This week's assignment is all about changing someone's mind about a product. I just got done reading a classic motivational book written by Dale Carnegie and published in 1937. The title? "How to Win Friends and Influence People". I have to say that, despite the stories being a bit outdated, I found the lessons still relevant today. I believe Mr Carnegie's ideas could be very well adapted to our in-class marketing philosophies.
Here is how Dale Carnegie says we can influence people:
Twelve Ways to Win People to Your Way of Thinking
- Avoid arguments.
- Show respect for the other person's opinions. Never tell someone that he or she is wrong.
- If you're wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically.
- Begin in a friendly way.
- Start with questions to which the other person will answer yes.
- Let the other person do the talking.
- Let the other person feel the idea is his/hers.
- Try honestly to see things from the other person's point of view.
- Sympathize with the other person.
- Appeal to noble motives.
- Dramatize your ideas.
- Throw down a challenge; don't talk negatively when a person is absent; talk only about the positive.
Be a Leader: How to Change People Without Giving Offense or Arousing Resentment
- Begin with praise and honest appreciation.
- Call attention to other people's mistakes indirectly.
- Talk about your own mistakes first.
- Ask questions instead of directly giving orders.
- Let the other person save face.
- Praise every improvement.
- Give the other person a fine reputation to live up to.
- Encourage them by making their faults seem easy to correct.
- Make the other person happy about doing what you suggest.
Thank you Denis for this interesting ideas. I'm very convinced with the idea of "Start with questions to which the other person will answer yes" for example when I wanted to persuade my friend to like one brand of pudding, I simply started to ask question (which I had already known his answer) "Do you like pudding?" and he said "yes" then I kept continue to explain further about the taste then finished by "why don't you buy one? You just said that you like it". Finally he tried and he became to addict to it.
ReplyDeleteIf we can make people says YES from the beginning , it is somehow indirectly put them to be in an unavoidable circumstance.
Thank you very much for the information. I understand how important the elements are. I am thinking back to my past, when I fail to close the deal, I was missing some of the elements. For example, I didn't listen to what they really want, and I explained benefits of product. And also, when I succeeded to get the deal, I have fulfilled these elements. I will keep these key elements in my mind and do my job from now on. Thank you again.
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