If you’re a business owner, sales or marketing person who has pulled your hair out over your inability to influence and convince prospects and customers to buy what you’re selling, a book titled “7 Triggers to Yes: The New Science Behind Influencing People’s Decisions” just sounds too good to pass up. So I didn’t.
This book practically screamed at me from the shelf and I made the decision to snap it up in a matter of seconds and here’s why.
This book practices what it preaches. The title is a grabber. When you turn the book over the first thing you read is “Master the Art and Science of Persuasion.” When you open the front flap, they actually give you a quick little summary of the seven triggers. That’s all it took. I was sold.
It’s a quick, easy and educational read. Russell Granger has a friendly, enthusiastic yet authoritative writing style that’s easy to read. In fact, I can tell you that I was able to get a good flavor and overview of the 240 pages in about 5 hours … give or take. While I was sprinting through the sections, I would mark the chapters or areas that I wanted to come back to later, but I was so interested in learning about these seven triggers, I just couldn’t wait to read at regular speed.
It’s supported by science. Using new technologies like (PET) Positron Emission Tomography scans, (fMRI) Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging and several other high-tech tools, scientist have actually been able to literally watch the brain light up as it was making different kinds of decisions. Based on that, they were able to map out these seven triggers and prove that by activating those, you can connect with customers and get them to say “Yes!” For more in-depth explanations, click over to the PBS show “The Secret Life of the Brain.”
The triggers are simple, practical and easy to remember. The best way to work with these is to ask yourself the question “In what ways can I use this trigger in my sales and marketing messages? Here are the triggers:
- Friendship Trigger — Activates trust and agreement through bonding.
- Authority Trigger — Creates a perception of expertise that activates acceptance.
- Consistency Trigger — Appeals to motives consistent with past actions.
- Reciprocity Trigger — Taps into the rationale that when you give, you get something back.
- Contrast Trigger — Makes your request more appealing when compared to other options.
- Reason-Why Trigger — Gives reasons that activate an automatic “yes.”
- Hope Trigger — Instills positive expectations that deliver agreement.
Granger devotes a chapter to each trigger with plenty of examples and ideas that will inspire you and motivate you to put these principles into practice.
But wait, there’s more. At the book’s web site, www.seventriggers.com, there are worksheets and forms that will help you to implement the triggers for meetings, writing materials and any other way you’d like to use them.
