More On Persuasion Continuums

I recently wrote an article about "Persuasion Continuums" which is one of the slickest tools you can use in persuasion. I'm back for more and am thrilled to give a little bit of a deeper look at this phenomenal tool.

To recap: Continuums work most powerfully when you find that the prospect you're influencing is at either end of the continuum not more or less in the middle. In other words, the powerful continuums are the ones where the person is extreme.

So if your prospect is at the far left side of the 'towards/away continuum' we'll call it the 'away' side but in the 'internal/external' continuum, they're right in the middle. . . well, we'd just ignore the internal/external component and concentrate on towards and away. If they're in the middle of one of them, that means they won't easily be influenced by language from either side. It's simply not going to make much of a difference to them.

Continuums are organizing principles. They represent a way of looking at things. They are a filter through which people view their circumstances. And the best part, for persuasion purposes, is that they are habitual. People generally keep the same perspective within the context in which you have inquired.

True, big life changes can alter an orientation, but they are, for the most part, a set way of viewing things.

We all view the world through these different lenses to one extent or another. We have a 'towards/away' lens, an 'internal/external' lens, and an 'options/procedural' lens. Once you understand how these work and what to say in order to access them, you will be able to zero in on the way a person functions and influence them with amazing precision.

All it takes is some attention and knowing how to adjust your language to fully take advantage.

People commonly believe that we all have the same thought processes, that despite our differences of opinion, we all have a similar way of gaining and assimilating knowledge. This is simply not true.

Nothing could be further from the truth. You think the way you do. I think the way I do. Your prospect thinks the way he or she does. We're all wildly different.

Step one in using this skill is to allow yourself to be a blank slate, a white board, which your prospect will define. You are open to their way of viewing the world so as to get into their head.

I am not talking about changing your values or your beliefs. I'm not talking about changing who you are at your core. I'm talking about changing the way you express yourself to influence another person.

You've heard the saying, 'You are what you eat.' Well, are you? Are you what you wear? Are you what you drive? Are you where you live? Are you who you're with? We are all made up of any number of things but not one solitary thing.

You're way closer to being a belief or a value, than you are to being the shoes you wear. But still, you're not just a belief. You're not simply your values. When you combine all that you think and feel and believe and, yes, wear, together, that's who you are.

It is vitally important that you understand that by "becoming" like your client in the way you language your persuasion, you are not fundamentally changing who you are. It's like you're changing your outfit or getting a new haircut.

When we're pushed into a corner and we have to come out swinging, we're going to simply do what it is that we know how to do. And from there, we hope to improve. Every time you're in front of a prospect, you're in a corner, so to speak, and you do what you know how to do as best as you can. The goal is to have flexibility, to increase that.

As contexts change, so do orientations. Don't assume that because someone is 'away' as you discuss health, that they'll be 'away' in regard to finances or security. This is context specific and requires that criteria be re-elicited.

Coming soon: Backing the Ambulance Up to the Door: The 'Away' Perspective.

Article Source: http://www.rightbiz.com

Kenrick Cleveland teaches strategies to earn the business of affluent prospects using persuasion. He runs public and private seminars and offers home study courses and coaching programs in persuasion strategies.

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