Thus went the Kraft 9 point selling pattern that as new sales recruits we were taught back in 1972. It was the company way for selling into the trade great brands like Dairylea, Philadelphia and Cracker Barrell. And it worked a treat when persuading store managers to buy in the range, to gives us prime facings and stock cover in the dairy cabinet, and to agree the extra space and merchandising support we wanted during promotional activity.
We didn't question it a lot at the time because it worked. It worked because it assembled the sales presentation into a logical and compelling sequence which by itself was persuasive. And because we knew it worked it "empowered" us to chat the presentation through in a conversational and presupposing manner that seemed destined to gain agreement.
Today's recollection of why the selling pattern worked is of course made with retrospective understanding. Back then I wouldn't have been talking about "conversational hypnosis" or "persuasive language patterns" or "sleight of mouth!" NLP hadn't arrived. It would be a few decades before I would be trained in it and start to apply the techniques in persuasion and presentation training..
Persuasion patterns feature strongly in presentation training. We discuss how they support the presenter and "hypnotize" the audience. I talk about the Kraft 9 Point Pattern as an example of one that has endured in my subconscious for 40 years. With just a small amount of prompting I happily demonstrate it. Usually to spontaneous applause. Yes...I'm still showing off!!
Bob Howard-Spink is a partner in Persuadability. For tips and advice on adding compelling words and images to your messages visit us at http://persuadability.co.uk/
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