
Imagine tossing a pebble into a crystal clear pond on a still day, & watching the ripples make their way to the shore. A tiny cause has a massive effect.
But on a windswept stormy day, you could hurl the largest boulder into the same pool, and the effect would be felt for no more than a few feet.
And so it is with your sales message.
Your prospects are in a trance that is like a still pool of awareness. They are in an "I'm worried about money" trance. They are in an "I wish I could finally find that somebody special" trance. They are in an "I'm sick of my dead end job" trance, & so on.
If you enter that trance with your words, your prospects will follow you, & accept your suggestions. They will give those suggestions power, like the pebble that makes its presence felt on the shore.
Selling your product or service involves introducing new ideas, more often than not. How do you enter an existing trance, & turn it into a new one?
Frequently, your research will tell you that there is an ideological hurdle that you must clear in order to make the sale.
"Belief Is All-Powerful!"
To enter the buyer's trance, begin your sales message by demonstrating where your position agrees with their accepted beliefs.
As you move forward, make a logical connection between that which is accepted, & another conclusion that is a step closer to the new conclusion you wish to promote.
This act of mental agreement creates momentum.
For example, if your target market believes that Guaranteed Investment Certificates are the best way to invest their money, they are unlikely to listen to you if you boldly proclaim the superiority of Mutual Funds.
But would they give you some attention if you began with, "Would you be interested in more of the kind of money growth you've enjoyed through Guaranteed Investment Certificates?"
And then, "If there were a low risk strategy for using GICs, together with Mutual Funds to increase your returns by 53% or more, would you want to find out about it?"
And then, "Give me just 15 minutes, & I'll show you the failsafe secret to an earlier retirement!"
By establishing empathy in your sales message, you enter the trance.
Each successive point or question should do three things.
1) Echo accepted belief. 2) Introduce a new element that when logically combined with the previous conclusion, creates a new hypothesis. 3) Raise the level of commitment to the new idea.
Begin pursuing a small yes response, & gradually grow that agreement into a big YES response.
Use questions, statements, & logic that get your prospects responding in the affirmative!
Why Does This Work?
To be human, is to have unlimited freedom of choice. We are able to consciously decide our response to every stimulus. This is our god given gift.
However, we forget this. Instead, we are a bundle of conditioned responses. We hypnotize ourselves into believing that external circumstances give rise to our thoughts.
For instance, if I were to say to you that you are stupid, you would probably become angry, & think I was a jerk for saying so. That is a choice you make.
You could just as easily make a choice to ignore my remark. You could make any choice you wish. You could even decide to think that I am a jealous fool, & feel sorry for me. The choice is all yours.
On the other hand, if I were to say to you that you are brilliant, you would no doubt feel pleased with yourself. Again, this is a choice. You could just as easily decide to pay no attention to my opinion.
But you forget you are making a choice, and you automatically become angry or flattered, depending on the stimulus. You are in a trance of your own making.
To be human, is to be full of such conditioning.
When we see a logical conclusion that incorporates our own accepted beliefs, we are conditioned to accept another one, & then another. Until without even realizing it, we have accepted a new belief that we would not have accepted, had it been forced on us in the first place.
Such is the judo of persuasion.
Daniel Levis is a top marketing consultant & direct response copywriter based in Toronto Canada. Recently, Daniel & world-renowned publicist & copywriter Joe Vitale teamed up to co author "Million Dollar Online Advertising Strategies ? From The Greatest Letter Writer Of The 20th Century!", a tribute to the late, great Robert Collier.
Let the legendary Robert Collier show you how to write words that sell...Visit the below site & get 3 FREE Chapters! http://www.Advertising-Online -Strategies.com/ad-strategies.html
AP - The U.N. Security Council has approved a resolution calling for an immediate and durable cease-fire between Hamas militants and Israeli forces now fighting in the Gaza Strip. Thursday night's vote was 14-0 with the United States abstaining.
AP - Vice President Dick Cheney said Thursday that he sees no reason for President George W. Bush to pre-emptively pardon anyone at the CIA involved in harsh interrogations of suspected terrorists. "I don't have any reason to believe that anybody in the agency did anything illegal," he said. In an interview with The Associated Press, Cheney also said that Bush has no need to apologize for not foreseeing the economic crisis.
AP - A key panel unanimously recommended impeachment for Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Thursday, setting up a vote that could make him the first governor to face such fate in Illinois' sordid political history. Blagojevich should lose his job for abusing power, mismanaging government and committing possible criminal acts, including federal allegations he tried to sell off a U.S. Senate seat, the special committee concluded.
AP - President-elect Barack Obama's proposed tax cuts ran into opposition Thursday from senators in his own party who said they wouldn't do much to stimulate the economy or create jobs. Senators from both parties agreed that Congress should do something to stimulate the economy. But Democratic senators emerging from a private meeting of the Senate Finance Committee criticized business and individual tax cuts in Obama's stimulus plan.
AP - The many Bernard Madoff investors who withdrew money from their accounts over the years are now wrestling with an ethical and legal quandary. What they thought were profits was likely money stolen from other clients in what prosecutors are calling the largest Ponzi scheme in history. Now, they are confronting the possibility they may have to pay some of it back.
AP - In grainy cell-phone videos played over and over on the Internet, police officers force an unarmed black man to the ground and hold him face-down on a crowded train platform. Suddenly one of the officers draws his gun and fatally shoots the man in the back then looks up.
AP - U.S. policy to win in Afghanistan must recognize the poor nation's limitations and its neighborhood, especially its intertwined relationship with U.S. terrorism-fighting ally Pakistan, the top U.S. military commander in the region said Thursday.
AP - Two Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks couldn't produce a point in the first quarter of the BCS championship game. Tim Tebow and No. 1 Florida and Sam Bradford and No. 2 Oklahoma were scoreless after the first 15 minutes at Dolphin Stadium on Thursday night.
Reuters - Recovery teams ventured into battlegrounds of the Gaza Strip on Thursday to gather bodies from the rubble, and Hamas officials said the Palestinian death toll in Israel's 13-day-old offensive had risen to 765.
Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama warned on Thursday the U.S. economy could stay mired in recession for years without bold action and he urged lawmakers to work day and night to pass a massive stimulus plan.
Reuters - Financial giant Citigroup Inc will support a proposal in Congress to rewrite U.S. bankruptcy law to help troubled mortgage borrowers avoid foreclosure, Chief Executive Vikram Pandit said on Thursday.
Reuters - A legislative committee on Thursday recommended the impeachment of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, citing widespread abuse of power including allegations he tried to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.
Reuters - The United States and its allies share some interests with Iran when it comes to stabilizing Afghanistan, Army Gen. David Petraeus, head of the U.S. military's Central Command, said on Thursday.
Reuters - Accused swindler Bernard Madoff had signed checks totaling more than $173 million in his office desk ready to be sent out before his arrest, U.S. prosecutors said in court papers on Thursday asking a judge to jail him.
Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama named Tim Kaine as head of the Democratic Party on Thursday, rewarding an early supporter with a high-profile political post even as he continues to serve as Virginia governor.
Reuters - Wal-Mart Stores Inc and other top U.S. retailers delivered disappointing December same-store sales and profit warnings on Thursday, sparking fresh recession concerns that hit stock and currency markets.
AFP - The UN Security Council voted to call for an "immediate, durable" ceasefire in the Gaza Strip leading to the "full withdrawal" of Israeli forces, but the United States abstained.
AFP - Hopes for a quick resumption of Russian gas supplies to Europe were rising Friday after Russia agreed on the terms for the deployment of monitors in Ukraine.
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