Thread Success with Three Claims

Those experts at “The Phrase Finder” considered whether the origin of the proverb “Third time’s a charm” has to do with hanging. More specifically, a belief that under English law, anyone who survives three attempts at hanging for a crime is set free.
     The conclusion from the inquiry was the belief about English law and about this origin of the proverb were inaccurate. However, there is some consumer behavior research which indicates how going beyond three is likely to hang up your retail sale.
     A set of studies at UCLA and Georgetown University found that when a shopper perceives a salesperson has a persuasive intent, the optimal number of product claims by the salesperson is three. Up to three, the chance of convincing the shopper increases. But beyond three, the sales pitch quickly becomes less persuasive as consumer skepticism increases.
     Another factor is the limited memory processing capacity of our brains. We can do fairly well remembering up to three product claims made in quick succession. But beyond three, each additional claim tends to dilute one of the earlier ones. The excess also adds distracting irritation from the person’s recognition of the memory loss.
     Variants of the salesmanship “Third time’s a charm” come from other research. Studies at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology conclude that asking a reluctant shopper “What are good reasons for you to buy this product?” help make a sale. But findings from Universität Heidelberg and Universität Mannheim indicate that if you ask the consumer to generate loads of reasons to buy the particular product or to shop at your store, the task becomes more difficult for the customer, and this actually makes your preferred alternative less attractive.
     The Heidelberg/Mannheim researchers subsequently found that if you ask a highly reluctant shopper to generate loads of reasons not to buy, when she ends up having trouble coming up with further reasons, this causes the purchase to become more attractive. It’s as if she’s saying, “The fact that I can’t think of more reasons might mean that my reluctance is misplaced.”
     Go gently when exhausting resistances to avoid shopper embarrassment arising from an awareness any of the reasons are unreasonable. Say, “My guess is that there are reasons we’ve not discussed for your hesitation in buying.” This way of phrasing it unrolls those hidden resistances so they show themselves at a pace comfortable for the shopper.

For your profitability: Sell Well: What Really Moves Your Shoppers

Click below for more: 
Ask Shoppers for Reasons to Buy
Exhaust Shoppers’ Resistances