Posted on 27th April 2007 by Jade Handy in Let's Talk About Language |Persuasion |Selling Language |Sports and Athletes
Last night I was at an event and overheard something amazingly simple and effective and something that many high achieving communicators do that they don’t understand consciously.
Physical therapist. Not salesperson. Not TV pitchman. And probably would never in a million years want to be associated with as such.
Prospect(unqualified as such) walks up. “Hi, my name is Bill with Johnson Physical Therapy. Nice event, huh?” Next and by the way the most crucial “next.” “Experiencing aches and pains while you’re out there golfing?” There’s the hook. Did you notice it?
I bet you maybe noticed the qualifying question. You maybe wrote it off as, “what else is he supposed to ask about, that’s what he fixes.” And you’d be spot on.
But did you noticed the fact that the prospect has responded “yes.” Twice, already. One minute into the process and the customer is already nodding “yes.”
He didn’t try to tag question him into submission (e.g. This is a good deal, isn’t it. You do want to do business with me, don’t you? I am the only person you’re considering, aren’t I? You do want to punch my lights out, don’t you?) He did it with good ol’ fashion conversation starters. The conversational way. It just came second nature to him.
Did he gain a client? I don’t know, but he’s definitely on the right track.
Posted on 26th April 2007 by Jade Handy in Let's Talk About Language |Persuasion |Selling Language |Sports and Athletes
Think like a pro and make your body have to catch up. Write some check you’re body can’t cash,… yet. In other words put it on the line. Act as if you can until you do.
So often I hear comments like, “I don’t use my 3 iron.” Or, “I always flub it on the 8th hole.” Or, “____.”
Do you think Tiger is out there saying these things? We all know the answer to that one. The great thing about our self talk is that you can be a Masters Champion in your head. Who can say this in their head, “They say a giant has to fall at some point.” Sound familiar? Yeah, that’s Zach Johnson in your head. You think Zach is going to care if you steal his line? Doubt it. He doesn’t even know you exist. You’ll soon not be able to use it commercially, though, I’ll bet. It’ll have ™ all over it.
How about this one, “My dreams have been answered.” Doesn’t this mean he had one to begin with? What’s more realistic, you dreaming about using your 3 iron again, or “a Midwest guy from Iowa” winning the Masters? Against Tiger Wood’s none the less! Put’s it in perspective, huh?
Let’s keep going. “This is very surreal…I don’t even know what I shot.” Sounds like someone was in a trance-like state. Not “like,” how about “was.”
Think like a pro, why not? Ask yourself, WWPS, “What would a Pro say?” How about this angle, say it out loud to your arch enemy. Would you let him or her in on that inside information?
One last one of Zach’s, “I think I am mentally tough.” Wow…
Posted on 17th April 2007 by Jade Handy in Let's Talk About Language |Persuasion |Selling Language
“How goes it?” Sounds perfunctory(done merely out of duty; superficial) and ineffectual enough, huh?
I was walking out of a dealership showroom the other day and heard these first words from the owner, with whom I had just been talking, as he approached a gentle-looking man. Most people would have not noticed one iota, not one bit. Me? My ears couldn’t have perked up more. You see, that one statement fits a pattern amongst top communicators. The pattern? It’s also uniquely different that other possible choices he had in the moment. He could have said, ”good to see you,” ”how are you feeling, today?,” “What d’ya say?,” or simply shook the prospect’s hand. What I’m trying to say here is that “How goes it?” serves a specific purpose in the context of that interaction, even though it sounds backwoods.
“How goes it?” elicits, draws out, what is on the man’s mind. If the owner were to have said something else, he wouldn’t know were to direct the conversation. Saying this this way gives the owner something to match and create rapport around, whether he is consciously aware of it or not. If the customer says, “Oh, feeling good,” the owner can do any number of things to match this. The owner could say, “That’s good,” for example, or he could amplify it by saying, “Better than yesterday?”
This is good information, because meeting the prospect where they are before taking them where we want them to go is helpful and profitable.
In my consulting process, I would explain in more detail the different variations of this, how this approach is different, what it’s different from, how it matches a structure/pattern I’ve seen among top salespeople, the initial response that it elicits, and more ways you can use this to get to the next step of a persuasion process.
