Develop Sales Rapport - The Friendshp Trigger

Furniture World Magazine

GET QUICK EASY AGREEMENT – FOR ANY REQUEST By Russell Granger Want outstanding success in business and in life? You’ll achieve your goals when you can influence others to agree with you and act on your requests. Any requests. Successful people get things done with and through others. They get decisions and results with one skill: the power of persuasion. Persuaders rule. They always have, they always will. They have enormous power. They accomplish their wildest dreams for wealth, power and influence. Your challenge: Become a great persuader. OK. So persuasion is critical to success. What do we know today about persuasion that we didn’t know before? What can you learn that will change your life for the better? What’s new and different? WHAT’S NEW AND DIFFERENT? The difference is simple, dramatic and exciting. With new, live, real time brain-imaging technology, we know definitively how the brain really processes information. We finally know how to influence other’s decisions and actions. And we’ve been doing it wrong for 2,500 years, since Aristotle wrote that the best route to persuasion is through reason, logic and rational input. Top neurologist, Dr. Richard Restak, author of the book and PBS series “The Secret Life of the Brain” put the lie to that long-held belief stating: We are not thinking machines. We are feeling machines that think. Restak adds, “Your brain is not a logic machine. Emotions and feelings about something occur before you’ve made any attempt at conscious evaluation.” LOGIC AND REASON DO NOT PERSUADE Logic and reason do not persuade! Why not? Because we react more effectively to emotional input rather than logic and reason. From birth we each build a database, an internal self-guidance system triggered by emotions. To successfully, easily persuade you simply activate the other person’s emotional triggers, his or her internal self-guidance system. With live brain technology we can pinpoint seven triggers others universally employ to help them make quick, automatic decisions. Decisions that are right for them. THE FRIENDSHIP TRIGGER Of the seven key triggers, the Friendship Trigger is both critical and a prerequisite for activating the other triggers. Since birth, the emotional part of our brain has stored data for the friendship trigger. Infants bond with whomever cares for them. Bonding creates trust and liking. We are emotionally hard wired to respond quickly and favorably to those we like, trust and are similar to us. The secret to successfully activating the other person’s friendship decision trigger is, well, to be a friend. How do we do that? We must share common interests, common feelings and common bonds. When we share common interests, we become friends, we activate the trigger. The great news is that activating the friendship trigger is easy – very easy. Does the friendship trigger work? Bill, a sales rep, needed a critical operation and wanted the world’s best surgeon. Problem: The surgeon took few new patients and would only operate on perfect candidates. Bill didn’t fit his mold. The doctor was a real curmudgeon, and as Chairman of the College of Physicians and Surgeons at one of the worlds top hospitals, a very busy guy. Bill was told to be brief, quick and deal only with the data and facts – no small talk. Bill violated all he was told. Entering the office Bill asked, “So doc, what do you like to do when you are not working so hard?” The rather surprised doctor glared at Bill for a long minute, and then motioned him around to his side of his desk. He said, “I love blue water sailboat racing.” He logged into his yacht club’s Web site where his 65-foot ocean racer was featured with all his racing credits. Now Bill is not a sail enthusiast, but he is a boater. They talked about the pleasures of boating. They bonded. They became friends. At each meeting Bill asked, “What’s new for the yacht? He regaled Bill with new GPS equipment, new Kevlar sails and racing stories. Wow! They’re friends. By activating just one internal trigger, Bill persuaded the world’s top surgeon to operate on him. And thanks to that trigger, Bill is alive today. Is the friendship trigger powerful? Bet on it! How do you activate this incredible trigger? How can you make it produce the decisions and actions you want? Let’s check out seven elements of one trigger. Ask about any of the following: Leisure Time – How Do You Spend It?: “What do you like to do when you’re not working so hard? An easy way to get her talking about what interests her. Tie in anything you can to match, or at least show interest in that subject. Anyone who shares the same interests is a friend. Business: How did you get started in this business? How did you become so good at what you do? Any questions relating to his or her business background will delight your persuasion partner Background: “Where are you from originally?” What brought you here? Simple questions can open a dialogue that goes on and on. Sports: If they’re into it, go for it! Fans love talking about their teams and heroes. Ask questions and let them roll! Kids: If they have them, they love to talk about them. You are a friend for asking. Friends-Acquaintances: Friends of friends are friends. Mutual acquaintances are great topics for friendly discussions. Thanks, Approval, Appreciation, Praise: Appreciation and praise from others is a key human motivator. Find something you can give thanks or appreciation for, and then do it! Show approval for any action or deed. These are but seven of the infinite ways to be a friend, to activate the friendship trigger. Liking is a prerequisite for emotional triggers to be activated. We all prefer to deal with people we believe to be like us. We all crave the power to get things done. The power to get the decisions and actions we want. Power is nothing without the power to influence. That power is in your hands. Wisely apply that power and you will achieve your destiny, wealth, power, influence, and a successful, happy life. About the author: Russ Granger is the founder of ProEd, an international training consultancy specializing in management, sales and personal productivity courses. His decades of persuasion research lead to many sales and persuasion books, including “The 7 Triggers to Yes.” The company's training courses help sales, management and entrepreneurial personnel achieve their highest goals. To become more successful getting "Yes," the decisions and actions you want from others, visit www.seventriggers.com.