to
get a stranger to buy.

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 5. Show you have more expertise than the buyer, since greater knowledge is powerful. Take the
time to learn the technical aspects of your business.
6. Be consistent in all you say and do. Show you have an unvarying set of values and standards,
since that promotes trust.

The Power of Enthusiasm

If you want buyers to respond enthusiastically, you have to show enthusiasm for your product
and service. They have to believe what you say. To be truly enthusiastic, you need to believe your
product or service is valuable. You also need to have faith in your company, your industry and
your own ability to help your customers. To develop and convey your enthusiasm, seek positive
feedback from your customers and use favorable third-party stories. Make your presentations
more vivid with simulations and other dramatic theatre techniques.

“Persuasion is the art of getting people to go along with your point of view - to see it your
way.”

To get people to do more than listen to you, to get them to act on what you say, you have to be
credible so they believe you. Don't assume that the buyer believes you, because people are often
initially skeptical. Given the thousands of advertising appeals people encounter every day, buyers
have developed a "show me" attitude. So show them - and don't build expectations up too high,
since buyers will doubt your sincerity.

“We can't make sales anymore with manipulation; it just won't work. In the twenty-first
century, we must learn to make sales by sitting down with buyers and persuading them
to take our point of view.”

Even if your product or service will be better than they expect, keep your claims to what people
are likely to believe. Tell the truth, even if it is negative, and point out any relevant disadvantages,
since that gives your message more credibility. If you're not making a commission, tell them;
downplay whatever you may gain in getting the sale. If you sense that the buyer is bothered by
something, bring the question out in the open. Other credibility-building techniques include
dressing to look successful, using printed materials and letting the customer know who else has
used and liked your product or service.

Using Obligation, Scarcity and Time

When buyers feel you have gone an extra mile for them, their sense of obligation to you can close
the sale. So can the buyer's belief that what you are selling is in scare supply or that it will only be
available for a limited time. More specifically, here's how to persuade through building obligation
and using scarcity and time pressure:

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 Building Obligation

To create obligation, at first ask for more than you expect to gain, such as asking for the full list
price or for an advance payment. While you may actually get these extras because of the buyer's
desire for your product, you can also pull back. You gain some room to negotiate - and when you
make a concession, the buyer becomes more willing to make a concession in return. Do not make
your request feel like a demand or pull a bait and switch, where you promote a high end product
to sell a lower-value one. And, do not offer concessions that will hurt you. Giving a small gift can
help, especially flowers, which provide a thoughtful, personal touch.

Using Scarcity

To create scarcity, show that the opportunity available now exists for a limited time only, so
the buyer needs to act now. Scarcity makes your product more valuable. Just think of the art or
antiques market. Counter those people who claim you are just selling a commodity by noting that
your personal service, combined with your product, is a unique, value-added combination.

Using Time Pressure

To use time pressure, encourage the buyer to buy, instead of taking longer to think about your
offer. You are more apt to get what you want if the buyer acts quickly. Timeshare sellers are
particularly good at using this method. They get buyers to see their properties in a group setting
and then use personal selling techniques to get their decisions before they leave to go home.

“Superstar salespeople project that the buyer is fortunate to have them there to solve
their problems and serve them better.”

Other effective methods of persuasion include:

• Share a secret with the customer, make a confession and then ask a favor. For example, say you
aren't supposed to tell anyone, but by mistake an extra strong radio got installed in the yacht
you are selling. People feel privileged - and more receptive to you - when they receive such
information.
• Favorable association is powerful. Link your product to a good lunch or enjoyable activity to
boost its value. Ties with a celebrity help a product, also.
• Act consistently to make the buyer feel more secure. This matters for the same reason that
survival and security are fundamental in Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Basic needs must
be satisfied first before a person is responsive to other needs, such as the desire for social
belonging, self-esteem and self-actualization.
• Bond with your buyer. If you get an initial favorable response and continue talking, you begin
the bonding process. Later, ask for more and you're likely to get it.

