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Subliminal Persuasion Techniques Used On
You
Have you ever wondered whether a salesman is
trying to use subliminal persuasion techniques
on you? It's possible, as you'll see in the
examples that follow.
Using Your Words
One persuasion technique that is taught to
those in sales is to use your own words when
speaking with you. This means, for example,
that if you commonly use the word "worth", as
in "I'm not sure if it's worth it", or "I'm
trying to decide if it's worth the price", the
salesman will pick up on that and use it
himself. He might find a product you are
interested in and say, "You can see that this
one is easily worth the price."
The technique is based on a couple facets of
human psychology. First, we are more likely to
buy or be persuaded in general when our
concerns are addressed in a language that makes
the most sense to us - our own. Also, we tend
to be persuaded by people we can related to
easily, and we feel we can relate more easily
to a person if that person speaks in familiar
ways.
More involved forms of this kind of subliminal
persuasion target whole phrases that you use
repeatedly. If you have said "I can
understand," a few times, for example, the
salesman will use that. He might say, "You can
understand why this is the best seller, given
the features it has." We respond well to
pitches that use our own familiar phrases
because we feel that the sales person really
"gets" us.
There is another way our words are used to
persuade us. This technique is based on the
idea that each of us is influenced more by one
or another modality. In other words, some are
more persuaded by what they hear, while for
others it is what they see, and still others by
what they feel. This shows in our words. A
person who is more visually motivated will
often say things like "I see," and "I can see
what you mean." Others may more commonly say,
"I hear what you're saying," or "I feel like
this is a good deal."
A salesperson trained to pick up on these clues
will then adjust her language accordingly. She
might show you a list of features in writing if
your words suggest that you are motivated more
by what you see. If you are more motivated by
tactile sensations and intuition she can get
you to "feel the quality" of a product or
suggest that you can "sense" the workmanship in
a piece of furniture.
Words - Part Two
The well-trained salesperson will use the
techniques above (and perhaps ten other
subliminal persuasion techniques not
covered here), and then wrap up the sale by
parroting back exactly what you have said
you wanted, assuming he or she has
something to suit your needs. For example,
if you were looking at vacation packages,
the sales person might say something like
this: "Now, as I recall, you said you
wanted an all-inclusive resort on a beach,
for four to five days and for less than
$2,400. Fortunately we have two options
that fit that. Do you want to book the
Cancun package or the one in Puerto
Vallarta?"
It is difficult to say no at this point if
the salesperson has used your exact words
and criteria to find what you said you
wanted. You might even say that this is
just doing a good job of serving you, and
perhaps it is to your benefit, but it is
still subliminal if you are not aware that
the techniques are being used. People don't
notice this approach most of the time, and
they feel uncomfortable contradicting what
they said, so it's easier to say yes. Using
a person's own words is powerful, and these
simple examples are just the tip of the
iceberg when it comes to subliminal
persuasion techniques.
By:
Steve Gillman
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