How do you feel about persuasion?

You okay Gary?

Thanks for asking. The timing of his post did make me laugh. A very recent scary bout with cancer. The blessing is that suddenly it changes the way you see the world and what is really important.

I have had a lot of support from very wonderful people. My doctors tell me that I'm going to be all right and to get on with my life. But, SalesGuy, it changes ya.

Again, thanks for asking--and I'm kind of embarassed to let it out here. I told Mitch and RM privately because we sometimes rap back and forth.

It's good to hear you're going to be okay.

I can relate. (To this day my wife still kids me about my running out and doubling my life insurance after a close call two years ago.)

When a clear and distinct handshake with one's mortality in a precise confrontation with time's distance to travel from birth to death comes to home some panic, others get calm and reflective.

One way or another it persuades us to experience life differently if not permanently but for a while - I've experiencd that and it's also given me a perspective of calm and reflection, mostly.

There can also be that sudden urgency to do something - to organize things for family left living, to finish that book. OR, to let many things less important fall away and do more with simple pleasures and things over looked and neglected.

How does all this fit into thread on pesuasion? I'm certain connections can be made - the mind does that - and impressions cause metaphors to come to mind. One that comes to me is when I communicate about important things with people having to do with our deepest needs and wants, fears and longings, I feel good about that and there's usually something left behind that lingers and produces residual effects.

That kind of communication is also very important in doing business, in relationships that are productive and mutually necessary.

MitchM

I think many salespeople use "fear" to persuade others to take action. I imagine more than one "life insurance policy" has been sold by bringing the reality of one's death into full awareness.

AG - if people want to use fear - or "What's at risk if you don't do this [which is a fair question] and that's persuasive I'm not opposed to it. Fear of loss is a strong motivation.

I'm not one to use emotional manipulation in a highly charged and persuasive way to get people to do something - I'm aware of these things because I also live or have lived with them. But I will engage in a straight ahead conversation if what I offer is something theh other person wants to pursue and in that [through the inquiry process] also respond compelling and logical reasons having to do with what I can deliver that is what the other person wants.

I don't consider that a highly charged persuasive argument or sales process but everything has it's elements of persuasion as you know.

MitchM

You can take that one to the bank!

That's partially true but fear of death has rarely been a motivator in life insurance sales. The two primary motivators have been fear of uninsurability, a much greater immediate risk than death--and--inability to complete one's financial and/or family goals as a result of death or uninsurability.

The latter has become the primary focus of modern financial planning/insurance sellers. As a result, much time is spent on uncovering those goals with the intent to show the inadequacy of the current plan towards achieving them. It is a form of "disturb selling". Today, most companies discourage "one call closing' in favor of a multi-step process culminating with the introduction of products that will offer assurance on achieving the prospect's stated goals.

I thought that went without saying but yes it's not fear of one's own death that motivates but the realization of how things might be for those left behind, in the event of one's death, if proactive measures are not taken.

Persuasion is a tool. Like most tools, it is neither good nor bad. That depends how it is used. If you persuade someone to take care of his or her health, it is probably ethical. If you persuade someone to walk across a high-speed, six-lane highway, it is probably unethical.



Our research shows a very strong propensity on the part of the top one-percent of salespeople to avoid using persuasion. It is not a matter of ethics. It is because they have found far more effective ways to sell.