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 • Time your best points. When selling to a friendly committee whose members believe what you
are saying, use your strongest argument at the end, when you call for action. If the audience is
neutral or skeptical, start with your strongest argument as an attention getter so they listen. Go
first if other salespeople are presenting.
• Balance logic and emotion. Use logical arguments with informed people. Emotional appeals,
which turn them off, work well with less-informed, less-educated people.
• Verbal persuasion tools include diffusing the opposition by showing there really isn't any
conflict and giving the buyer options, since everyone wants to feel independent.
• Open discussion eases negative reactions. If people have negative emotions, such as injured
feelings, fury, skepticism or greediness, get those feelings out in the open. Then deal with them.

How to Analyze the Buyer

Every buyer is different, with unique needs and wants. To analyze your buyer, ask yourself the
following three questions:

1. Is the Buyer a "Matcher" or "Mismatcher?"

A matcher is comfortable with the world as it is and often keeps the same job and mate. A
mismatcher enjoys change and often moves or changes mates.

“You ask for more than you expect to get because it creates an environment where the
buyer feels that he's the recipient of a concession - and that you are due a reciprocal
concession.”

To sell to a matcher, emphasize improvements, but not differences. To sell to a mismatcher,

highlight the differences from the past.

2. What are the Buyer's Motivations?

Look for four distinctions. Determine if people are motivated by possibility or necessity, self-
centered or externally centered, moving toward pleasure or away from pain, or field-dependent
(concerned what others think) or field-independent (making decisions for themselves).

“If something is bothering you, or bothering the buyer, you're much better off to get it out
in the open and deal with it.”

Adapt your presentations to these motivations. Give possibility thinkers an exciting portrait of
what might occur; help necessity buyers see the purchase as enabling them to maintain what they
have. Show self-centered people how much they will enjoy your product. With externally-centered
people, demonstrate how others will be impressed.

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 3. What Affects the Buying Process?

The major distinctions here are whether the buyer is assertive (a quick decider) or unassertive
(generally needs time to decide), emotional or unemotional, open or closed-minded, and an
unconscious or conscious thinker. With someone open-minded and receptive to new ideas, use a
"show and tell" approach. If someone is close-minded and more critical, convince them with a "see
and do" approach. Next, notice if the person is more of a conscious thinker who draws on the five
senses (visual, auditory, tactile, taste and smell) to make a decision or an unconscious thinker who
goes more by instinct, and tailor your presentation accordingly. With a more emotional person,
use exciting, heartfelt appeals. With someone unemotional, stress bottom line advantages. Push
for a fast decision with an assertive buyer, but let an unassertive person take more time.

Become a Power Persuader

For effective selling, develop the three major traits of a "Power Persuader," including:

1. Charisma - This intangible quality makes people like you and want to be with you. It gives you
an aura of authority. Some people have this non-verbal quality of communication naturally. To
develop your charisma, expand your caring for others to a greater number of people. Project
charisma by treating everyone you meet as if they are special and important. Develop a firm,
confident handshake. Notice the buyer's eye color to connect by looking into the person's eyes.
Project a positive thought when you shake hands and look at the buyer. Flatter the buyer with
sincere compliments. Notice and comment when people are doing things right. Dress well;
work with an image consultant, if necessary. Smile broadly when you greet the buyer, and hold
your smile for two more seconds that he or she does. Be empathetic by responding more to
people's emotions than to what they say.
2. A good sense of humor - Make people laugh by using the main qualities of humor:
exaggeration and understatement. Don't tell jokes; instead, be clever and use spur-of-the-
moment witticisms.
3. Ability to remember people - Recall names and faces using memory techniques such as
cues and triggers.

About the Author

Roger Dawson, an expert on the art of negotiating and persuading, wrote The Secrets of Power
Negotiating and Secrets of Power Negotiating for Salespeople, as well as many other books,
audiotapes and videos. He has been a full-time speaker for 20 years, and has trained executives,
managers and salespeople throughout the U.S., Canada and Australia.

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