Mastering the art of visual persuasion

My very good friend Angela was recently sharing some excellent advice she'd been given on how working environment and surrounding visual stimulii can be used to influence and focus our thinking. Thinking about what she had said I started to connect with several situations which seem to illustrate this.  Like creative agencies who dedicate a work room to a client and dress it entirely with client-related images. Like Derren Brown's famous red BMX bike conversation where peripheral images were seen to play a big part in influencing thought. 

And then of course numerous other examples came to mind going back over many years. Reminding me that we have always known about visual communication but without really understanding it or making full use of it.
With an interest triggered off by my NLP training I've avidly researched the whole topic of subconscious thought and the power of visual stimulus. This has revealed some fascinating facts. Certainly fascinating enough to impress this unsophisticated mind!  But the notion that our minds are busily thinking without us realising it I find fascinating. The notion that visual stimulii will influence that thinking I also find fascinating. And the notion that the less we are consciously aware of that stimulii then the greater we will be influenced by it...I find really fascinating!  This of course is what the masters of visual communication recognise....as they visually communicate in a subtle unobtrusive way.
I smile inwardly when I meet many newly trained NLP'ers. They enthusiatically and as a result rather obviously apply their mirroring techniques....and of course it doesn't work!  But when with time and practice it is done elegantly and almost inconspicuously... it does work! And this "inconspicuous elegance" is the secret element that....
Distinguishes the body language of great persuaders and gains them instant rapport!
Generates the "charisma" in great presenters and wins them audience approval!
Adds the "magic" in visual presentation design that makes it compelling!

For more free tips and articles on persuasive communication visit http://www.persuadability.co.uk/

Why people are hard to sell to!

How much thought do you give to the words you use when pitching for business or when selling your ideas to a colleague. Go on be honest!    How often do you enthuse with total gusto but choose reasons and express your argument in terms that you would find convincing. In other words sell it as it would have been successfully sold to you.  I was reminded of this by some recent research into group motivations to tackle a particular task. The quick summary of this research was that in any cross section of people you will find half of them regarding completion of the task as the key driver whilst the other half would be motivated by getting fun out of it.

I work with a couple of guys who illustrate this difference very clearly. Present an idea for them to consider and you get two reactions. One is more interested in how it might improve control, or reduce costs. He asks a lot of questions. The other is more interested in how it might deliver marketing advantages or added value.  He tells me how he sees it working. One likes to carefully read through back-up information and maybe even create an excel spread sheet before making up his mind. Give his partner the supporting papers and he will push them aside with instant boredom. He wants to talk about it and hear how it will work.
And that is the reality of selling and persuasion. People are different. How we would go about deciding on a particular idea is not how others will do it. Roughly speaking, 3 out of 4 people will by varying degrees of difference have their own reasons and their own ways of deciding.
So don't rush to present what you want to hear. Take some time to listen and learn what it is that they want to hear.

For more helpful tips and advice on how to influence and persuade others visit http://www.persuadability.co.uk/

The key to a successful sales pitch

I was chatting with a Creative Marketing pal today about his current success rate with new business pitches. Despite coming up with some terrific responses he just wasn't winning the pitch.  We chewed over the usual factors that arise in these conversations...Price...the client testing out the market!  But eventually he admitted that when asking for some feedback he was told that he hadn't really answered the brief.  That kind of response is of course abhorrent to any professional creative! "Well they moved the goal posts didn't they!" was his first explanation.  Followed by "They didn't really know what they wanted anyway...and they asked us to come up with ideas!"  "That must make it really tough for you when working up a responsel" I inquiringly suggested, anxious not to offend creative sensitivity.  He explained at length just how difficult and then listened attentively to my observations - That enthusiasm alone will never close a sale if your best shots are just fired off hopefully at an unknown target.  That building agreement can only happen when you know that your solutions are right on target with the prospect's needs. That only then can you present those best shots with that vital smile and nod of the head, as you use that magic closing phrase "and this will give us (their key need) which we know is important to you isn't it?   

This then allowed me to nicely loop back to the brief and to talk about the crucial need to question, probe and qualify the brief. We talked about the need to create rapport as a precursor to qualifying needs and he promised to read the blog post How to really listen and influence people.  And in the end we agreed that:

• Buying decisions are of course based on practical requirements or needs which will be prioritised in some way. But they are also and ultimately based on wants and desires. This kind of criteria are rarely articulated in the brief.  Sometimes they are not even fully clarified in the buyer's mind until the final proposals are considered.
• Decision makers do not readilly share these inner criteria. They need to be encouraged by an attentive and empathetic listener who can comfortably ask questions like:
•  "What are you looking to achieve?"
• "Why is that important to you?""
• And what ultimately does that mean to you?"
•  Suppliers who create that rapport and ask those questions will be seen by Decision Makers as the Pitch Team who "really got to understand what we wanted!" And as the Team that when presenting solutions, hit the target and closed by saying ".....and that is what you are really looking for isn't it!"  ....Not forgetting the nod and the smile!!

Bob Howard-Spink is a Partner in Persuadability. For more tips and help on improving your persuasive business messages visit http://www.persuadability.co.uk/