THE SINGLE-MOST POWERFUL WORD IN PERSUASION BY ROY FURR. The Single-Most POWERFUL. Word In PERSUASION. by Roy Furr

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1 The Single-Most POWERFUL Word In PERSUASION by Roy Furr

2 2014, Fresh Look, Inc. THE BORING VERSION: All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. THE FUN VERSION: This publication is protected by national and international copyright and intellectual property law. If you re-use it without consent, you re probably being a jerk. Not only that, you are bound to suffer substantial Karmic penalties, including but not limited to finding yourself perpetually reincarnated as sewer rats or as beef cattle on overcrowded factory farms. Plus you may in fact be subject to civil or criminal penalties in this life (say Hi to Bubba). So please don t copy without permission. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed Attention: Permissions Coordinator, at the address below. Fresh Look, Inc Mulder Drive Lincoln, NE Roy@RoyFurr.com

3 The Single-Most Powerful Word in Persuasion WARNING: IF YOU JUST SCROLL DOWN TO THE WORD YOU WILL GET 1/100th THE BENEFIT POSSIBLE FROM THIS ARTICLE. READ EVERY WORD. I m about to tell you the single-most powerful word in persuasion. And this applies whether you re in sales Putting together an advertisement or a marketing campaign Or just trying to get more of what you want in everyday life And let me shoot down some of the obvious ones It s not you. It s not free. And it s not new. Heck, even if you can guess what it is, chances are 99-to-1 that you have no clue how to use it. At least when it comes to having a breakthrough, transformational impact because of how you use this one word. First of all, I m going to give you some crap for even reading this. And it s not just me stalling, or giving you crap for the hell of it it s key to the lesson. Because the headline that hooked you into reading this implies that this secret word is some kind of persuasion tactic. That if you know this one word You can get anything you want. And if you think that way, you might get a little bit of what you want in life. But the true riches and especially, the true happiness will never come from chasing tactics. You ll be like a dog chasing cars down the street. It s all fun and games Chase a car, get the thrill

4 Chase a car, get the thrill Until the car you re chasing slams on the brakes and you smash your snout into its back bumper, and collapse into a whimpering heap on the pavement. You don t want to be a whimpering heap on the pavement, do you? Then it s time to forget tactics in favor of strategy. Usually when someone tells you about some super-powerful persuasion word, it s all tactics. Use this word, get the girl. Use this word, get the sale. Use this word, blah-di-blah-blah-blah Does it work? Probably. Is it as powerful as it could be? NO! And that s why even if you know what the word is Chances are STILL 99-to-1 that you don t know what makes it so powerful, or how to use it. (You ll want to keep reading this until the very end because once you re done, you WILL know how to use this for maximum effectiveness.) So what s the single-most powerful word in persuasion? Because. But most people have ZERO CLUE WHY it s so powerful. Zilch. Nada! Here s the ROOKIE, tactical use of the word because in persuasion. It comes from the masterful book Influence by Robert Cialdini. A series of tests were done where someone tried to cut in line at a copy machine. They changed the language they used when asking to cut in line, and how it impacted results.

5 Here s what they said in the first test Excuse me, I have 5 pages. May I use the Xerox machine? 60% of the people asked this question let the experimenter cut in line, and make their copies first. In the next test, here s what they said I have 5 pages. May I use the Xerox machine, because I am in a rush? Here they simply added the word because with a simple explanation for why they wanted to cut. Compliance went from 60% to 94%! Half again more from the simple addition of because with a reason. Now here s where it gets really interesting. They conducted a third test, in which they asked Excuse me, I have 5 pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I have to make copies? Who the heck uses a copier who DOESN T have to make copies? What a lame reason! And yet, instead of the 94% compliance they got from offering a reasonable explanation for why they should be allowed to cut They still got 93% of the people being asked to let them cut in line! That s right Only 1% of the people asked actually THOUGHT about the reason given after the word because and allowed that to influence their decision Which means that by simply adding the word because with ANY explanation that doesn t sound like total bull dung is likely to increase compliance by nearly 50% with more than 9 out of every 10 people complying. Juicy stuff indeed And it certainly supports the tactical use of the word because. HOWEVER That s all rookie business What matters more is WHY because works like it does

6 And how it impacts your ability to persuade effectively and successfully And how you can use because to get everything you want in life! Here s the PRO use of because in persuasion Rewind to the very beginning of the 20th Century, to the place where modern direct response advertising was born Lord & Thomas Advertising Agency Home of the legendary Claude Hopkins, Albert Lasker, and John E. Kennedy Kennedy was the copywriter who actually came up with the single-best definition of advertising Salesmanship multiplied. He also wrote a book called Reason Why Advertising. In it, he explained how in order to be successful in order to sell your advertising must strike a responsive chord with your readers. That it must go into the mind of the prospect and figure out what it is that will make them want to buy. And that, it must use the desires they already have to craft a compelling reason why they should respond. In effect, your ads must say TARGETED READER, you should read this BECAUSE You should be interested BECAUSE You should be clamoring to buy BECAUSE You should respond now BECAUSE You get the point It s not in the words you use. YES, because works on a tactical level But the strategic persuader/marketer/advertiser/salesperson knows that the real honest, ethical, and highly-effective use of the word because is different. It comes from knowing your prospect What they re already interested in

7 What they value What they are willing to exchange their hard-earned money for And offering it to them in a way that gives them a reason why they need to respond now. Quoting another legend, Zig Ziglar, You can have everything you want in life, if you will just help other people get what they want. Then it doesn t matter if you use the word because or not. It s implicit. And frankly, it s far more powerful. Yours for bigger breakthroughs, Roy Furr Editor, Breakthrough Marketing Secrets