What I'm about to tell you is very powerful. It's totally exclusive and no one knows about it yet. It's research on how we make decisions and what makes us comply. It's scientific evidence of what leads to yes.
Researcher Dr. Robert Cialdini proclaims that, "There's nothing wrong with lining your pockets, so long as you're providing good service to your customers." I have to agree, that's what it means to run a profitable business.
So long as you're conducting business in a fair and ethical manner, staying within the rules of the FTC, governing bodies and the tax man… why not use a little persuasion to convert shoppers into buyers?
What bothers me - as I've already seen evidence - is that many direct marketers will be releasing whitepapers and courses in the coming weeks, some costing thousands of dollars, all claiming to have invented this research. The only way you can stop their persuasion, and know if they are using proven psychological manipulation on you, is if you are armed with the same information that they have.
You must stop any side projects this week and learn these tactics now, or else you'll lose more of your hard earned cash with their smooth talk. You'll learn how to recognize a Trojan Horse when you see one. And you'll also learn how to apply this research to improve your persuasive abilities in your own environment.
The first is a book by Dr. Dan Ariely, a Professor of Behavioral Economics at the MIT Media Lab. His book "Predictably Irrational" (audio available from iTunes) uncovers the hidden forces that shape our decisions. He also operates a blog by the same name at: http://www.predictablyirrational.com
One of the things that impressed me most was the Decoy strategy. It's a clever method of positioning offers for products or services. And you'll be seeing it everywhere from now on.
According to Dan's research, "It's hard to evaluate anything in an absolute way. All decisions are made relative to each other. We don't compare one decision to everything. We compare only what's available at the moment of making a decision."
Let's take the example of the decoy. Here are three payment options for a popular trade magazine:
* Online Version - 47 Dollars
* Print Version - 97 Dollars
* Both Online and Print Versions - 99 Dollars
The middle option appears to have no purpose. No market share. No one will choose it. But it's there for a very important psychological reason. It's there as a decoy.
Without the middle option, people are far more likely to choose the lower cost online version. With the decoy, it serves to show, or point to the amount of "value" in the higher offer.
Dan Ariely found that, "The decision people make, is based on the amount of information available at the time of purchase. The combo deal is seen as a great value in comparison, or relative to the print only version. Now the purchasing habits are reversed, far more people are likely to take the higher priced offer."
Having three offers with one as a decoy, gives people a reason to make the choice. It forces them to make a decision. It gives them more confidence in the moment.
Start using this simple strategy on your direct sales page and you can either, double your profits, or leave half of it sitting on the table. It's up to you.
The second resource is Dr. Robert Cialdini, who has two books that are essential reading. First is "50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive" which was released in June 2008.
His second book explains the psychology behind direct marketing. It's called, "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion." The latest edition called "Influence: Science and Practice" will be available August 2008.
(You can also jumpstart your knowledge on this work by getting the 50 minute Executive Briefing by Robert Cialdini at iTunes.)
Dr Cialdini asks several key questions that are critical to marketing success:
If you have two items to present, which one do you present first, the one with the higher price, or the one with the lower price?
If you have new info, when should you mention that it's new, at the beginning, or the end of the presentation?
When it comes to presenting your product, service, or idea, which should you present first, its strengths or weaknesses?
What's the first thing you must do, immediately after someone has praised you, or your organization. There is a real moment of power here and most people let it slip away.
Getting these points in the right order can double or triple your responses and orders in most cases. Get them out of order and you'll lose 50 to 60% of all your profits.
Here's a little takeaway from the audio book. Dr. Cialdini explains that, "When you describe the benefits it's not sufficient to describe what they'll gain. The psychological research is very clear, that people are up to five times more motivated by the idea of losing something, than they are of gaining that very same thing."
A good example is the home insulation case study. This test went door to door and talked to the owners about insulating their home. One group told the owners they could save 50 cents per day by insulating. The other group was told they would lose 50 cents per day by not insulating.
It's the same idea and the same argument. But the people who choose to insulate based on loss was significantly higher. (The audio didn't mention a percentage.)
Dr. Cialdini's has scientific proof that, "Anything couched in terms of loss, resonates more powerfully with the average person. They are more interested and likely to act on information based on what they stand to lose instead of gain."
So it may be time to revamp your salesletter to list the benefits that someone stands to lose if they don't move in your direction. Sure it's ok to list what they hope to gain, but its also important to list what they stand to lose.
Get Robert Cialdini's "50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive" and "Influence the Psychology of Persuasion" and Dan Ariely's "Predictably Irrational" at Amazon, iTunes or your favorite book store.
Remember, this is not theory. These are the facts. It's scientific evidence as to what makes people say yes. It's about getting people to comply. To get them to take action and do what you want, rather than just think about something in a positive way.
If you understand and employ these principles, you will become an agent of influence in your professional environment. If you don't learn about this research, you'll never know if someone is influencing you, your thoughts, ideas, or decision making process, and just sucking the cash out of your wallet using proven psychological persuasion principles.
Wouldn't you like to know?
