I was watching "The Godfather" recently.

For the uninitiated, "The Godfather" is the classic oscar-winning show about the Italian Mafia (or the "Mob").

The opening scene left a very deep impression on me.

It’s the scene of Amerigo Bonasera, an owner of a funeral parlour who went to Don Corleone to ask for a favour, which was on the day of Don Corleone’s daughter wedding.

His daughter has just been raped by 2 men. But due to the failure of the justice system then, the 2 men got away scot free.

Bonasera swore revenge. But the only one who can help him deliver justice is Don Vito Corleone, the head of the Corleone mafia family in New York.

Don Corleone agreed to "settle" the 2 men.

But the scene that particularly struck me was how he made Bonasera acknowledged him as his "Godfather" and promised to return the favor if he ever needs it in future.

In Don Corleone’s words…he said to Bonasera, "Some day, and that day may never come, I will call upon you to do a service for me. But uh, until that day, accept this justice as a gift on my daughter’s wedding day."

Later in the show, Don Corleone’s eldest son, Sonny, was brutally assassinated by a rival mob.

And Bonasera returned the favor to Don Corleone by helping to patch up Sonny’s body nicely, so that his mother will not have to go through the agony of seeing Sonny’s disfigured bullet-riddled body.

Later, the movie also showed how Don Vito helped his godson, Johnny Fontane further his showbiz career.

And he too, would later repay Don Vito’s favor.

Can you see the persuasion strategy here?

Don Vito is using one of the classic "weapon of influence" which Dr Robert Cialdini (author of "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion") termed as the "Principle of Reciprocity".

Don Vito will get people in his debt. So that if he ever needs to get something done, he will be able to easily persuade his "debtor" to reciprocate.

It’s a very powerful persuasion technique.

That’s why you hear Zig Ziglar, one of the world’s greatest salesman, saying, “You can get everything you want in life, if you help others get what they want."

When you help others, they are more inclined to hear you back.

Win-win.

It appeals to human’s nature of fairness.

And it’s a powerful weapon of influence you can use in all areas of your life, be at work or relationships.

Try it. And you will know what I mean.

To end off, let me leave you with video of the opening scene.

Enjoy the dialogue. And of course, Marlon Brando’s powerful portrayal of Don Vito Corleone.

Goddamn, I love this show!

Jag Foo

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When it comes to selling, you have to understand that people buy largely on emotion. Not logic.

For them to part with their hard-earned money, you have to first discover their innate wants and desires. We call these “mind motivators”. Once you get their sweet spot, keep pressing these emotional hot buttons.

As you slowly begin to understand what gets the buyer’s pulse racing, you can easily incorporate them in your sales presentation and sales copy.

Use it in your sales copy for PPC ad…landing page copy…banner…whatever!

Here are a few mind motivators for starters:

• Buyers want to avoid pain
• Buyers want to gain pleasure
• Buyers want to save time
• Buyers want to have an easier life
• Buyers want to feel safe and secure
• Buyers want to have a peace of mind
• Buyers love to receive compliments
• Buyers like to invest in future
• Buyers also love short term, instant gratification
• Buyers like experience happiness
• Buyers are fearful of being disadvantaged
• Buyers love to dream the dream
• Buyers want to save on trouble
• Buyers want to let the people (especially loved ones) around them feel happy
• Buyers want it more if they have to be qualified first
• Buyers want to have authority and power
• Buyers want to be part of an exclusive group
• Buyers want to feel independent

Do these points give you some ideas on how you can sell your product?

Remember, you want to be focused on selling benefits (emotions) and not so much on features (logic).

Let me know what you think.

To your success,

Jag Foo

P.S  If you like to discover more effective yet simple copy techniques, I have something that may just be right for you…

=> http://persuasivecopywriting.net/ChunkCopy/

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In the previous post (part 1), we talk about using the principle of consistency technique that helped a restaurant reduce their cancellation of table reservations by 30%.

