Repeating and Repackaging (2)
Master Persuaders can feel the fine line between persistence and annoyance. My general rule is that if you detect even the slightest of interest, keep up your persistence. I was in Mexico recently with a friend. We were enjoying a nice walk through the town, looking at all the shops and buildings. Out of nowhere, a vendor selling bracelets and necklaces approached and disrupted our nice stroll. ‘‘No, thank you’’ did little to deter the pesky vendor. He followed us through the town and through the streets. When we went into a shop hoping he’d leave, he even waited outside the store for us. Again, we told him ‘‘no, thank you’’ and that we had no need for his gold and silver bracelets. ‘‘But I have a special deal,’’ he kept telling us! Well, he was persistent (or we could say a pain in the butt) but it finally paid off. We bought a bracelet and he went home happy.
Persistence is a state of mind, which means it can be cultivated. Most people do not lack desire; they lack persistence. As Calvin Coolidge said:
Successful people always have high levels of persistence, and don’t give up until they have reached their objective. Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not. Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not. Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not. The world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence, determination and hard work make the difference.
Remember, you can have the best product and it might even be a perfect fit for the person you are trying to persuade. They might even feel it is a perfect fit and want it, but they will say no just because it’s human nature. Good persuaders don’t take ‘‘no’’ for an answer. If they know their product is what the prospect needs and is looking for, they keep pursuing. Persuasion is getting the other person to want what you want and to like it. This can only happen with honorable persistence.
[21]G. Gorn and M. Goldberg, ‘‘Children’s Responses to Repetitive TV Commercials,’’ Journal of Consumer Research (1980): 421–425.
[22]R. E. Petty and J. T. Cacioppo, ‘‘Effects of Forewarning of Persuasive Intent and Involvement on Cognitive Responses and Persuasion,’’ Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (1979):173–176.
Taken From : Maximum Influence : The 12 Universal Laws of power Persuasion
This entry was posted on Thursday, May 7th, 2009 at 4:19 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
