The most gifted influencers know that to be highly persuasive they must appeal to
values of person they are speaking to.What are values? Values are filters that everyone uses to help make sense of all information we must process before we make a decision. When you appeal to a person's values you speak directly to their decision-making criteria.
Values:
In simple terms, values are what is most important to us. If you ask yourself: what is most important to me about having a new car? You will discover key issues that you consider when buying a car. Your prospects will also pay attention to their values when you present your offering.
Ask your prospects what is most important to them and they will tell you their values, it is then up to you to structure your conversation around what matters to them.
So if they value ease of use and simplicity - don't waste their time talking about advanced functions. Instead spend extra time and go into great detail explaining all there is to know about how easy it is to use product.
By talking about what your prospect considers most important you will grab their attention and quickly find out if your offering is for them. And this is as far as most people get with their persuasion skills. There is a further step however.
Avoidance Values:
When you also discover and appeal to what your client wants to avoid, you become an especially valuable advisor. Everyone has avoidance values i.e. what is important to avoid. In example of buying a car, it could be wanting to avoid costly maintenance, high insurance premiums and disapproval of neighbors.