This was achieved just by adding 2 “small words” to the call script used by the phone receptionist.

Today, we are going to explore another “Small Change Big Impact” scenario.

I got this from a newsletter issue from John Forde’s Copywriting Roundtable. I thought it’s pretty relevant to today’s theme.

And I think you will like this. It goes like this:

In Italy, and for many countries for that matter (including Singapore where I am based), you get penalized with points if you commit a traffic offence.

Once you accumulated points to a certain level, your driving license get suspended.

Now Italy is well well-known for bad driving on the road. And while this measure probably work to a certain degree, the authorities decided to do a small tweak to the system.

They Flipped It Around!

That means you start of with points on your record. With every violation, you get points taken off. If you hit zero, you are IN LUCK! Say goodbye to your license!

What happened after that?

Traffic deaths went down. Accidents went down. Speeding incidents went
down. Helmet and even seatbelt use went up!

Small change. Big impact.

But why?

Because fear of loss is a powerful motivator!

When it’s down to “fear of loss” versus “benefit of gain”, the former wins. Hands down.

Don’t believe me? Take a look at the stock market. It can take years for a stock to reach its absolute peak. But you only need a matter of months (or even days) for the stock to plummet back to square one during a panic.

Wonder why weekend clearance sale work so well? Because people are afraid of missing the bargain. There is “scarcity” involved. That’s very effective in getting people to act. And act now.

Amazing how human emotions work right?

As usual, let me know your thoughts below.

All success,

Jag Foo

P.S Important => What if you can discover the secret element that can increase your profits by 1,000%…and more…

Will you be willing to do a small test – which you can implement in no time and cost zero dollars – that can potentially yield you disproportionally large results?

Click here now if you want to discover these secrets that Jay Abraham, Mark Joyner and other marketing legends have been exclusively to their clients => http://emoneymarketing.com/SmallChangesBigProfits/

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Do you know that you can have significant increase in revenue just by making seemingly “small changes” to your business?

Most people tend to think that if you want big results…you need big change! You need to spend big money! But that’s not entirely true!

If you know how to make the RIGHT change, you can still achieve great results even if it may just be a small tweak.

Let me tell you a story illustrating this concept.

I read about this story in one of Robert Cialdini’s presentation about how to be more persuasive.

Robert Cialdini is a world-renowned authority in the study of influence. He is also the best-selling author of “The Psychology of Influence”.

And it goes like this.

There is a restaurant that takes advanced booking by phone. But there was a problem. There were many customers calling in to cancel at the last minute.

The thing is that the receptionist was trained to say “Thank you for calling our restaurant. Please call if you want to cancel your reservation” to all the customers making their booking.

Later, a small change was made to this statement. To be more precise, 2 extra words was added.

What was it?

Now, the receptionist says, “Thank you for calling our restaurant.

Will you please call if you want to cancel your reservation.”

That’s it. And because of these 2 extra words (“Will you”), there was a 30% reduction in cancellation.

What happened here?

Let me tell you, the restaurant just applied…

The Principle Of Consistency

We like to be consistent. And if someone points out any inconsistency in your behavior or actions…it will cause you to feel highly uncomfortable.

Therefore, when we insert the extra 2 words “Will you” into the question, it subconsciously tells the person on the other end, that now he has got to take responsibility.

He made the booking at first. And now he cancels. The receptionist wants him to know that he is being inconsistent. By using the word “you”, the person is now more aware of this fact.

Amazing isn’t it? The addition of just 2 words!

Can you apply this concept to your website’s sales copy to make it more persuasive? Definitely.

Test it. And you will see the result.

The next time you meet a client, see if you can implement this principle to get the other party to do what you want.

While you may not be succeed all the time, it will surely increase your odds.

In the next part, I will share with you another “weapon of influence” that can yield powerful results with just another small tweak.

