Want people to listen to you?

One of the most common questions I get from young professionals, introverts (and really a diversity of people) is how do I get people to listen to me? 

And in today’s email, I’m going to give you the answer. And it doesn’t involve any of the over-complicated persuasion tactics you see on the internet…

In fact, what you’re about to learn is valuable for…

• Negotiating better deals for your business, your coworkers, and your clients.
  
• Getting other people to listen to your ideas. 
  
• Snagging more sales in your business or career. 
  
• Having your boss or investors buying into and actually feeling excited about your crazy ideas. 
  

...plus tons of other applications. There are far too many to list here. 

Now, the advice I’m about to give you is simple. There’s only one principle for you to follow… 

And it’s called: Reason-Why Persuasion

Gary Bencivenga (now retired) was one of the world’s greatest copywriters. That means he wrote ads that sold billions of dollars of products and services for different industries.

And he coined the term “reason why copy.”

Now, keep in mind. This principle wasn’t just used for getting the results you want in writing… but for in-person meetings or through the telephone. 

And it goes like this. 
If you want someone to believe you or take you seriously...
If you want someone else to believe you. If you want them to buy your product now, or if you want your boss to support your initiative...

You better back it up with a good reason…

For example. If you tell your client that your company provides accounting software that gives them the greatest ROI. That’s a flat claim. I say that because it’s unlikely they’re going to believe it…

However, here’s how you give a reason why:

“Our software gives your company the greatest ROI because we use artificial intelligence to sort through complicated IRS records.”

That’s much more believable…

Here’s another example. 

Let’s say you’re trying to get your boss to approve a $10,000 budget for an idea you have. 

Here are a few ways you could ask. 

“Hey Jane, can I get $10,000 approved?”

Odds that’s going to get approved? Pretty much 0%.

Now ask yourself, what’s the “reason why?” And the question turns into:

“Hey Jane, can I get $10,000 for a new project we want to complete?”

That’s a little better… but something you’ll want to do with this principle… is ask yourself the question again. 

“Hey Jane. Can I get $10,000 for a new project we want to complete? Because we’re confident this project will help us to hit our 6-month revenue goal in less time.” 

Yesssssss team!

Do you see how you can keep going deeper by giving more reasons?

And yes. We could keep going even deeper by explaining why this project is going to help the company hit their revenue goals. 

Do you see the power in just this simple “reason why” principle? 

And just to give you an idea of where else you can use it…

• When you’re asking your boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse for something. 
  
• When you want your kid to do something. 
  
• When you want your prospect to buy your product now instead of later. 
  
• When you’re offering a discount for your product (One of the biggest reasons why many companies have trouble selling their products is because they don’t follow this principle)
  
• When you’re asking for a raise. 
  
• When you want your social group to go somewhere else for dinner. 
  
• When you want your potential clients to believe that they need to use your product. 
  

And one final point to keep in mind. 

Your reason needs to be believable. For example, you’ve seen those businesses that have a “Going Out Of Business Sale” every year right?

That’s a great example of something that’s NOT believable. 

Maybe the first time it’s going to work… but after that people start to catch on. 

One last example….

“50% Of All Mattresses Sale” 

Vs.

“50% Of All Mattresses Sale For Easter”

Vs. 

“50% Of All Mattresses Sale Because Of Misprinted Tags” 

Which one do you actually believe is a limited sale? Which one are you more apt to take advantage of?

Likely, the third one… because it’s more believable. Consumers are smart enough to know that 99% of businesses don’t actually discount their goods almost every day. It’s like yeah, yeah, yeah or the boy who cried wolf.

And businesses make these claims so often that they’re used to seeing them. 

Anyway. This email is getting kind of long already. 

But I hope that’s helpful for you in achieving the buy-in that you want!