If you’re like the vast majority of people, when you make a purchase you want to believe you got a good, or great, deal. What’s your definition of a good deal? The deal is really the value you get from the transaction and when I talk about value I use the following equation:V = WIG/PValue equals What I Get divided by Price.There are two simple ways to look at it. If I can get more of something for the same price, that’s a better value. If I can get the same amount but pay less, again, that’s a better value.When it comes to value, getting a good deal, everyone would like to get more for less. We might not get as much as we want, or pay as little as we’d like, but believing the old adage – everything is negotiable – we’ll try our best to get more and/or pay less. And so will your prospects.Negotiating isn’t simply about lowering your price or giving away more stuff to make someone happy and close the sale. It’s about knowing when to deviate from traditional pricing or when to make concessions that will make both parties better off in the long run. It’s fair to say all the principles of influence and the contrast phenomenon might come into play as you negotiate but a few will stand out a little more.
Liking remains very important because the more the prospect likes you and really wants to do business with you, the better your chance of getting to yes as you go through negotiation points. Continue to remain friendly, bond over things you have in common and offer compliments when warranted because those simple acts will grease the wheel. One study I regularly share in my influence workshops clearly shows people put in a negotiation scenario had a much better chance of avoiding a deadlock if they take the time to get to know each other on a personal level.The principle of reciprocity describes the reality that when you give, quite often people feel they should give in return. This is very important in negotiations because your act of conceding on some point might cause the other person to make a concession too and you’re now closer to agreement. A concession might be sweetening the deal with something that may not mean much to you but might mean a lot to the prospect. Again, your act of giving is met with something in return. That’s the basis for bartering. The key here is to be the first to take the step to the middle.Consistency allows you to fall back on what the prospect said earlier in the sales process. If they wanted certain features and those features have a price tag then the reason for the price being what it is might be due to their choices. Reminding them of what they said they wanted is powerful because most people won’t come back with, “I know what I said but I’ve changed my mind.”Scarcity is closely aligned with consistency because you can always offer to remove certain features to get the price more in line with customers’ expectations or budget. If you recall in the post I wrote on qualifying the prospect, I shared a conversation between an insurance agent and prospective customer. The agent shared a little about business income coverage and the prospect asked to have the price included in the insurance quote. The new coverage will cause the premium to be higher but could be modified in some way or removed as a concession if the prospect feels the price is too high. With a new understanding about the coverage and their exposure, prospects might just find a way to keep it because no one wants to think about an exposure they clearly know is not covered. Contrast is used to help the prospect see what is being offered is in fact a good deal. If they believe your price is too high you need to figure out what their comparison point is. Whatever they have currently might not be a valid comparison point because the features may have changed. If that’s the case you need to move away from the old price and get them to see the value in what you’re offering. For example, how does being $1,000 higher than a competitor breakdown over the life of a product with a five-year lifespan? Over five years, there are 260 weeks so your product will cost the prospect less than $4 a week. Can you show the prospect how your product is worth much more than the extra $4 a week you’re asking them to pay?Bottom line – Don’t be offended that the prospect wants more for less. We’d all love to have a Cadillac but it’s not reasonable to think we can get it for the price of a Volkswagen, is it? And so it is quite often in your negotiations during a sale. You need to work with the prospect to come up with a solution that makes them feel their needs were met and they got a good deal.
Next time we’ll look at the part of the sales cycle I’ve seen salespeople struggle with the most – closing the sale, i.e., asking for the business. This doesn’t have to be difficult if you’ve set the expectations early on. Using the principles of influence effectively can make closing a natural part of the sales conversation.
Brian Ahearn, CMCT® Chief Influence OfficerinfluencePEOPLE Helping You Learn to Hear “Yes”.
Dark Patterns – User Interfaces Designed to Trick People
A Dark Pattern is a user interface that has been carefully crafted to trick users into doing things, such as buying insurance with their purchase or signing up for recurring bills.
