The Nine Laws of Persuasion Part 2

To read, part one, CLICK HERE

Adapted from the book: Psychology of Persuasion

#3 LAW OF FRIENDS

WHEN SOMEONE ASKS YOU TO DO SOMETHING AND YOU PERCEIVE THAT PERSON TO HAVE YOUR BEST INTERESTS IN MIND, AND/OR YOU WOULD LIKE THEM TO HAVE YOUR BEST INTERESTS IN MIND, YOU ARE STRONGLY MOTIVATED TO FULFILL THE REQUEST.

People will do almost anything that is asked of them by a friend. Clearly, as a persuader, you MUST BE PERCEIVED AS A FRIEND if you are to be successful in the persuasion process.

• One winter I coordinated a campaign to raise money for a nationally known non-profit organization. Instead of hiring hundreds of fund raisers to canvass the Twin Cities, we simply hired 15 phone callers to contact people by neighborhood. We called each neighborhood until one person volunteered to be "block worker". All we asked the block worker to do was to take one hour and go door to door and ask for donations from their neighbors. The results were phenomenal. A vast majority of block workers did as they promised (we'll talk about the Law of Consistency later) and because the block workers were soliciting friends, there was no problem with credibility. The organization spent about $10,000 on fund raising and brought in about $70,000 in donations. It is very hard, indeed, to say no to a friend.

• Friends are people who we like and we often like them because they like us. The more we let people perceive we are like them in ideology, philosophy, background, beliefs, attitudes, etc., the more likely it is we will persuade them. (See Chapter Ten for complete information.)

WHEN SOMEONE WHOM YOU BELIEVE OR RESPECT EXPECTS YOU TO PERFORM A TASK OR PRODUCE A CERTAIN RESULT, YOU WILL TEND TO FULFILL THEIR EXPECTATION WHETHER POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE.

• In early January of 1991, Israeli citizens were issued gas masks so that any chemical weapons launched from Iraq would not kill them. When SCUD missiles were fired by Iraq on January 16, 1991, dozens of Israeli citizens checked themselves into hospitals complaining of symptoms that they were told they would feel after a chemical weapon attack. Interestingly, no chemical weapons were actually used. The Law of Expectancy is very powerful indeed. This incident is, of course, the opposite of the well known placebo effect.

• The placebo effect is best described in the following example. The Korean war brought thousands of casualties. Many of these casualties were given placebos (sugar pills and the like) instead of morphine when morphine supplies had run out. In some reports, 25% of the soldiers given placebos experienced a significant decrease in pain although no medical reason could be given.

WE TEND TO LIKE PRODUCTS, SERVICES OR IDEAS THAT ARE ENDORSED BY OTHER PEOPLE WE LIKE OR RESPECT.

If we like the people connected with a product, we tend to have positive associations in our minds of the products they endorse. Regardless of product quality, because of the endorsement, we often will buy a product the first time based on celebrity endorsement. (The second time around is another story and will be dealt with later.)

• Bill Cosby probably helped you decide to buy Jell-O pudding, Kodak film and other products. Bo Jackson has sold a world on the idea that Nike tennis shoes are the only way to go. Ray Charles, Michael Jackson, Cindy Crawford and Michael J. Fox have got a nation drinking Diet Pepsi. Michael Jordan endorses just about everything and has singlehandedly improved the future of minor league baseball in America!

WHEN AN INDIVIDUAL ANNOUNCES IN WRITING OR VERBALLY THAT HE IS TAKING A POSITION ON ANY ISSUE OR POINT OF VIEW, THEY WILL STRONGLY TEND TO DEFEND THAT BELIEF REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THE BELIEF IS ACCURATE EVEN IN THE FACE OF OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE TO THE CONTRARY.

• When President George Bush announced, "Read my lips, there will be no new tax increases", he couldn't have guessed how much popularity he would lose when he signed a major bill increasing taxes in 1990. When people are perceived as inconsistent, our trust and respect for them decreases markedly.

