How to Master the Art of Persuasion and Use It In Your Business

Oct 22, 2021

Con artists are the true masters of persuasion. They can make you let down your guard and cause you to trust them even if you’ve just met them. After they’ve found an opening in your walls, they’ll quickly slip through making you do the things that they want.

However, unlike conning, running a business is not a deception. Although there are some strategies of persuasion you need to employ to be successful such as convincing a potential customer to buy your product even if they still don’t want or need it.

In this blog post, we’re going to explore five persuasion techniques con artists use and how you can apply them to increase the sales of your brand.

1. Get your customers to like you

A con artist knows that we humans are social beings. Most of us like to make new friends. This is the first step you should do if you want a customer susceptible to making a buying decision. To do so, find a common ground between the two of you.

For example, if a customer comes to your store, you can just ask in a friendly manner where they’re from especially if they look tired. Then start a topic about that place. A customer from Texas might be inclined to discuss the San Antonio Spurs or the Dallas Cowboys.

Once they give a positive reaction, follow up on that conversation and become their friend.

2. Capitalize on emotions and feelings

Now that you’ve established a common ground, it’s time to focus on your customers’ emotional needs. Depending on how they feel based on your observation, make a sales pitch that would sound as if you care for their wellbeing.

A tired customer would be happy to indulge with a drink or meal that would boost their energy. An excited customer is likely to buy something that would calm them down. A sad customer has a high chance of buying something if you told them such a product would make them happy.

3. Use artificial testimonies and scarcity

In order to make a really good sales pitch, con artists understand that they need believable proof that what they're selling is in demand. A lot of entrepreneurs know how to do this. But they don't maximize the opportunity.

If you were to visit a boba tea shop, then the barista told you that this recipe is their “bestseller” and the ingredients are always out of stock, you would believe that such a product is really good. Would you order one? Of course, you would. It could either be out of curiosity or faith.

4. Listen

Persuasion is not about you talking. It’s about you asking questions, making the other party answer, and giving a simple but impactful reply. The more a customer talks, the looser they have a grip on their rational side, and the easier it is to make a sales pitch effective.

These are the main reasons bartenders are so successful at getting most of their customers drunk and why therapists can easily enforce a piece of advice to their patients.

5. Play on your customer’s consciences

Don’t be afraid to make a big request such as introducing a customer to a membership with a pricey fee to support your business. In a sense, it does scare off a customer because why would you be asking for something so ambitious right from the get-go? But the true magic happens after that rejection. Just as Maria Konnikova says, “We want to feel like good people.”

After making a huge unsuccessful pitch, a customer who has previously rejected your effort would feel guilty and would want to make it up to you the next time. This is called the “Door-in-the-face” technique and it can increase the chances of success for your next huge sales pitch.

Although this article discusses the strategies frauds use to get what they want, they are still perfectly relevant for you to use if you deliver the products just as you promised. It all boils down to how confident you are in pulling them off. After all, the con in con artist is just short “confidence”.

Need more marketing tips? Read these!