The secret of successful persuasion is being able to tailor your message as much as possible to each individual or at least to groups of similar people.
As we saw in the previous post in this series, each of your potential customers filters things differently within their minds when faced with the same information and this leads them to respond differently to the same messages.

Here are some ways in which this can affect how people buy things:

• Values: People vary in what’s important to them - for example, some car buyers make safety their top priority; whereas others prefer speed.
• Sensory preferences: People vary in the degree of importance they attach to information coming from each of the senses. For example, those with a high preference for visual want to see things, while those who are more kinesthetic need something to touch.
• Metaprograms: This reflects the different ways in which people think. For example, some are motivated towards a positive outcome, while others seek to avoid a negative one.

The more you respect and understand these differences, the more chance you have of convincing people that you can help them.

Use the power of unconscious communication
As most successful communication happens at the unconscious level, people make up their minds very quickly about you and your product. The ability to influence people unconsciously therefore gives you a tremendous advantage. Here are just three ways you can do that:

1. Appeal to the emotions: The most important positive emotion is hope. While there is hope, there’s always a chance for something else. Satisfying that emotion is very powerful. Negative emotions also provide motivation for people to buy things. Of all the negative emotions, the one that has the biggest power is fear. If you can move them from the negative into the positive, then everybody is happy.
2. Tell them a story: As the unconscious mind loves symbols, a great way of communicating with it is to use metaphor and stories. Good communicators do this all the time without realizing it. Most people will resist an obvious sales pitch but will respond much more happily to the same information presented in the form of story. For example, try telling a true story about how someone’s life has changed as a result of using your product.
3. Keep it simple: According to research, we can typically handle about seven pieces of information consciously at any one time. For example, it’s clearly much easier to remember a six digit telephone number than a ten digit one. But the person you want to communicate with already has many things on their mind, so your need to get them to pay attention to you. You therefore have to keep your message clear, simple and limited to a few key points.

Use the science of persuasion
Fortunately the field of persuasion has been well researched so there is a range of proven principles and techniques you can use to create more powerful influence.

For example, the principle of ‘authority’ states that people follow the advice of people they perceive to be experts. To position yourself as an expert, you need to take action – for example by speaking and writing articles. And it’s best to focus on a clear niche. If you have appropriate qualifications and certificates, don’t hesitate to display them.

One way in which your expertise comes across to people is in the amount you charge. Make sure that you’re charging enough, whether it’s in the price of your products or in your hourly rate. If you charge low prices, then that’s the value people will attribute to the information or advice you’re giving them.

The more you can develop your ability to persuade others of the value of your services, the more successful you will be in business and in life.

The good news is that there are straightforward steps you can follow to improve your persuasion skills. And following these puts you at a huge advantage as not many people know how to persuade successfully.

The next part of this series looks at the power of promotion.

You can download a free report with all 7 keys to persuasive marketing power.