One of the many benefits of being on the road at 5am: I get to listen to the BBC World Service programs when I'm between audiobooks.
Last Tuesday, I lucked out. I caught most of this Discovery program on persuasion. It illustrates the whys and hows of convincing people. It's twenty-six minutes long, and every minute is worth the listen, but here are the highlights:
There are 5 elements of persuasion that, when put together, are nearly irresistable. The author, Dr. Kevin Dutton, created the SPICE acronym to help us remember:
- Simplicity:
Most of the brain's processes are automatic. That means that we 'skim' information and put together puzzles with many pieces missing; we 'infer' the missing pieces based on our perception of the big picture. This is partially why so many fender-benders occur so close to home: the driver looks in their rearview mirror at the same street they've seen a thousand times. The brain 'inserts' a picture of the empty street, even if the driver doesn't actually see the street; the car behind him becomes invisible.
For our sake, the take-home lesson: keep your message as simple as possible, so there are no gaps to be filled.
2. Perceived Self-Interest
People decide what's important for themselves based on what similar people are doing. Of course, "similar" is determined by the individual, NOT by you. An example: a Beijing study showed that adding "Our Most Popular Dish" to any item on the menu would increase that item's sales by 20%. The closer the peers were related to the individual, the more likely the individual would take on the characteristics of the peer.
For us, this underlines the necessity of telling stories about the AVERAGE client, instead of just posting pictures of firebreathers. The more commonalities between the viewer and the subject, the more likely the viewer will be to take ownership of the same ideas. This is called, "social proof," and people tend to trust it more than data.
3. Incongruity
This is true of tonality of voice, "non-verbal communication," and typical cliches used in advertising. Cliches, as I've often railed, are dismissed by the brain and never permeate (partially for the reasons in #1, above.) When you're using cliches, the listener automatically "fills in" the gaps, "solving" the puzzle. And once the puzzle has been solved, it's discarded. It requires no further action and is thus not stored.
However, start with a familiar model, allow people to infer what comes next....and then throw in an unexpected curve, and you're demanding attention. Partially because of Lowenstein's Gap Theory, people can't stop themselves from watching until the end. Mozart was a master at this. But so was Vic Bloom, who wrote Archie comics. In a book from my childhood, Bloom was talking about writing for comics, and he used this example over four frames: Souphead is skateboarding, and slips off. The skateboard continues down the street, unseen by Jughead, coming around the corner with a huge burger blocking his view. If you had to guess the next frame, you'd likely guess it would feature Jughead on the ground, covered in ketchup.... but Bloom's recommendation was to have the skateboard pass harmlessly between his legs. Start with the familiar, then throw a twist. In the final frame, Souphead, chasing his skateboard, rams into Jughead, and they're both splattered.
4. Confidence
There's a difference between being in authority (you're the boss) vs. being an authority (you're a trusted expert, often removed from the immediate situation.)
For us, this is why a client who reads our blog daily and finds information, delivered for free, to a large audience, is more likely to commit for the long term than a client asking questions in our office. Any client who accepts you as an authority, instead of just the holder of their long-term contract, will be more likely to become a part of your gym family.
The old adage that 'a clipboard will get you anywhere,' is absolutely true. Speak with confidence, and you can talk your way into (or away from) anywhere.
5. Empathy
Empathy has more in common with similarity than sympathy. If you can demonstrate commonality ("that WOD killed me, too!") it's more effective than, "good job! That looked hard!" There IS no fixed 'sales' process that works: those most successful are the ones who can apply situational context to recommendations for services. For instance, "Great time on Eva! The only thing that helped me get better was running coaching from Mike, last June. '
The SPICE model makes a lot of sense. Does advertising have any place within that model....or does it take away from the messages you're trying to deliver?
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