Inside Information & Priming Persuasion

17th Dec 2008

1. GET INSIDE INFORMATION ON YOUR COMPETITORS;

It is important to know what your competitors are up to, to make sure you are keeping ahead in your game. They are not likely to share their information, but many have news letters and email list they communicate with. If they offer this online why not sign up to their newsletter?

To preserve your anonymity, set a hotmail, Gmail or Yahoo email address to provide for the delivery of the newsletters. You can still have this redirected to your normal email program on your computer.

2. PRIMING PERSUASION

Researchers at the University of Carnegie Melon conducted an experiment on the effects of “priming” on people.

They gathered a random group of people and divided them into two groups. One group was asked;

“if an object travels five feet per minute, then by your calculations how many feet will it travel in 360 seconds?

The second group was asked; “ please write down one word to describe how you feel when you hear the word baby”.

Both groups were given a letter from “Save the Children” foundation – a non for profit organization that helps impoverished children in Africa asking them to donate money. The researchers found that on average the people in group two gave almost twice as much as the people in group one!

When people who were primed to “feel” before they read the donation letter, they gave $2.34 on average, but when they were primed to “calculate” before they read the donation letter, they only gave $1.26.

WHERE THE RUBBER HITS THE ROAD

• Don’t overwhelm your prospects with data and numbers before they make a buying decision.

• To help your client make the right buying decision, prime them so they are in the right state of mind. Ambience plays a large part in priming people. Ensure your office is lively with vibrant colours and posters. Things like fish tanks and plants work well to help customers get into a better state of mind.

BEC Sponsors