• Conversely, when President George Bush stated his views on the aggression against Kuwait and that military action could take place on January 15, 1991, there was a split reaction by the general public. On January 16, the President did exactly as he said he would and public opinion in favor of the President skyrocketed.

• President Clinton lost a great deal of credibility in the public eye as he continued to promote policies that were inconsistent with his campaign promises. When people see inconsistency, they start looking elsewhere for solutions which is why in 1994 the republicans actually took control of the House and Senate for the first time in over 4 decades!

WHEN A PERSON PERCEIVES THAT SOMETHING THEY MIGHT WANT IS LIMITED IN QUANTITY, THE PERSON PERCEIVES THAT THE VALUE OF WHAT THEY MIGHT WANT IS GREATER THAN IF IT WERE AVAILABLE IN ABUNDANCE.

• Television advertisers use the Law of Scarcity with redundancy. "While supplies last", "Limit 2 per customer", "Offer good only Sunday", "Supplies are limited", "Only 10,000 have been minted", are all statements implying scarcity.

View a video clip - The Law of Conformity

For more information on the Nine Laws of Persuasion, check out the Psychology of Persuasion, and other powerful products that are available about influencing human behavior.

Secrets of Sales Success

with Kevin Hogan

TO ORDER

NEW!

FOUR DVD program

I've never believed you should just get out there and knock on doors or make phone calls. My belief is that you should let everyone buy from you. But almost no one sells like that. Sales is art and science and for people who want to sell more than the "average" you need better than average new information to compete. It's that simple.

Asked to put together an inexpensive program that incorporates what you want most to sell more, I've taken these DVD's and put them together into one program that is heavily discounted for your acquisition.

Here's what you get:

DVD ONE: Selling Yourself to Others: 21 Key Ideas in Selling (That No One Ever Taught You!)

People buy YOU not just your products and services. This brand DVD contains new selling strategies never released before based upon scientific advances in behavioral genetics and tested in real life selling situations! This one hour presentation will help you increase your sales in a scientific fashion. Best? It's amazingly easy to learn and apply this material!

DVD TWO: The 10 Laws of Persuasion

Taped "live" in a beautiful television studio at a Fortune 500 company, Kevin Hogan gives you the foundation for persuasive communication. Whether you are a leader in business, own your own business, or are a salesperson, you cannot successfully gain compliance without knowledge of the laws of persuasion.

In order to fully comprehend the process of persuasion, you must understand some basic concepts, or principles, of persuasion. These concepts provide the foundation for the paradigm of persuasion.

Included are the nine principles that come into play in daily life as well as in persuasion settings, whether you're a salesperson, public speaker, consumer, husband, wife, father or friend. These are the Laws of Persuasion.

DVD THREE: The Attraction Principle: How to Manifest Your Every Desire in Life

Learn the difference between success and failure in bringing about what you desire in your life. What is the EXACT formula that will enable you to manifest the dreams and desires you have been nurturing? Learn it all here. Kevin Hogan presents his Attraction Principle.

DVD FOUR: 21st Century Selling: Selling the Way People BUY!

Learn all the key triggers that cause people to buy in the new millennium. Based upon cutting edge research into sales psychology and years of experience, you will learn how to be the obvious answer to many of your clients' problems.

You will discover how to program the neurology of your brain so you literally FIND success in selling yourself. You'll also learn how to create the outcomes of sales interviews BEFORE they happen. Most importantly, you will uncover the secrets of developing personal mastery...the focal point of how most of your customers will judge you and deem you worthy or not of buying from.

Everything in this presentation has been TESTED in real life by real salespeople whose lives depend on their making the sale. Every concept, strategy, tactic and game-plan in this program has been PROVEN successful at raising your closing ratio and igniting your personal self motivation levels to new highs.

Altogether you get over four hours of truly astonishing information. Easily worth thousands of dollars, this is the equivalent of Kevin's $25,000 one day sales training.

TO ORDER