Laws Of Persuasion

John D. Rockefeller once said, "The ability to persuade people is as purchasable a commodity as sugar or coffee. And I will pay more for that ability, than for any other under the sun." In this article I discuss three Laws of Persuasion that will help you persuade your prospects to buy now.
The three laws of persuasion are: • Law of reciprocity• Law of consistency• Law of contrast
These three Laws of Persuasion make selling easier for you and more informative for your buyers. Try them out this month; I know you'll not regret it.
Law of reciprocity
The law of reciprocity states that when someone gives you something of perceived value you respond with a desire to give something back.
To some degree, reciprocity has control over us all. You can probably think of times you've felt obligated or compelled to do things for others because they did something for you. This is the result of conditioning from early childhood and is hard to override.
In Robert Cialdini's book, Influence – The Psychology of Persuasion he relates a story of a university professor who tried a little experiment. He sent Christmas cards to perfect strangers. Although he expected some reaction, the response he received was surprising. Holiday cards addressed to him came back from people who he had never met nor heard of him. The great majority of those who returned a card never inquired into his identity. They received his holiday card and automatically sent one in return. You may have done the same thing, I know my wife and I have.
While small in scope, this study demonstrates the action of one the most potent weapons of persuasion, the law of reciprocation. The law says we will try to repay, in kind, what another person has provided us. By virtue of the law of reciprocity we feel obligated to repay favors and gifts.
Look for opportunities
Employing the law of reciprocity in new home selling will pay you big dividends because most new home salespeople do not use it. Let's examine a few things you can do today; • Have refreshments (cokes, water, cookies, candy) available for your customers to enjoy during their visit.• Have coloring books and crayons available for your customer's children. Let the children take the books and crayons home. Ask the children to bring back their drawings so you can display them in the sale office.• As prospects leave give them a small token of appreciation. One salesperson I know purchased microwave popcorn and attached the message "Thanks For Popping In" and mailed it out immediately so that it would arrive the day after the first visit.• Call each prospect and leave a short voice mail message thanking him or her for visiting the model and tell him or her you are sending information about the community or location. This phone call should be placed immediately following the visit.• Send bouquet of flowers to a buyer who signed a contract or to a Realtor who help you make a sale. Follow up the flowers with a phone call asking for a referral.• Take a Realtor to lunch or hold an open house with food. Follow up luncheon with a referral request.
When you employ the law of reciprocity you're treating your prospect as a special person. Every time you do something extra, you are building a greater sense of obligation.
This month look for opportunities to use the law of reciprocity. You'll be amazed at how effective this law can be. Remember, in order to receive, you first must give. Give a lot, get a lot. Give a little, get a little.
Law of consistency
The law of consistency states that when people take a position they will strongly defend their position even if there is evidence to the contrary.
A study done by a pair of Canadian psychologists makes this point very well. What the psychologists discovered is that people at a racetrack, after placing a bet, are more confident of their chance of winning than they were immediately before placing the bet. Keep in mind that nothing about the horse's chances of winning changed. It's the same horse, on the same track, in the same field of horses; but in the mind of the bettor, the horse's chances of winning improve once they purchased a ticket. Although this may be a bit puzzling at first, the reason has to do with the law of consistency.
Like the other laws of persuasion this one lays deep within a person. It is a person's desire to be (and appear to be) consistent with what has been done. Once people take a position, they will behave consistent with their commitments.
For example, take the bettors in the racetrack experiment. Thirty seconds before placing the bet, they were tentative and uncertain, thirty seconds after placing the bet they became optimistic. The act of making the decision is the critical factor. Once a decision was made, the need for consistency caused these people to bring what they were feeling into line with what they had done. They simply convinced themselves that they had made the right choice and, as a result, felt more confident about the decision.
Pattern of yes
As a new home salesperson you can use the law of consistency to get prospects to make minor decisions that lead to the big decision – a new home sale. The best and easiest way to lead people to any decision is to use the ‘pattern of yes'.
People are creatures of habit, people like what is familiar. The human brain seeks pattern and having established a pattern, likes it to continue in order to be consistent. When someone has said "Yes" three times, they are likely to say "Yes" a fourth time.
