newwaypersuade

When I first stepped into the world of sales over 20
years ago, I chose a tough way to start. I believed then,
as I do now, that door to door insurance sales ranks
right up there with being the hardest selling gig there is.

I would normally work in a community some 2-5 hours
away, knocking on the doors of people who had never
before seen my 20 year old face ( which looked all of
16 or 17), or even heard of the Agency I represented in
most cases. Imagine some kid that looked like they
were still in high school, knocking on your door, coming
in to ask you a few questions, delivering a
presentation, and then asking you for $1000-$4000.
Like I said, it was tough.

I was always somewhat amazed when someone got out
their check book, and wrote me the check for an
insurance policy they hoped was as good as I had told
them. How did I do it? I 1986, I was trained, as most
sales people are today, to use what Dr. Eric Knowles
refers to as “Alpha Strategies.” In short, Alpha
Strategies are techniques designed to overcome
resistance. As you might imagine, there was a fair
amount of resistance in those who I was asking to
abandon their current insurance company, and trust
someone who had been a total stranger less than 2
hours before, with a check for well over $1000.

The challenge we faced as agents, was that even when
we were successful at overcoming the resistance, we
had done nothing with the resistance; it was still there,
lurking beneath the surface, and when the emotional
“high” we had induced began to wane, chances were
that the resistance would eventually prevail. To return
to the home office at the end of the week, only to
discover that the “Big” sale you had made had been
cancelled, was like being punched right in the gut!

The world’s foremost expert on resistance reduction is
Dr. Eric Knowles. I was fortunate enough to spend
some time with Dr. Knowles last week, discussing what
he calls “Omega Strategies”, and it was an honor to
hear the principles I had studied so thoroughly in his
book resonate in the voice of Dr. Knowles himself. He
presented us with several examples not contained in
the book, in terms of application and use in day to day
interactions.

One “technique” that I absolutely love, because of its
simplicity and power, is that of simply acknowledging
the resistance. When I first learned of this research,
the part of me that was trained to sell insurance said,
“Whooooooaaa, you’re actually going to bring up the
fact that they are resistant?” As a red cheeked
insurance agent, I had been taught to keep them
focused on thoughts that were aligned with making the
decision to buy.

Knowles presents an overwhelming body of research
that indicates we should in fact bring this to their
attention. In one example, Knowles found that when
one of his research participants asked another student,
“Would you mail this letter for me?” that about 70% of
those asked said yes. However, when the assistant
made the same request, but first acknowledged the
resistance of the person being asked, it jumped to
almost 100% of the requests be answered with “Yes.”
What were the words that were responsible for an
increase of as much as 30%? “I know you probably don’
t want to, but……” That’s it. The question in full was, “I
know you probably don’t want to, but would you mail
this letter for me?” How much could an increase in
compliance of nearly 30% mean to you?

Knowles discovered that by acknowledging the
resistance, we can lower its intensity, and in some
cases, even defuse it completely.

If you have a message to deliver that you know others
may find hard to believe, (resistance) tell them. “Folks, I’
m going to tell you something that you probably won’t
believe,........” If you’ve been involved in sales or a
career that requires a significant amount of persuasion
for any length of time, this will feel like using your non-
dominant hand to write with…at first. But after you have
witnessed this principle literally melt someone’s
resistance, you’ll soon find yourself using it with ease.

Notice that when using this principle of acknowledging
the resistance, the essential message has not changed
or become more attractive; you have not added a
“bonus” or anything else to “amp” up your offer or
sweeten the request. You are simply letting the other
person know, that you realize they may not want to do
it, believe it, accept it, etc.

This technique can also significantly deepen and
speed up the process of establishing rapport. By
acknowledging what they are feeling or thinking, it’s as
if you were so in tune with them that you actually read
their thoughts.

One caveat: Only use this with something you are
certain there is, or will be resistance to or about.
Knowles found that when resistance was
acknowledged, when in fact there was none, that it
could have a backlash effect, and actually cause an
otherwise confident person to begin to doubt what you’
re saying.

By first reducing the resistance to your message, you
may be surprised to find it requires much less effort to
persuade. Let me ask you this; given the choice
between constantly having to find better way to
overcome the fatigue that results from walking up the
long hill from your mail box, or, would you rather simply
decrease the effort or “resistance” by taking a different
path? We now have the same choice available in the
process of persuasion.

I remember Dr. Knowles saying, “I know this seems so
straightforward and simple, that you may be hesitant to
use it, perhaps even wanting to disregard it completely,
but the science is there…this stuff is powerful, and will
increase your persuasiveness in virtually any
environment.” Having used these principles with my
clients in personal coaching sessions, I can tell you that
Dr. Knowles is right.

I might not want to try this stuff today, but if you decide
to now, I think you’ll be glad you did.

© Copyright 2007, Vincent Harris-All Rights Reserved.