Maximize Your Influence

We’ve all been told, “Never judge a book by its cover.” Yeah, right. Everyone is judging everyone else. Intentionally or not, people are constantly judging and categorizing others, compartmentalizing them into boxes. There are many boxes—sharp, strange, weird, intelligent, dense, geeky, powerful, annoying, and more.

A great persuader can connect with anyone in thirty seconds or less. First impressions take only seconds to form, but they last a lifetime. This is a critical skill to develop because the cement dries fast. How do you ensure that you’re making those early seconds really count?

That first judgment or opinion about you is vital to your success. In this fast-paced world, you probably won’t get a second chance—you have to make it happen the first time.

Many persuaders can’t tell if they’re connecting. They think that they’re doing everything right, that they’re doing all the stereotypical rapport-building things: being friendly, enthusiastic, or fun. But the reality is that in most cases, they are not building rapport and are failing to connect with their audience. Studies show that not only do 75 percent of people not like all the “gushy, chit-chatty stuff,” but 99 percent of them won’t even bother to stop you when they’re annoyed.

Changes In Human IQ Are Frightening

The proverbial bad salesman comes to mind here. He acts too chummy and tells stupid jokes, all the while thinking everyone loves him. You’ve probably met him. What did you do when you met this person? If you’re like most people, you politely endured the encounter, made up some excuse to get him off your back, and then swore to yourself that’d you’d never get stuck talking to him again.

Reality check: This annoying person could be you.

Do you know your Persuasion IQ?

Direct download: Podcast_257_-_The_Primacy_and_Recency_Effect__The_Cement_Dries_Fast.mp3
Category:sales -- posted at: 11:58am CDT

Why is it so easy to lose at a casino?  Why do they know about human nature that you don’t?  It is all about the subconscious triggers.

 In his book Triggers, best-selling author Joseph Sugarman reveals that 95 percent of the reasoning behind a consumer's behavior is associated with a subconscious feeling. In other words, most behavior is done for reasons a person hasn't even fully formulated.

Whether we realize it or not, we love shortcuts to thinking. When we buy an item, we don't always take the time to research the product or read the latest consumer guide's ratings on the product. Instead, we could rely on the salesperson's advice. We might just buy the most popular brand, the cheapest, or rely on a friend’s opinion.

Although we would never admit it, we sometimes even buy an item just because of its color, smell or packaging. Certainly, we know this is not the best way to make decisions, but we all do it anyway, even when we know we might make a mistake or feel regretful afterward. If we considered every single decision, we would constantly be overwhelmed our brain would be shut down and we'd never get anything done.

This tendency means that inclinations like "It just feels right," "I like this product," or "I don't trust this person" are all based on subconscious triggers. This thought and emotional reaction occur in the unconscious mind, without our awareness.  

The reason this happens is the Amygdala.  Joseph Ledoux of New York University says the amygdala allows emotions to dominate and control our thinking.  The amygdala has control over the cortex in the brain.   What does that mean?  The cortex is responsible for memory, perceptual awareness, thought, and consciousness.  The amygdala stores our memories that we associate with emotional events.  This means subconscious triggers are always occurring and triggering feelings and emotions usually without our awareness. 

How-To Questions Each State Googles More Frequently Than Any Other State

What triggers are getting you?  How do Las Vegas casinos utilize these against you?

Listen and find out.

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Want to negotiation tips from a FBI hostage negotiator?  What negotiation tools are working?  Which tools lost the value? Listen to this interview with Chris Voss.

Meet Chris:

Prior to 2008, Chris was the lead international kidnapping negotiator for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as well as the FBI’s hostage negotiation representative for the National Security Council’s Hostage Working Group. During his government career, he also represented the U.S. Government at two (2) international conferences sponsored by the G-8 as an expert in kidnapping. Prior to becoming the FBI lead international kidnapping negotiator, Christopher served as the lead Crisis Negotiator for the New York City Division of the FBI. Christopher was a member of the New York City Joint Terrorist Task Force for 14 years.   

During Chris’s 24 year tenure in the Bureau, he was trained in the art of negotiation by not only the FBI but Scotland Yard and Harvard Law School. He is also a recipient of the Attorney General’s Award for Excellence in Law Enforcement and the FBI Agents Association Award for Distinguished and Exemplary Service.

 For more info about Chris and his work visit: https://blackswanltd.com/

Chris has taught business negotiation in the MBA program as an adjunct professor at University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business and at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business.  He has taught business negotiation at Harvard University, guest lectured at The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, The IMD Business School in Lausanne, Switzerland and The Goethe School of Business in Frankfurt, Germany.  

Get your FREE copy of Maximum Influence

Direct download: Podcast_255_-_FBI_Hostage_Negotiation_Skills_-_Chris_Voss_Interview.mp3
Category:sales -- posted at: 12:14pm CDT

How do you get a raise?  How do you strategically negotiate a raise to earn what you are worth?  Or is it better to persuade?  What is the difference between the two?  Persuasion occurs when your ideas are so convincing that the other party ends up adopting your point of view.  

With persuasion, there is no compromising, as there is in negotiation.  Rather, the other party willfully and enthusiastically abandons their position to embrace yours.  The other party clearly sees the gains and advantages of doing business with you.

Negotiation, on the other hand, is a process of give and take, give and take, give and take. We meet somewhere in the middle.  It’s being able to overcome objections on both sides of an issue and ultimately reaching some kind of common ground.  Remember, always persuade first, negotiate second.  

What is the number one predictor for personal success?

While persuasion is the ultimate ideal, anytime one of us is presenting our ideas, the other party is often equally committed to their own convictions, thus making negotiation the next-best path.  Salary negotiations are different because you are negotiating with a known party (your boss), This requires a different set of tool. 

Listen to the podcast and get those tools!

FREE copy of Best-Selling Maximum Influence 

Direct download: Podcast_254_-_How_to_Negotiate_a_Raise.mp3
Category:sales -- posted at: 6:30am CDT

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