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Winning the Away Game

Written by: Harlan Goerger

Article Overview: Persuasion is not always what one thinks it is. It is an away game, yet too many rely on the home court to persuade or sell ideas or products.

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Winning the Away Game

Keys to persuasion and sales Although I was never a great athlete in High School, I understood that any team had a disadvantage when playing an "away" game.

The support group of people was greatly reduced while the Home team had more support. The travel and different surroundings put added stress on the players and the comfort of being home was absent.

Yet, a winning team played as many "away" games as "home" games and had to win the majority of both!

When we look at sales, motivating others or changing behaviors, are we also playing an away game? Are we at a disadvantage because it is an "away" game?

Here are some insights to give you the winning advantage.........

There are two keys I'll cover in this article that will give you an edge in the "away" game. But first let's explain the "away" game.

Ultimately if anyone buys something, changes a behavior or gets motivated, it is because a choice was made by that individual. This choice does not happen in the salesperson's, manager or parents mind, it happens in that individuals mind. Thus the "away" game happens within the other persons head.

This is where the two keys come in...

1. For the first I'll quote one of our mentors and what his research has proven to be true.

"There are a number of qualities and characteristics that are crucial to success in persuasion and influence...in every usage from therapy to selling. Above all else is one characteristic that dwarfs all of the rest... Empathy.

Nothing is more important than empathy for someone who wants to motivate others to change." Dr. Kevin Hogan

Wait a minute, what about my product, my attitude, my selling skills, my great personality?

Yes, those elements can make a difference in any persuasion effort. However, the main foundation of any persuasion is creating an "I Trust You" belief in the other party!

After all, in your own personal choices, do you say yes or even consider a yes if there is any question of "Trust"?

Therefore, the fastest way to build trust is to have Empathy for the other party. This means you can put yourself in their shoes, feel their emotions, understand their position and situation as though it was your own!

Yet you are able to see past the emotion and situation and provide a true solution for them.

Of course this means using tools such as highly effective questioning and superman type listening skills. We all know this; we simply have to make the choice to apply these skills more often.

2. The second key can help you to apply that effective questioning and superman type listening.

Through out my years of training companies, the one element that seems to always be a challenge for many is getting themselves, their product or their idea out of the way!

I would ask you to think about your last few persuasion efforts:

If your answer is "mostly on the first four" then read on, we have a solution. This will help you convert your product/idea to the other parties language and help you to be more empathetic, thus build more trust!

Now you are with the other party at your "away game". By asking the questions you have prepared the conversation goes to their view and language. You become more aware of which words mean the most to them and how they view their situation through their eyes. You are now more empathetic by truly listening and not judging their answers.

The other party begins to view you as someone who is trying to truly understand and the trust begins to build. Be prepared, you may discover things no one else has!

One sign of a truly empathetic conversation is how open and how deep it can become! It might even get down right uncomfortable for both of you!

Yet this is where true persuasion begins because there is "Trust"!

The leaders and salespeople that have taken the above steps see a significant growth in their ability to persuade. How about you?

If you want more on developing this persuasive ability, take a look at the Webinars coming up on Business Expert Webinars.

Till next week...Be all you can be; push the envelop!

Harlan Goerger

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Home > Sales > Harlan Goerger > Winning the Away Game
Article Tags: athlete, attitude, away games, dr kevin, elements, empathy, great personality, home games, insights, kevin hogan, mentors, motivating others, nbsp, parents, persuasion, salesperson, stress, support group, surroundings, winning team

About the Author: Harlan Goerger
RSS for Harlan's articles - Visit Harlan's website

Sales Expert and Trainer Harlan Goerger (Gr-Gr) brings almost three decades of experience to modern sales. 3 time author of The Selling Gap; Bypassing No in Business; Business Expert Guide to Business Success and over 100 articles on sales & sales management, Harlan provides the proven ideas that change thinking, skills and results for your team. By applying innovative ideas provided by Harlan, many of his clients have seen growth numbers into the 400% level! Through the application of modern scientific persuasion and influence tools, salespeople perform better, leaders lead better! www.AskHG.com www.TheSellingGap.com

Click here to visit Harlan's website
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