All success,

Jag Foo

P.S Important => What if you can discover the secret element that can increase your profits by 1,000%…and more…

Will you be willing to do a small test – which you can implement in no time and cost zero dollars – that can potentially yield you disproportionally large results?

Click here now if you want to discover these secrets that Jay Abraham, Mark Joyner and other marketing legends have been exclusively to their clients => http://emoneymarketing.com/SmallChangesBigProfits/

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Far too often, people only think about themselves.

They only think about their favorite radio station – WIIFM – What’s In It For Me?

And because of this, many of these people are very poor salesman.

And also because of this, there are only a few, comparatively, who know how to turn this around to become GREAT salesmen.

How?

Simply by thinking in terms of the person whom you want to sell. Since you know he is always thinking about what’s in it for him – it’s your job to understand what he really wants – and giving it to him!

Help him by getting what HE wants. And in turn – he will help you back by getting what YOU want.  By buying your goods, services or whatever you want him to do.

It’s that simple.

To sell, we have to snap ourselves out of the mind-set that we must do everything that is geared only to our favor. Clever salesman know how to create a win-win situation.

Genius salesman know how to create a situation that is slanted towards his favor..and yet make the other party think otherwise!

I remember, there was once, when this certain person contacted me to collaborate.

I met him thinking we might do something good together. And guess what? Throughout the whole meeting, he was only interested in how to get my help on this…and that…and that…and that….

Not that I mind…BUT…BUT…there was NOTHING about what do I get in return…ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about any mutual benefits.

It’s all about HIM…HIM…HIM…

And you know…salesmanship is about…YOU…YOU…YOU!

Now you know why Barack Obama always says this – "It’s not about me. It’s about YOU!"

USA is gonna get a good salesman as a president. =)

Anyway, needless to say, I didn’t do any deal with that guy. Totally self-centered.

Now…I wanna hear what you think. Agree? Violently disagree?

Keep ‘em coming!

[tags]E-MoneyMarketing, sales process, salesmanship, persuasion, sales technique[/tags]

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Persuasion is an integral part of salesmanship. Because if you want to get your prospects to buy your product or get your service – you want to persuade him that it is only in their interest to do so.

And obviously persuasion is a huge topic with a wide array of strategies you can use. So today I’m going to touch on just one.

A simple trick actually. As always. And also very sneaky. =)

So what exactly is the trick I’m talking about?

Let me first tell you a story…

I was away in Vietnam with my girl friend a while back, in part to holiday and in part to find business partners.

As foreigners, we stand out from the rest of the crowd.  Even when we are Asians like them, the Vietnamese sure knows a foreigner when they see one.

And that makes us prime targets for street sellers!

One day, while me and my girlfriend were walking along a crowed Hanoi Street, 2 ladies immediately appeared in front of us out of nowhere.

One of them quickly removed her Vietnamese hat (You know the one that looks like a farmer hat as above?) and placed it on my girlfriend’s head. And she then placed the baskets she was carrying on my girlfriend’s shoulder.

I must admit it was quite a sight with my girlfriend wearing the hat and with the baskets on her shoulder.

And you know what happened next? She took the camera I was carrying on my hands and offered to take a photo of us.

Okay…we obliged. They took for us.

When that was done, they gave us an ‘act cute’ look and asked us to buy their pineapples.

And guess what…we did. Or should I say – my girlfriend did.

They actually wanted me to wear the hat too. But I immediately back off. I already knew what they were up to right from the start!

So what can we learn from this? How did they manage to persuade us to buy when we weren’t even looking to buy anything – let alone pinepples?

2 things.

• Reciprocity

They make us feel indebted to them by helping us to take our photos. If you think back carefully, we wouldn’t be taking the photo if my girlfriend wasn’t such a funny sight with the hat and baskets of fruits.

The ladies orchestrated this scenario. And we fell into it.

• Targeting the right person

They knew I was a harder nut to crack. So they targeted my girlfriend, knowing full well that she would give in much more easily than I would (I won’t in fact!).

