persuasion Sales Applications The power of suggestion can also be extremely effective when you engage the emotions in your tactics. For example, when your car salesman says, "You're really going to love how this car handles in the mountains," he is shifting the focus away from the sale and creating an exciting image in your head. He is also speaking as though you had already agreed to the sale because you wouldn't be driving it in the mountains unless you were going to buy it. He's acting like it's a done deal-and the truth is, the more he does this, the more it is! I love seeing doortodoor salespeople use this law to their advantage. They approach a door, ring the bell, and with a big smile tell the prospect they have a great presentation that person needs to see. Of course, they employ this strategy while they are wiping their feet on the person's doormat in expectation of being let in the house. You would be surprised how often this technique actually works. You see the salesperson handing the prospect his pen in expectation of signing the contract. Have you ever felt bad leaving a store or situation where you have not bought something? The store has created the expectation that you would make a purchase. Presupposition: Assuming the Sale Using expectations, we can create immediate reactions to stimuli so the subject doesn't even have to think-they just perform the action. Discounts, closeouts, going out of business sales, and coupons are used to draw traffic to stores. Consumers assume they will receive a reduced purchase price by presenting the coupon or by going to a "going out of business sale." One tire company made an error in printing their coupon and the misprinted coupon offered no savings to recipients. However, this coupon produced just as much customer response as did the errorfree coupon.7 Presupposition is often utilized by using words and language that indicate your assumption that your offer has already been accepted. It is a technique that is used both consciously and subconsciously. Consider the following examples (the assumption is expressed in parentheses): "When do you want your couch sent?" (You want the couch.) "Should I call you Tuesday or Wednesday?" (You want to talk again.) "Your first class will start next Monday." (You're signing up for the class.) You'd be amazed how often people will just go along with your proposal! They don't even stop and think about their response because now they're already finishing the deal in their mind! Another way to use presupposition is to put it in writing. People always think that if something's in writing, then it must be true. We often go along with something without questioning it, just because it's what the directions say to do. For example, a particular "candid camera" stunt involved a stop sign placed on a sidewalk, even though there was no reason to stop there. persuasion