Maximize Your Influence

Being in sales or being a business owner can be emotionally exhausting. It's important to develop the ability to pick yourself up out of a bad mood. To start this episode, Kurt and Steve discuss a recent article that gives you "8 ways to feel better in a hurry." If there's one topic that people just don't want to hear about anymore, it's listening. Ironic, isn't it? As we've researched successful persuaders, we've found listening to be one of their top attributes. Listening is a habit we can lose. If we aren't careful, months down the road we find ourselves jabbering too much with our prospects instead of listening to them.

Can your personality type change? A recent article from Psychology Today seems to think so. It's not uncommon for many to become more friendly (or less friendly) the older they get. Check out the article here for more info. Did you know there are over 60 different personality types? This has led many to try and simplify the science of personality types down into sixteen, or even as few as four different categories. On this episode, Kurt and Steve give a compelling argument as to why peresonality types could be scraped all together, due to the concept of "meta programs." This allows a persuader to quickly isolate the key patterns in their prospects mind craft their message accordingly. On this week's persuasion blunder, we see a text book example of a teenager unable to assess long term consequences.

Is Google rigging elections? On this episode, Kurt and Steve discuss a recent article that thinks so. Merely telling the masses that a candidate has a "high" approval rating tends to gender more support. So how much influence do the "Googles" of the world actually have? Check out the article here. Most persuaders would rather deal with an angry prospect than an indifferent one. Indifferent prospects are tough to do anything with! Enter the Law of Involvement. Using the Law of Involvement helps us to get prospects to mentally focus and engage in what we are saying. It's what gives you traction in the persuasion process.

Everything that we understand and know about our world is based around words. Words don't just have meaning, they have feeling. That's why some words in some languages just don't directly translate. One particular author has used this to apparently create a childrens book that makes children fall asleep. When it comes to influencing, there are words you should never use. Kurt and Steve discuss many of these on this weeks episode, as well as many of the most influential words in the English language. Influential words can change, however. Words that were effective 5-10 years ago are no longer. Tune into this episode to find out more!

As we get closer and closer (even though it's a long way away) to the 2016 presidential election, more and more persuasion blunders will be on display. A recent article shows that politicians who have deeper voices (yes, even women) are perceived as more credible by voters. Check out the article here. Due to listener feedback, Kurt and Steve realized that they didn't cover the Law of Expectations deeply enough on Episode 101. On this Episode (103) they return with more ideas on how you can prime your clients expectations to make your selling go more smoothly.

You can't visit a business web page without hearing "follow us on Twitter!" We're certainly guilty of this too. Follow us on Twitter @influencemax! A recent article from Psych Central shows that when customers complain about a business on Twitter, businesses can actually shoot themselves in the foot by responding too much! Check out the article here. If you've ever been told your product is too expensive, you need the Law of Contrast. This is the most effective way to set the terms of value. Many times prospects come to the table with a preconceived value of your product (justified or not). You can turn the tables with the Law of Contrast! Speaking of the Law of Contrast, this episode featues a horrible use of it which HAS to be the persuasion blunder of the year!

When you're an entrepreneur or sales person, being mentally tough is key. If you want the rewards that come from owning your own business or being on commission, you need to put up with days that can be full of rejection and disappointment. Check out a recent article posted by Psych Central that discusses the Six Stages of Mental Strength. In any persuasive encounter, your prospect has certain expectations. And so do you! When things don't go according to expectation, people feel frustrated and are more likely to act out in anger. This is a basic pyschological response that we can leverage in our favor as persuaders. Tactfully letting our prospects know what we expect of them is a great way to get them to behave the way we want them to. This also spins off into NLP (neuro linguistic programming). Kurt and Steve discuss some of the merits of NLP and how to use them.

It's been 100 episodes! After inserting some canned applause and patting themselves on the back, Kurt and Steve discuss why disobedient kids may actually make more money as adults. They then proceed to insult people who don't listen to their show. But if they're not listening does it really even matter? Different personalities relate to different persuasion techniques. One method may resonate clearly with you but be completely useless on your prospect. That's why it's important to use the T.E.S.S. system. It stands for Testimonial, Example, Story, and Statistic. On this episode, Kurt and Steve discuss how to successfuly implement T.E.S.S. into your message.

Whether you think you love it or not, you love to procrastinate. The brain thrives on it. The reason is that we tend to treat our "current self" much better than our "future self." We give our future self way to much credit. We think "future me will save more money" or "future me will lose more weight." But when the future gets here what happens? Kurt and Steve discuss it during this week's article. We don't like getting objections. Nobody does. But when they come, take it as a good sign! Your prospect is actually listening! There's nothing worse than an impartial prospect. Some objections need to be dealt with as they come. Other's need to be dealt with in advance. On this episode, Kurt and Steve discuss the difference. Finally, Kurt discusses a "blinja" (when a blunder meets a ninja) sales robot! Yep. A sales robot. Tune in for details.

Do you sort your mail over the trash can? Do you delete most emails before you even consider them? That's the reality of advertising today. Messages to your prospects need to be compelling and grab their attention. To start this episode, Kurt and Steve discuss a recent article about which is more effective: digital or print media? Ever now and then on Maximize Your Influence, we like to return to what is most imporant: mindset. All the tactics in the world dont' change anything for a persuader who is negative, pessimistic, and just not right in their persuasion head. On this episode, Kurt and Steve dive into what it takes for persuaders to have enough self discipline to make it. Working on commission or in an industry where your living depends on getting other people to cooperate with you can be mentally taxing. Follow the tips discussed here and you'll supercharge your discipline!