Gaining Conviction

marketing

Gaining Conviction How to Transform Potential Clients into Current Clients Part 4 of a 7 part series

By Mike Davids and Kelly Newcomb

H

ow do you close the deal and convince a potential client that you are the best resource to handle their business? It goes without saying that you should be

competent and capable of doing a good job for them. You should charge a reasonable fee, and you should have the time, experience and resources to accomplish what needs to be done.

Is that all? If you only cover these points, you are merely equal to your competitors.

committments

Closing the deal requires more than a proper fit with client needs, it requires a decision from your prospects in favor of you. What you say or do can influence them to choose you.

and decisions— guided by proven rules of relationship building— good or bad.”

Many professionals make things more difficult by providing mountains of information—case studies, referrals, and curricula vitas. Most prospects neither understand nor have the expertise to compare this information to your rivals’ qualifications.

In the real world, decisions are made more often on criteria so trivial that it is almost embarrassing to take seriously—the cut of your suit, a mutual friend, the timing of your presentation, personal chit chat, living in the same suburb or belonging to the same club.

Essentially, improving your closing skills is a matter of understanding the nuances of human relations and developing the art of getting people to do what you want them to do – choose you. Is this manipulation or marketing? We call it “building conviction.” You are simply becoming more convincing to your prospect. Any hint of manipulation and you will instantly lose their trust.

When you are up against nearly equal competitors, your prospect’s decision most likely will come down to their “gut” reaction. That’s actually the most common way people make important decisions.

Think of how people choose a spouse. Surely, this is a very important decision in their life, but it’s normally not done through detailed background analysis. The moment of conviction is often based on details that are completely trivial and superficial, but they seem to be the right details, at the right time. Business relationships are similar. Prospects will always choose someone whom they feel comfortable with over someone who doesn’t strike them as personable.

There are several powerful forces in human relationships that have been substantiated frequently in behavioral and marketing research. In his landmark 1984 book, The Psychology of Influence, Robert B. Cialdini, Ph.D., names six of these forces in the “Weapons of Influence.” We prefer to call them the “tools of marketing.” While they have been used as weapons by great manipulators like Hitler, Mussolini, or Osama Bin Laden, they are also used by great leaders like FDR and Churchill. Great humanitarians like Gandhi and Martin Luther King also used them. These are simply tools that help people make commitments and decisions—guided by proven rules of relationship building—good or bad. (continued on page 32)

Debt3 January/February 2006

“…people make

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marketing Gaining Conviction

(continued from page 31)

Rule of Reciprocity

TURNING THE WHEEL OF SUCCESS FOR SERVICE COMPANIES™

If you want something, you have to give before you get.

Loyal Fan

Awareness

(Here you help your clients achieve the success they’ve turned to you for and in turn they become loyal to you)

(This is basically getting people to know you even exist and what you have to offer)

Repeat Clients (Here your clients come to rely on you to do the things you promise, and to be there when they need you)

Your Brand and Success =

Comprehension (This is the education process where you get your prospects to tell you what it is they need and teach them what it is you can do to address those needs)

Marketing Plan + Client Service Response & Follow-up + Database Tracking System + Continued Planning, Execution and Review

First-time Clients (Here you work hard to deliver what it is you promise and to delight them)

Conviction

Rule of Likeability For someone to like you, they are like you and are liked by you.

To create rapport or “likeability,” it helps to find ways in which you and the prospect are alike. Similar dress, mannerisms, accent, physical characteristics, and origins are helpful, but not always possible.

There are ways to improve your likeability. One way is to become an active listener so that you can discover what you like about another person. Find what you have in common and comment on it. All people are a composite of strengths and weaknesses. Use your mental energy to focus on the good attributes of the other person. If by the end of an initial meeting you find reasons to genuinely like the decision makers, chances are good they will also like you.

You should also try to fit in with your prospects by dressing in a similar manner and adapting to their way of being. Don’t artificially copy others.

But if your prospect is loud and energetic, it would help to raise your energy level to match theirs. If prospects are quiet and reflective, bring your energy level down and give them their moments of reflection. Don’t try to fill every silence with your own voice.

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Small gifts that make sense in the context of your meeting create a sense of obligation within your prospect.

That’s why taking prospects to lunch, bringing them coffee, or leaving behind a pen or free information is standard practice for salespeople. However, don’t get carried away. An expensive gift looks like a bribe and will have the opposite effect. The best way in business is to provide value through education and expertise.

(Here your prospects and clients become convinced you are the best resource for them to do business with)

©2001 Can Do! Wheel of Success

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Charities figured this out a long time ago. They found that by including a little gift with their solicitation letter—such as personalized address labels—they could almost double the response rates. What works for charities will also work for you.

Rule of Social Proof People see, people do.

Prospects are more likely to do what their colleagues and competitors have done. If you have clients that your prospects would be familiar with, use them as examples in your case studies.

Learning that you have been successful working with people who your prospects know, makes it easier for them to make a decision in your favor, as long as it doesn’t create a conflict of interest.

So be a name dropper.

Rule of Credibility Small Commitments and Consistency

I say what I do, and do what I say.

Create trust by fulfilling commitments. Be early for meetings and never cancel or postpone while trying to turn a prospect into a client.

Before you leave an initial meeting, ask for a small commitment from them. “Can we set up a time for our next meeting?” “Will you be available when I call tomorrow at two?” “Will you review this material before we speak again?”

“Will you talk to your (board, committee, or other co-decision maker) by next Thursday?”

Rule of Authority

Don’t Try to Prove Expertise, Be an Authority!

You don’t examine experts, they examine you.

Structure initial meetings—not to prove your expertise—but to make prospects assume it. Be on a fact- or solution-finding mission to learn as much as possible about your prospect.

People are more likely to heed the advice of experts. So provide “brief ” highlights of your expertise—one or two accomplishments that could have only been made by an expert.

Informal phrases that don’t brag, but assume expertise, such as “We’ve had enough success in this field to know that …”

Rule of Value Create scarcity

Show them the outline of your plan to help them, but don’t let them keep it.

People want more of what they can’t have.

Studies have demonstrated, what is less available is perceived as more valuable. Don’t appear too anxious to accept their business. Explain that you may have room for only one more client of their size.

By skillfully using these six tools in tandem, you will become a powerful closer. You will be known for your ability to create conviction in others, and you will be well on your way to improving your marketing effectiveness.

Mike Davids a member of Newcomb Marketing Solutions’ Creative Team, with over 20 years of experience in marketing and print communications. Mike has a graduate certificate in Direct Marketing from DePaul University, Chicago, an MA from Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, and a BA from the University of Iowa. He can be reached at mike@mikedavids.us or at 800-921-1221.

Kelly Newcomb, president of Newcomb Marketing Solutions has been helping organizations with strategic planning, development of client-loyalty programs, and the execution of marketing campaigns for over 17 years. He also owns and facilitates Can Do! Success Building Programs designed to help organizations improve organizational culture and effectiveness, team-building, brand development, sales and communications. He can be reached at kelly@candosuccess.com or at 1-800-921-1221.