Marcia Yudkin - Persuading People to Buy: Insights on Marketing Psychology That Pay Off for Your Company, Professional Practice or Nonprofit Organization

Persuading People to Buy: Insights on MarketingPsychology That Pay Off for Your Company, Professional Practice orNonprofit Organization

by Marcia Yudkin

Copyright 2010 Marcia Yudkin

Cover Design: Kitty Werner, RSBPress

Cover Photo: Ilya Genkin/Fotalia.com

Smashwords Edition

Smashwords Edition License Note

All rights reserved, including the right toreproduce, distribute or reprint this book or any portion thereofin any form or medium. For information on obtaining reprintpermission or arranging for bulk sales, please write to CreativeWays Publishing, PO Box 305, Goshen, MA 01032.

Years ago, I ran a class for freelance writerson how to convince top-tier magazine editors to assign themarticles. One man brought in a rejection letter hed received andread it out loud. His face turned red with anger as he reached theend.

What a stupid, stupid editor! the manexclaimed, slapping the letter with the hand not holding it. Itold him it was a national story I was proposing, not alocal one. Should I send him back my letter with the sentence thatsaid that circled?

This person had run into a gap that existswhether youre selling ideas or iPhones, wine or weight losscoaching. Its the gap between how you think and how others do, thegap between what you believe will make others agree with you, thentake a particular action and what actually persuades them (ornot).

Passion alone does not bridge the gap. Oftenreason doesnt create interest and willingness, either.

Persuasion always begins with an understandingof the audiences expectations, beliefs, habits and desires. Byfar, the hardest and most necessary part of marketing is how toshift your perspective from your own thinking and perception tothat of the customer. Only then can you create a connection andmotivate them to buy.

The man in my class, for instance, had failed tomeet the editors criteria separating a national story from a localone. His own criteria were irrelevant.

This book contains anecdotes, explanations, tipsand research findings that show how to relate your pitch, offersand pricing to what matters to those youre hoping will becomeandremainbuyers.

The chapters originate in a weekly column,The Marketing Minute, that Ive published since 1998. Youcan sign up for a free email subscription atwww.yudkin.com/markmin.htm. Ive added action steps and quotes tohelp you apply the marketing lessons in the columns and enhancetheir impact.

Your Audiences Expectations

Know Your Audience

A Mile in Their Shoes

Americans Treasure Choices

CEO Hot Buttons

Insult One Group to Woo Another?

Purple Cows and Brown Ones

Gender Differences in Shopping

Surprising Gender Senders

Do You Really Know Your Customers?

Never Sell to Androids

Wooing One Important Customer

High-Value Marketing

What People Say Vs. What They Do

Picture Your Customer

Use Customers Words

Reputation Pays

They Dont Value What I Do!

Sell to Those Who Understand Your Value

Your Value, Understood, Part I

Your Value, Understood, Part II

When They Dont Get It

Using Hot Button Appeals

Multiple Hot Buttons

Emotional Reasons for Buying

Cherchez le Sentiment

Today's Upscale Motivators

Customer Convenience as a Lure

Four Ways to Discover Hot Buttons

Discover Distinctive Reasons to Buy

Not Obvious, Not Shared

Creating More Reasons to Buy

Rethink Your Rationale?

Analyze Purchasing Triggers

Selling Through Consequences

Make the Consequences Explicit

Convince Us!

Surprise, Surprise

The Power of Suspense

Get Them Involved

The Point, Please!

Important But Not Urgent

Use the News

Expand Your Repertoire of Offers

No More Rejection!

To Persuade, Prepare

Be Yourself Dressed Up

Your Address Sends a Message

Should You Exaggerate?

Be Believable

Dont Reject Questions

Incentives and Identity

Latest = Greatest?

Show Your Heart?

Beware Secondary Passions

The "One Up" Factor

Consider Posting Your Service Prices

How to Pull Off Higher Prices

Stay Firm on Your Fees

Pricing You Can Live With

Some Pricing Principles

Offer Pricing Options

Mental Mistakes About Pricing

Pricing Psychology Quirks

Take the Pain Out of Prices

Eliminate Ordering Obstacles

Head Off Buyer's Remorse

Should You Guilt-Trip Customers?

Your Client's Inner Child

Tossing in a Lagniappe

What's Next?

Want Fries With That?

Each Customer is Unique

Guidelines from the Boston Center for AdultEducation, where I used to teach, remind teachers that even thoughadult learners may not have been in a classroom in decades, theycome to class with specific expectations like these:

* The classroom contains chairswith writing arms or chairs and a table.

* The teacher knows more thanstudents.

* The teacher speaks from thefront of the room.

* The student takes notes onimportant points.

A teacher who violates these expectations has anuphill battle winning over students.

Expectations derive not only from childhoodexperiences, but also from the current business climate. Forinstance, someone now calling their insurance company on a weekendwould expect to be able to leave a message, though this would nothave been true 20 years ago.

Expectations also arise from your behavior withclients. If you normally call clients back within hours, theyllbegin to worry whether youve had a heart attack or something if acouple of days go by without a callback.

Do you knowand meetthe expectations of thefolks you attempt to sell to?

Action Steps

* Convene a focus group and askthem to describe the way they imagine themselves experiencing yourproduct or service. This often unearths pre-purchaseexpectations.

* You can also survey customers aweek or two after they buy, asking whether or not there were anysurprises in their purchase.

* Unsolicited complaints mayreveal foiled expectations as well. Periodically sift throughcustomer emails to discern what people didnt realize about yourofferings.

When Kristen Golden moved to Amherst,Massachusetts after many fundraising successes during her 20 yearsin New York City, she discovered that techniques shed mastered inthe city did not work in Western Massachusetts.

* In New York City, businessessupporting a cause want to write a check and see their names inlights, but in Western Mass., affluent donors prefer anonymity,along with hands-on involvement.

* Donors in New York City expectflash and gloss from organizations they support. In Western Mass.,donors want to see recycled paper, as little funds spent onmarketing as possible and solicitations mailed to them just once ayear.

* In New York City, it might takeyears to get a calendar listing for an event, while in WesternMass., the local presss coverage of nonprofits is often thoughtfuland in-depth.

Whether its fundraising or marketing,understand that youre going into someone elses universe to getresults. You cant impose your preferred way of doing things ontheir community, Golden says. Know the environment, understandyour own vision and see where you can push beyond the prevailingmode just a little.

Action Steps

* Remind yourself of the humantendency to assumefalselythat whats true for you is also truefor those you are marketing to.

* Divide your customer base intoone or more types of customer and for each type, list theirmotivators, values, preferred pace and what they most dislike.