Back in episode 366, Kurt Mortensen talked about the idea of persuasion and how you can increase your persuasive abilities. He has a book called Maximum Influence: The 12 Universal Laws of Power Persuasion.
There are different instances in life that we need to persuade people. Students persuade their professors or a guy is trying to get a girl or vice versa or you’re trying to get your mom to allow you to do something, or you’re trying to persuade your wife to let you go out and hang out with the boys.
Focus on Human Tendencies
As a seller, you’re trying to persuade people to make a decision that’s in their best interest that’s going to give value to them. And business persuasion is a powerful skill. In our day and age, we focus so much on the digital side and emailing and social selling that we tend to lose track of those human tendencies. We don’t realize we’re still dealing with human beings on the other side of social media. They are human beings and they have human tendencies.
Kurt emphasized this study in his book that your ability to persuade is 85% of your success in business. And based on this, I’m going to hit up on some of these skills you can implement.
Rapport Building
This has been said a million times but this needs some repeating – People do business with those they know, like, and trust. When you go to a networking event, you immediately look for people you can connect with. And people like to connect with people who are like them.
Treat others the way they like to be treated.
If your customers like strawberry ice cream and you don’t like strawberry because you love vanilla, you don’t have to lie but just don’t state your opinion about it. You want to make sure you build that connection with that individual.
Find a commonality to build that relationship with.
Kurt mentions in his book that any time a buyer can see something about themselves in you, the chances of you winning increases significantly. When you try to go to LinkedIn and do the research, your goal is not just to find random facts but things you can build off of, which are things you have in common. What is something you can present or bring up in the conversation that’s going to make him or her connect with you instantaneously?
Four Key Areas in Connecting with Your Customers
- Morality
- Background
- Appearance
- Attitude
Humor
Bringing in humor to your conversation is another great way of building rapport with your customers. Don’t worry about telling jokes. Just be yourself. Try to share good, funny information if you can. That can break the ice and people love to connect with individuals like that.
Body Posture
You want to send out that message that you’re confident in who you are.
Touch
Especially for a lady, this is easier for you to do. You can tap somebody on the shoulder and that touch makes that connection between you and the customer. Do that handshake.
Mirroring
When you’re mirroring somebody, you’re not necessarily mimicking them but you want to reflect what they’re doing. If they have their legs crossed, do it as well. This gives a subliminal idea that you are like them.
People subconsciously examine for ways to connect with an individual. Your job as a seller is to persuade them through your appearance and body language. About 93% of communication is nonverbal so don’t just chat there but also focus on some of the things you often overlook.
Today’s Major Takeaway:
Don’t sell the way you buy. Sell the way your buyers buy. If you can do this, you’re one step closer to become a power persuader and become more effective with your win rate and closing more deals.
Episode Resources:
Episode 366: Turning a No into a Yes (Interview with Kurt Mortensen)
Maximum Influence by Kurt Mortensen
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