WOW Word-Of-the-Week #375: Liking
October 12, 2011 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on WOW Word-Of-the-Week #375: Liking
Liking – acceptance of those sharing the same similarities.
What qualities does a person need for you to like them? Do you find it hard to like people that are different from you? Have you ever made a purchase because the salesperson was good-looking, shared the same hobby, was funny, or had relatives back where you grew up?
This is the fourth of six WOW’s from the book “INFLUENCE: The Psychology of Persuasion” by Robert B. Cialdina, Ph.D. These WOW’s will hopefully help you influence your customers, guests, clients or members to increase sales and repeat business, as well as, how to not be swayed by someone trying to sell you something you may not want.
“The main work of a trial attorney is to make a jury like his client.” – Clarence Darrow
“Few people would be surprised to learn that, as a rule, we most prefer to say yes to the requests of someone we know and like. What might be startling to note, however, is that this simple rule is used in hundreds of ways by total strangers to get us to comply with their requests.”
“We like people who are similar to us. This fact seems to hold true whether the similarity is in the area of opinions, personality traits, background, or life-style. Consequently, those who wish to be liked in order to increase our compliance can accomplish that purpose by appearing similar to us in any of a wide variety of ways.”
“Dress is a good example. Research has shown we are more likely to help someone who is dressed like us. Another way to manipulate similarity to increase liking is to claim they have backgrounds and interests similar to ours. Insurance companies have found customers were more likely to buy if the salesperson was like them in areas of age, religion and politics.”
“Indeed, it would be wise these days to be careful around salespeople who just seem to be just like you. Many sales training programs now urge trainees to ‘mirror and match’ the customer’s body posture, mood, and verbal style, as similarities along each of these dimensions have been shown to lead to positive results.”
For those of you who have ever attended one of my programs you’ve heard me speak about how powerful it is. “Matching” behavioral styles and “mirroring” body posture, vocal tone and pace have been proven to be highly successful tools in connecting with your customers, guests, clients or members.
This week’s focus is on liking. Would you agree that you like people that are similar to you? Have you ever bought something because the salesperson liked the same things you do? Have you ever “mirrored or matched” the vocal pace & tone, words, or body language of your customers, guests, clients or members?