How to Persuade People Who Don't Want to be Persuaded by Joel Bauer & Levy Mark

Author:Joel Bauer & Levy, Mark
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wiley
Published: 2011-02-22T05:00:00+00:00

10

THE POWER OF FREE

When a company hires me, they expect fury, excitement, and a booth bulging with prospects. To give them what they want, I sometimes resort to base motivators. Chief among those motivators is money. Crowds come running for it.

I remember one trade show a few years back. A neighboring booth had 1,200 people crowded into it, while mine had none. The reason? They were about to give away a Hummer, and the allure of the truck proved too much for attendees to resist. Naturally, I didn’t relish the situation, but I knew how to rectify it.

I stood on my platform, waiting for them to announce the winner’s name. The moment they did, I snapped 50 crisp hundred-dollar bills into a one-handed fan, held it high, and cried into my cranked-up PA system:

“Ladies and gentlemen, let’s hear it for the winner of that Hummer! And for those who didn’t win it, I’ve got five thousand dollars to give away. I suggest you stand in front of me right now, because even if you don’t take home my five grand, I will give you gifts of genuine value.”

The entire audience raced toward me. My booth attendance went from 0 to 1,200 in the blink of an eye. I stole my competitor’s crowd.

Now you might call my story crass, but, remember, I promised you the unvarnished truth. And when you can command 1,200 strangers to move in unison, you know you’re dealing with something powerful, crass or not.

What was it that got the people to move so quickly?

If you said “money,” you’re partially right.

What kind of money? Easy money. Free money. Everyone wants to find treasure without digging.

Imagine if I had said, “I have five thousand dollars for you if you answer my phones, clean my house, and mow my lawn for twenty-four weeks.” How many people would have raced over if I said that? That’s right, none.

If you want to be persuasive, learn how to give people something that’s both valuable and free. Trade-show exhibitors know this lesson well. Because they’re looking to attract passersby, they put out freebies like software, books, bags, and candy. The passersby grab the freebies as fast as they can. No exhibitors ever go home with unused freebies. Not if they’re smart.

The key to using freebies as an attraction device is to make sure your audience fully understands the value of what you’re handing them. Money, of course, has value to everyone, which is why it motivates strangers so well. Each stranger, in his own mind, converts the money into what he wants. You don’t have to know a thing about him.

Other items, though, require pitching skill. For instance, I often give away Transformation Mechanism props, which come embossed with my client’s logo. One such mechanism is nothing more than a three-inch-long metal spring with a metal ring threaded onto it. You can easily remove the ring if you know the secret. If you don’t, the ring stays threaded.

As an experiment, I’ve tossed out these rings on springs to crowds using two different approaches.

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