Influence Psychology and Persuasion - Mike Sweet - 10 Minute Coach - Develop and Discover - 008 - Agree Even When You Dont

008 - Agree Even When You Dont

01/29/16 • 10 min

Influence Psychology and Persuasion - Mike Sweet - 10 Minute Coach - Develop and Discover

This is session number 008 of the Influence Psychology and Persuasion podcast. Adding typical Mike fashion I've given you a strange title that seems oxymoronic. Agree, even when you don't.

Why I suggest you always agree! Initially.

Okay, I have given a bit more away now I've added the "initially" part at the end of the title. But bear with me here because there are some very important factors to consider and why I have made this statement about agreement. Agreeing with a person first and foremost allows for rapport to be built and for the interaction to flow. And in any interaction, we are always looking for a good level of rapport and to ensure that we feel comfortable enough at the conversation stays in flow. Agreement is the very best way to do this! Agreed? lol

Examples of agreement

You are selling gas and electricity for a small not very known distribution company. You do have very competitive rates and the switch over from their existing large supplier over to you can be seamless and involve very little of their time. But, right at the end of the interaction before the person is about to sign their new agreement, they say that they have some concerns. "As you are only a small company, how do I know you will stay in business, and be able to provide me with the service I want, I feel a little uneasy". the untrained person here would try to explain to that person that they needn't feel uneasy and they would try to reassure in any way they could, simply saying that they're not that small and they do have 3% of the entire market. this is a great example of not agreeing, trying to dissuade a person's opinion by telling. Creating an agreement though allows a person to feel as if you understand their situation, and also lets them know that it's fine for them to feel that way, as others have to. In this case, you'd use something called the feel, felt, found method, and it goes a little something like this. " Well Mrs Jackson I completely understand a you feel about switching to a smaller company for your gas and electricity services even though we are cheaper than your current supplier, in fact, every day I hear similar thoughts from people like you who felt the same way as you, however, once the switch has happened almost seamlessly, those people found that they were pleased that they trusted in smaller company to provide them with the similar great service, at a much reduced cost. This agreement twists the angle and makes a disagreement, agreeable.

This is session number 008 of the Influence Psychology and Persuasion podcast. Adding typical Mike fashion I've given you a strange title that seems oxymoronic. Agree, even when you don't.

Why I suggest you always agree! Initially.

Examples of agreement

Previous Episode

007 - Why We Like What's Familiar

This is session number 007 of the Influence Psychology and Persuasion podcast. In this episode, I'll be explaining all about familiarity and how it affects our interactions and decisions. First and foremost, and more obviously, we, as a species like what's familiar. From an evolutionary angle, if what you did yesterday was good enough to keep you here, alive and well today, then repeating that makes so much sense. But..... how can this psychological principle be used to your advantage, and what do you need to be aware of to prevent falling into the trap of following a pre-programmed responses.

Familiarity and similarity go hand-in-hand. You've heard the saying, “birds of a feather flock together". And the reason why this is known so well, is because in so many cases it's absolutely true. We like people who are like us. This recognition of being similar confirms to us that we are on the right path and that our way, our beliefs, and how personality traits are exactly where they need to be, which is why there are other people just like us. This acts as a confirmation bias.

Next Episode

009 - Keep It Simple And Ask

This is session number 009 of the Influence Psychology and Persuasion podcast. And I honestly don't know why this wasn't the very first show. I really don't. It came to me this week while I attended some sale training and concurrently completed the book ASK by Ryan Levesque. The secret sauce in this show is.......... ask and keep it simple! OK, there is a little more to this than I am making out here but, the real key here is simplicity, honesty, curiosity and asking quality questions. This needs to be your default position at all times. Forget the advanced tac-ticks and body language for now. Get very good at getting very simple.

Get smart, get simple

People like simplicity. Simplicity allows us to run on autopilot, act and communicate on a level we are comfortable. We tend to stick to things we like, and to what feels the most comfortable to us. Simplicity just feels right. This is why I'm suggesting before you look to upskill, down skill. haha, you know what I mean? First thing is first and it's time to go back to basics. Simplicity, honesty, and curiosity. These are the key to a curious mind, and a mindset that will naturally enquire and allow you into a person's world, this is the place where the magic can happen.

Where is this useful and where can I apply?

As I said above, this needs to be your default position and therefore, this is an area you should spend some time in. Practice here will ensure you have mastered simplicity. A great basis to work on before you begin to layer all other techniques or principles onto it.

Work with colleagues
Home with spouse and children
Friends
On the phone

Do you get the picture? Practice and use this everywhere from now on. Practice makes permanent and this needs to become your default position for you to become naturally charismatic and influential. So what exactly do you need to do to simplify?