When you get a prospect to agree, you are establishing a pattern of consistency. People don't say "Yes" to things they don't want. It would be inconsistent to say "Yes" to home, community and homesite and then say "No" when you ask for the order. So, a key to sales success is finding many ways to get prospects to say "Yes". And once a prospect says "Yes" it is likely they will to stick with the decision in order to be consistent.
Use tie-down questions to lead people to minor decisions
The more a prospect says "Yes", the harder it will be to say "No". Get prospects to agree that your homes, homesites, community, location, financing and builder satisfy what is important to them. Ask affirmative questions or tie-downs throughout your sales presentation and especially during demonstration. A tie-down question is any question that asks for an agreement. Use tie-down phrases such as these: don't you agree; wouldn't it; isn't it; right; doesn't it; aren't they; don't you; aren't they; can't you; isn't that right; don't you think; aren't you; okay?
This is an easy way to lead prospects into minor decisions, isn't it? You can gently influence them to nod their head in agreement, can't you? The result is a series of "Yes" responses that will lead to a sale, don't you agree?
Through discovery, qualifying, demonstration, and handling objections you can reach agreements one minor decision at a time; the result is a series of "Yes" responses leading to a close. You agree using agreements to move toward the close is an easy way to gain agreements, don't you?
Law of consistency
The key to the effectiveness of the law of consistency lies in your ability to get people to make a decision. This month decide to use the ‘pattern of yes' consistently Then close your customers by summarizing the decisions they made one at a time. How can prospects say "No" when they have consistently said "Yes", after all, that would be inconsistent.
Law of contrast
The law of contrast states that when two items are different, a person will see them as more diverse if they are placed close together.
The use of contrast is based on a person's perception of things that happen one right after the other. For example, if you've had a rotten day because you found out two buyers suddenly canceled and you go to the parking lot and find a big scratch on your car, you will have a different reaction to the scratch, if you were having a great day because you sold two homes and then found the scratch. It's the same scratch, but you will have a different reaction to it depending on what you're personally experiencing at the time.
What I'm talking about is perception. The human mind has to find a benchmark of comparison to make judgments. This happens when a prospect is considering different homes, communities, builders and locations. By presenting your prospects with contrast, you are helping to create comparisons for them.
Using the law of contrast
Here is an example on how to use the law of contrast to introduce two inventory homes that are located in the same community but priced differently. To demonstrate contrast you would say: "Before we look at the more expensive home let's look at the lower priced home first."
Since the two inventory homes are in the same community, the more expensive home will have more features and options you can use as "hot buttons" and more importantly, it's the last home the prospect will see. People tend to remember the last thing they were shown versus something demonstrated earlier. Since the last inventory home will have more amenities than the first, then the memory of the upgraded home will make the less expensive home seem drab and unexciting.
The law of contrast can be used in many ways. Here are just a few: • Contrast homes;• Contrast homesites;• Contrast communities;• Contrast locations;• Contrast financing programs;• Contrast builders.• Contrast salespeople
To experience the law of contrast try this experiment: Fill three buckets with water, one with hot water, another with cold water, and the third with tepid water. Place one hand in the hot bucket and the other one in the cold bucket for thirty seconds. Now place both hands in the tepid bucket and you will feel the law of contrast. The water in the third bucket is considered warm, but to the hot hand it feels cold and to the cold hand it feels warm. It is the same water but two completely different reactions. This is the law of contrast.
Any home, homesite, community, builder and amenity can be contrasted to appear different from what a prospect has seen by using the law of contrast. The Laws of Persuasion
Think about how much income you've lost because of your inability to persuade. How many times you were unable to convince a good prospect to buy a home you knew met all criteria but couldn't close the sale? The big question is are you reaching your full sales potential now? Are you able to motivate prospects to buy now? I believe the way to improve sales now lays in your ability to incorporate the three Laws of Persuasion into your sales presentation.
To achieve success now begin to use the three Laws of Persuasion during each presentation you make this month. Find ways to use the law of reciprocity by giving your prospects something of value; use the 'pattern of yes' to establish the law of consistency; and use the law of contrast so every prospect can easily compare the benefits of your homes, homesites, community, location and builder to anything else they may be considering.
Remember, success is never an accident, it is a planned event. Start planning for success now!—© 2008 Bob Hafer, Robert E. Hafer & Associates LLC
By: Bob Hafer
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