This is incredibly simple — but profound…
I’m going to tell you how to persuade anyone.
And if you use this ethically, you have the potential to create substantial success and riches for yourself.
In fact, there are many areas beyond business where you could use this.
Anywhere you want to inspire someone to take action — to do something — you can apply this “secret” of powerful persuasion.
But I will warn you…
It may seem obvious at first glance. You may even think you know it.
Look deeper.
Because the deeper you go, the more powerful it becomes.
This is the ultimate persuasion secret…
“Find out what they want, and give it to them.”
Here’s the thing. Nobody does something they don’t want to do. You may think it’s something they’d never want to do. Or that it’s not in their best interest. You may think it’s the wrong decision. But ultimately, people will do what they want. And not do what they don’t want. And they really don’t care whether you like it or not.
You can’t make a person — or a collection of people known as a market — want something.
You can only find out what they want, and give it to them.
Alternately, if you’re trying to persuade someone who doesn’t want what you’ve got, no amount of smooth-talking will make the difference.
If you’re a moralist — meaning, you want to impose your values on others (religious or otherwise) — this may make you uncomfortable.
For example, you could say, “Teenagers shouldn’t want sex.” And you could do all sorts of things to persuade teenagers as to why they shouldn’t have sex. And if you’re an incredible persuader, you’ll get them to buy in, at least in theory, and at least temporarily.
But in the majority of cases, teenagers still want sex. And even an abstinence pledge with the threat of fire and brimstone for breaking it won’t keep them from going for what they want if the right situation presents itself.
Now of course, I’m not saying you should go sell teenagers on sex. What I’m saying is that if a person wants something, that’s what they’re going to respond to. And no amount of should-ing on them will change that.
I could tell you that you shouldn’t go on a diet, because studies have proven they’re ineffective and even dangerous over the long run.
I could tell you that you should be an ultra-conservative investor and basically never touch your portfolio, because active investors are their own worst enemies.
I could tell you all sorts of things…
If you don’t want to believe what I tell you before I even say it, I won’t persuade you…
If you’ve decided you want to go on a diet, you’re going to go on a diet. No matter if I come at you with the world’s best anti-diet pitch.
If you’re predisposed to gambling away you life savings on risky stocks, that’s the kind of investment pitch you’ll buy into.
Same thing for so many other decisions — whether they’re good for you to follow through on, or not.
We humans have a little quirk of thinking called “confirmation bias.”
Basically, once we decide on something, we only want our decision to be reinforced. And so we’ll completely ignore any evidence to the contrary. Even as we believe we’re impartial because we look to all the evidence that confirms our bias.
And I believe this plays into how we are able to be persuaded.
Let’s say you’re the world’s most persuasive minivan salesperson. And you’re at a party. A friend drags someone across the party to you. The friend says, “Hey this person says they’re in the market for a new vehicle, and I know you sell vehicles — you two should talk.”
If you slip into persuader mode and go to sell this person a minivan, you’re going to fall flat on your face.
Because what you don’t know yet is that this person doesn’t want a minivan. They hate minivans. They never want to be seen in a minivan, ever in their life.
They want a sports car. They see themselves as the type of person who drives sports cars. They’ll always only ever drive sports cars. Nothing will convince them otherwise. And in fact, they have a load of cash to drop on the right sports car, if they can find it.
So it doesn’t matter what you say about your minivans. It doesn’t matter how great your minivans are, or even if they’re an incredible deal.
You’ll never persuade this person.
Now here’s how to make persuasion smooth and easy…
Let’s say, on the other hand, that you happen to have a sports car collection, and you’re looking to sell a few to reinvest elsewhere.
But you’re a terrible persuader.
You’re socially awkward. You’re not interested in selling. You don’t want to have to pitch anyone anything.
But you know of a car show coming up. And you buy some space on the show floor, to park the cars you want to sell. You put price tags in the windows, so you don’t even have to negotiate on price.
The show opens, and a bunch of car enthusiasts — some with a ton of cash to burn — flood in.
(I’m not a sports car guy so I had to look this up.)
You’ve got a red 1994 Turbo hardtop Toyota Supra, in pristine condition, with incredibly low miles. You’ve got a price tag on it of $73,000, which is a steal for the right buyer.
And that buyer shows up.
In fact, it’s exactly what they’ve been traveling to car shows to find.
Now you’re here with what they want. And they have the cash to burn.
It takes exactly zero persuasion to make that happen.
It’s effortless.
And you make the sale.
Most of your persuasive work needs to happen before you even think about your message…
Let’s zoom out for some parting thoughts.
How do you apply this?
Simple: find a market, find their desire, and find a way to fill it.
This isn’t about writing better copy. It’s about finding a better fit.
Do your homework there, long before you think about what to say, or how to persuade.
Make sure what you’re selling is what they already want.
And if the market doesn’t want what you’re selling, either change what you’re selling, or go find a market who does.
It’s only once you’ve cleared all these hurdles that you need to start figuring out how to tell your story and make your pitch.
And a quick note to anyone who’s still looking for how to persuade anyone and is disappointed.
If you thought I was going to tell you how to get someone who is out of your league as a prospect to do what you want, tough cookies.
You have to either get in their league, or find out what they really want and give that to them (even if it’s not what you’ve got right now).
Truly embrace this — and let me know how it changes you.
Yours for bigger breakthroughs,
Roy Furr