How to win trust fast
In today’s article I am going to teach you a technique which will help you win peoples trust faster than ever before with your body language.When using this body language technique you will notice that people seem to like you more, open up more, trust you more, and as a result of all these things they want to help you.
Sound too good to be true? lets get started.
The technique which I am talking about is called mirroring, it is something which we all do naturally and the most charismatic of us do it a little more adeptly. Mirroring is matching the body language of the person who you are talking to in order to non-verbally show them that you are similar to them. For example, when you observe a couple or good friends, you will notice that they talk the same, walk the same, and even gesture, blink, and breathe at the same rates.
Mirroring is a non-verbal way of saying “I am like you. We use our bodies the same way, and feel and think the same too.” It is pretty easy to see how someone feels based on their posture as I described in my article on anxiety. When our non-verbals match those of the person we are talking to they subconciously understand that we are similar to them. and as Robert Cialdini described in his book “Influence: the Psychology of Persuasion”. one of the main things which makes other people like us is when we are similar to them, be that in how we dress, what we believe,or how we use our body language.
But the real magic of mirroring comes when you learn to consciously send signals to the other persons subconscious. By being in control of how you present yourself to the other persons subconscious mind you develop a huge advantage over people who don’t have this skill, you can win the trust of someone in 10% of the time as anyone who doesn’t know how to use mirroring.
5 tips to start using mirroring today1. Speak at the same speed
When we speak quickly we convey enthusiasm, or nervousness. When we are nervous, we speak faster so that no one can interrupt us.
When we speak slowly we convey just the opposite, boredom or confidence.
By matching the speed of speech to the person you are speaking with you will show them that you are as excited as they are.
If you are feeling adventurous, try to match these other qualities of speech as well
2. Hold your arms in the same rest positions
This technique needs to be done with the word of warning at the bottom of the page in mind.
When you are speaking to someone, start to notice how they rest their arms when they aren’t eating, smoking, gesturing, etc. Are their arms crossed over their chest? Are they folded in their laps? are they on top of their heads?
After noticing their resting arm position for a few minutes try to copy the same general positions. If you notice that they switch between hands on head and hands folded in the lap, do the same. After you have mastered this, move on to more advanced arm mirroring
3. Match their posture
This technique is the most important of all, notice how the person holds their torso, is it expanding or contracting? In Amy Cuddy’s TED talk she describes how high confidence posture is open, and taking up space.
She also describes how low confidence body language is rounding forward and taking up less space, like a beaten dog.
When you match the posture of the person you are speaking with you will notice that your mood changes to feel more engaged or more withdrawn. This is important because matching the posture of the person you are talking with not only conveys to them that you feel the same, but it actually lets you be in their shoes and understand how they feel physiologically
4. For the bold- Match their breathing rate
This technique is a fun thing to try out because it is so damn hard to do! try to notice the breathing rate of the person you are speaking to (this can be done by looking at their shoulders for a rise and fall or at their nostrils when they aren’t speaking.)
Matching breathing rate is normally something reserved for couples or lifelong friends but if you can master it you will notice a big change in how you feel. As experienced meditators know there is a profound connection of the breath and state of mind.
A word of warning *THE PROBLEM
The biggest mistake people make when they are first getting into mirroring other is that they mistake mirroring for copying. They do the exact same thing as the other person at the exact same time. They cross their arms at the same time as the other person, they nod at the same time etc… The problem with this is that it is way too obvious! The other person will be able to tell what you are doing and instead of feeling like you are likable and trustworthy they are going to think you are weird and manipulative
THE SOLUTION
The solution here is to just check in every few minutes. Every 3-5 minutes ask yourself, Am i speaking at the same speed as they are? Are my arms in a similar position as theirs? Is my body language as open as theirs? as closed off as theirs?
When you check in like this your use of mirroring will be much more natural, instead of trying to be the same as the person you are speaking to you are going to come across as similar. And similar is much more attractive than the same
I hope this technique works for you as well as it has been for me. Let me know what your experiences with mirroring in the comments below. I read every one.
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