Check your persuasion quotient

Sales person or not, persuasion is part of everyday life. First, there is the internal dialogue in which we persuade ourselves to do or not do things. Then there is the constant barrage of intrusions from marketing and sales messages, delivered by sight, sound, written word, and in person. Thirdly, there are the attempts we make to persuade others to change their mind, see something differently, or take a particular action.

Sales people are expected to persuade. When you confront sales prospects, they instantly recognise your sales role. It is as if you have it blazoned on your forehead. They know that you are supposed to persuade them to buy. Until they are convinced of your good intentions, they remain suspicious and keep their defences in place.

People dont like to be sold. You have probably been someone elses sales prospect many times, when taking an uninvited sales call. Note how many telephone sales people flatly deny that they are calling to sell you something. They even argue with you about it. "No sir, Im not selling anything, Im just calling to let you know about a saving you can make . . ."

You cant sell people anything until they believe in your honesty and integrity. First, you have to convince them that your primary purpose is to help them do what they want to do.

How quickly can you convince people of your good intentions? How effective are your persuasion skills? Follow this guide to work out your persuasion quotient. Give yourself up to five points for each of the following ten paragraphs, according to your perceived persuasiveness in each case.

1. When you want to persuade people to agree or change their mind or take some action, are you more likely to say the first thing that occurs to you, or do you usually take the time to think of a strategy? Which approach do you think would be more effective? If you mostly use the most effective approach, give yourself a high score.
2. Do you first consider WIIFT (Whats in it for them) or WIIFY (Whats in it for you)? Does it matter whether you are acting in their best interests or purely your own? If you usually take the time and trouble to understand WIIFT properly, give yourself a high score.
3. Do you know how to persuade using nothing but questions? If your brain hears a question, it automatically seeks an answer. When you think of an answer to a question, you routinely choose what to do with it. Can you voluntarily prevent your brain from trying to answer a question that you hear? Questions steer thinking. Carefully prepared questions can control what you think. If you are accomplished at using questions to persuade, give yourself a high score.
4. Do you know how to persuade by saying nothing? Silence combined with good will and good listening may be the most powerful of all persuasion techniques. If you know how to make use of this technique, how often do you remember to use it? Give yourself a high score if you use this technique on purpose, regularly.
5. In your chosen field, how credible are you as an expert? If more than half the people you work with, both inside and outside your organisation, believe that you know a lot more than they do about your area of expertise, give yourself five points.
6. How good are you at reading peoples thoughts from their voice and body language? Rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 5 and award yourself points accordingly.
7. How well do you speak? Award yourself a high score if you find it easy to express yourself succinctly and effectively, using intonation and emphasis to convey nuance and subtlety.
8. Having rapport means that a state of harmony exists between people where communication flows so easily that their accord is obvious. How easily can you establish rapport on purpose, with people who you dont like? Give yourself a high score if you do this. If you dont know, meet with someone who you dont get along with and test yourself.
9. Most people consider themselves rational. How good are you at constructing and presenting a logical and convincing line of reasoning? If your arguments usually sway people, give yourself a high score.
10. Having empathy means to understand and acknowledge another persons emotional state. If you find it easy to read peoples feelings and change them by subtle communication of your own emotions, give yourself five points.

Being persuasive is an important life skill and an essential competence for sales people. Whatever your feelings about changing peoples minds on purpose, if you fail to convince a sales prospect that you are trustworthy, you will have little or no influence on the outcome.

In interviews, we ask sales people the question directly, How do you persuade? It is a challenging and perhaps unfair question. Most sales people struggle to answer it convincingly. It may be that ability to persuade is a difficult thing to explain.

By Clive Miller, Founder of SalesSense