HOW TO INFLUENCE YOUR CLIENTS
by Michael Lovas
In the 2000 Presidential campaign, a huge uproar erupted about politicians using subliminal advertising. Allegedly, the Republican Party created a TV spot that flashed the word “Rats” onto the screen. You can use this controversy to great advantage for your business. Here’s how:
As an ad writer in the early 80s, I launched into learning everything I could about using subliminal messages to influence my readers. The problem was that all the research at the time focused on visual perception.
Ice cubes showed macabre faces. Cigarette packages contained sexual images. These types of subliminal messages appeared in magazine ads. Academic researchers flashed words and geometrical figures into the eyes of research subjects. Do you use any of those techniques in your marketing? Of course not. So, they hold little value for you, right? Still, you can use subliminal messages in a completely ethical way to get your message to your clients.
Subliminal influence presents you in the most favorable light. If you’re like most professionals I’ve met, that’s a huge goal that you might not have achieved However, there’s no way you won’t use subliminal, liminal, or superliminal messages to make any client cluck like a chicken or do anything they wouldn’t already do. That said, if the client possess both the need and want for your services, and the ability to pay for them, you might be able to present your written message in way that helps her or him pay more attention to you.
That’s important. If you’re a broker, do you want more planners or agents reading your letters? Sure. Isn’t that how you convince them to consider doing business with you?
If you’re a financial planner, do you want more wealthy people reading your letters? Of course you do. Isn’t that how you create opportunities for them to know and begin to trust you?
The question is: how do you construct your message so more people will read more of it? It has taken me about 20 years to learn these techniques. After reading about twenty books and taking hundreds of hours of training in the fine points of psychological language patterns, it would take me weeks to teach you how to use psychological language patterns like a pro. However, I can give you three basic guidelines that will help you enormously:
1. Build a psychological profile of your best A-level target market. If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it a thousand times. “Mike, I’ve got the right demographics!” Although the list you use is certainly important, if all you have is the readers’ ZIP code, you actually know nothing about them. You must answer such questions as::
- Do they focus on procedures or alternatives?
- Do they want direction or would they prefer to set their own standards?
- Do they rely on testimonials?
- Are they information seekers or do they jump directly into action?
- Should you give general or specific information?
Once you can answer some of these questions, you’ll be able to talk directly to readers, using language patterns that get past their mental filtering system. Some of this might be unconscious, and some will obviously be conscious. However, until you know who’s receiving your messages, most of it will be wasted.
2. Start with a Truth Frame. Say three things that are immediately and obviously true. The more those things relate to the reader, the better and more effective they’ll be. This technique nudges the reader into believing you. Like a snowball starting to roll down a hill, the Truth Frame begins to build your momentum.
3. Don’t tell them what not to do. In order to comprehend “negative advice” such as “Don’t procrastinate,” “Don’t’ drink and drive,” or “Stop thinking about sex,” the reader must first access the positive of what you’re saying not to do. The “sex” thing offers perfect example. In order to stop thinking about it, you first have to begin thinking about it. When you tell your clients, or your children, to stop doing something, you’re actually encouraging them to begin doing it. Duh.
Inside your client’s head is a robot that wants to do good, and is waiting for direction. However, it will only accept the direction when you present it in the right language and in the right structure. Your job is to figure the appropriate language and structure. Only then can you use it to communicate with the client.
When you combine those three guidelines, you’ll reach more people more effectively. If you’re really lucky, some of them might cluck like chickens. However, if you don’t pay attention to the psychological aspects of your marketing and sales communication (subliminal or otherwise), many of them will laugh like hyenas!
Michael Lovas is the president of AboutPeople (Colbert, WA, a firm that uses Psychological Language Patterns to develop marketing programs. A Master Practitioner of Neuro-linguistic Programming, he teaches financial advisors how to use common-sense psychology to help build trust with A-level target markets. He has written twelve books, mainly on professional communication in the financial industry Michael also holds the distinction of creating “Credibility Marketing” in 1991. For more information, call (509) 465-5599, e-mail [email protected], or visit www.aboutpeople.com.