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All Things Not Being Equal: Social Position in Persuasion

"Do not worry about holding high position; worry rather about playing your proper role." ~Confucius

This is a really great exercise to use to explore values and beliefs as they relate to dealing with your affluent prospects.

The idea of social position has a lot to do with how you view yourself in a particular context. Are you 'one up' at work, 'equal' at home, and maybe 'one down' when dealing with police officers? These are broad generalizations which I'm using just to give you the idea.

I remember when I was nineteen years old and I wanted to go run a health spa for the company that I was working for. I went to see the vice president and I sat down with the guy and he says, "Well, what can I do for you today?"

And I said, "No, it's really what I can do for you. I realize you're probably going to think I'm a smart aleck, but I don't really care because here's the deal: I'm your number one salesman in the company. I hold every record there is to hold. Now you're going to make me the manager."

He looked at me and said, "Yeah right."

To which I responded, "If you don't make me the manager, I'm going to go to your competitor, the one next door to your strongest club, and I will run your club into the ground."

He looked at me and asked, "Are you serious?"

"I'm dead serious."

"You can't do that."

"What's to stop me?"

Then he got an attitude, "You're not good enough."

I said, "Okay. Goodbye."

I got up and walked out and did just that. And then I recruited all the sales staff I had hired and trained and brought them with me. And then the company had a fit and tried to get me back.

What do these social positions mean?

Remove any idea of 'judgment' and think about it this way: who has the most power in the situation?

This is also present in logical levels of though. If I'm eliciting your criteria about what it means to sell your house and get to the highest level of 'freedom', for you, freedom equals having your house sold.

In order to move someone from one position to another, elicit their highest value and use that value to move them. In order to do this, you'll have to learn how to move up and down efficiently and effectively.

Are you approaching everyone as a sales person?

Are you working from a lower level and supplicating yourself, saying, "I'm so lucky that you're even listening to me. Thank you so much for just a few minutes of your time"?

If you are, stop.

You've got to learn to come in basically at equal and then quickly put yourself into a higher position if you really want your affluent prospects to get your value. And if they don't get your value, they're not going to buy from you.

This isn't about domination or arrogance. And maybe you even had to start a little lower to start. Keep in mind at all times that these positions are all in your head, they're your intention, and you have to get good at moving between them as the situation warrants.

Maneuvering between the levels of social positioning will help you remain fluid and flexible, and in turn, help you become a better persuader.

Article Source: http://www.dummiesguideto.com

Kenrick Cleveland teaches techniques to earn the business of affluent prospects using persuasion. He runs public and private seminars and offers home study courses and coaching programs in persuasion techniques.

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