I have actually seen this trick done a few times to other unsuspecting foreigners. And it’s always the women they target.

Very smart fellows. I have to admit the whole set up was ingenious. So full credit to them. They deserve our business.

Now…do you think you can create a similar scenario where you induce the act of reciprocity from your prospect?

Tell me what you think. I wanna hear them.

You can download the PDF version of this post inside the "Reports Download Section" of your FREE E-MoneyMarketing Membership.

P.S You will get many other marketing reports, cheatsheets and business blueprints inside the membership. You will also get every single valuable blog posts here delivered – fresh into your inbox!

[tags]E-MoneyMarketing, business, persuasion, principle of reciprocity[/tags]

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If you are a salesman, you may understand that it is vital to learn how to observe your prospect’s body language.

Is he listening to you?

Is he warming up to you?

is he buying your pitch?

Or is he simply plain disinterested? And shutting himself out and away from you?

You need to know. His body language will give you many hints. With that, you will be able to better understand if you are heading in the right direction.

And if you are not, you can prepare yourself to change the angle of your pitch rather than blabber on (a mistake I used to make…and still do sometimes!).

So what are the tell-tale signs?

Let me explain:

• He folds his arm (But could also be that he is feeling cold).
• He takes off and puts his glasses on the table during the conversation.
• He strums his fingers repeatedly on the table (tell-tale sign that he is getting impatient).
• He touches his neck repeatedly (meaning you are being a pain in the neck!).
• He looks over the top of his glasses (he is disapproving of what you are saying).
• He leans his head to one side on his hands (he is bored shitless!),

There.

Have anyone ever done these to you before? Think about it.

And the next time you converse with someone, look out for such body language. Detecting the warning signs early allows you to change your pitch, recover and quickly get yourself back on track again.

I will talk about how to engage the person you are talking to and persuade him to your point of view in my future posts.

Meanwhile, let me know what you think, I’m all ears.

All Success,

[tags]E-MoneyMarketing, persuasion, sales pitch, sales techniques, body language, sales presentation[/tags]

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When you are negotiating, things may get tricky pretty fast when your opposite party tries to play hard ball with you.

Not to worry.

What I’m going to reveal to you is a good method you can use to turn things around – fast!

Negotiators call this the ‘decoy‘ method. What in the blue hell is that?

Let me explain…

Say, you and the other guy is haggling over a profit sharing cut. You want to outsource a deal to him. He wants a 70% cut from the total revenue . You are only prepared to give him 50%.

So the profit sharing cut is the crucial factor here. If that is a major issue with him, you may not want to keep talking about it. At least temporarily. Because that may be likely to get you nowhere. So what do you do next?

Invent A Totally New Issue!

Yep. Cook up a new story. Throw a smoke bomb. Anything. Just divert his attention away from the real issue.

Tell him that he has to compete with 5 other rival outsource agencies. The one that gives you the most competitive rates will get your nod for the outsource deal.

Of course he is gonna be outraged and tell you that he is the real deal. He will do the best job. And you can’t go wrong with him.

Perfect. He bit the bait…

Now tell him, you are willing to give him the deal without him having to compete with other agencies PROVIDED he accept your 50% cut proposition.

It is gonna be difficult for him to refuse you because if he competes with others, he may end up having to offer a lower cut than what your proposed or worse, even lose the deal.

So chances he is going to accept your offer is now much much higher.

Of course on your side, the issue of asking him to compete with other agencies is just nothing but a distraction. You know that it is something he is not gonna agree to anyway. But you still come out with it nevertheless.

You then just do a trade off using this ‘fake’ issue with the real one that is important to you – the revenue cut.

That’s it. Simple yet effective negotiation technique.

As usual, let me know what you think about this. I can’t wait.

All Success,

[tags]E-MoneyMarketing, business, negotiation, decoy[/tags]

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