Be Up Front with Quality Sales Pitches

When targets of our influence consciously realize we’re selling to them rather than only informing them, those targets’ resistances to persuasion might grow mightily. It would seem you’d want to avoid this reactance. However, study results from Seattle University and Northwestern University make a case for activating “persuasion knowledge” in customers and clients early in the influence process. They say it can bolster credibility instead of inducing skepticism. This happens when the sales pitches are recognized as genuinely in the interest of the recipients, benefits claims are believable, the agent of persuasion is seen as having kept promises in the past, and the agent of persuasion is up front about intent. Candor at the start builds trust.
     Other study results indicate when early notice of your influence intentions is especially crucial in steering the person away from skepticism and toward credibility:

• Studies at Georgia State University and University of Leeds find that shoppers who ask questions about the relative value of items are likely to have accurate impressions of how pricing is used to persuade and to feel confident about their pricing tactics persuasion knowledge. Shoppers who love using coupons are less likely to use PTPK. 
• Researchers at University of Western Ontario, University of Connecticut, and Mississippi State University say that salespersons’ use of guilt appeals brings persuasion knowledge to the fore. Sources of shopper guilt include a client being late for an appointment or succumbing to temptation to make a purchase previously resisted. In the experiments, use of persuasion knowledge led those who started out feeling guilty to instead experience less guilt about themselves and more anger toward the sales agent. So early intervention can head off irritation as well as skepticism. 
• Rhetorical questions in face-to-face influencer-consumer interactions or in ads raise persuasion knowledge. A rhetorical question is a yes/no question to which the answer is felt to be so obvious that no reply is necessary. Examples include “Wouldn't it be fun to have this couch in your living room by tonight?,” and “Do you want to miss this wonderful opportunity?” 
• Researchers at Tilburg University and University of Amsterdam looked at instances where a branded item is shown as part of the story in a movie or TV show in order to lead the viewer to want to acquire that brand. If the product placement was pointed out, the viewers became skeptical unless the viewers were feeling fatigued. 

For your success: Retailer’s Edge: Boost Profits Using Shopper Psychology

Click below for more: 
Unbox the Resistant Customer
Put Foot-in-the-Door to Build Trust
Tip Off Shoppers Before Manipulation
Improve Sales Using Guilty Self-Improvement
Show Impatience to Noncompliant Patients
Use Rhetorical Questions to Close Sales
Thread Success with Three Claims
Arouse Curiosity for Special Effect