Psychological Tricks in Selling

By Stephen Bucaro

In this article, I'm revealing six powerful secret psychological tricks that you can use to increase effectiveness of your advertising and marketing. What if you don't sell anything? Should you ignore this information?

You ARE selling something. Whether you are a Real Estate agent selling multi-million dollar homes, or a worker trying to sell your boss on idea that you are a valuable employee, everybody is selling something. So it would be wise to learn these secret tricks and use them to achieve your own personal success.

The secret psychological tricks that I am going to reveal are not really secret. They have been used by shrewed salesman for millenium. Their existence was revealed back in 1984 by Dr. Robert Cialdini in his book "Influence : The Psychology of Persuasion".

You will recognize these tricks being used everywhere in advertising today. Now you will be able to put them to use to enhance your own personal success.

Psychological Selling Trick Number 1: Reciprocity

Reciprocity works like this: you give someone something of value for free. That individual feels an obligation to return favor. Reciprocity is a very powerful principle.

To use reciprocity as a marketing tool, you give people something of value for free, they reciprocate by purchasing your product or service. But you would be surprised how many advertisers totally blow it. Either they don't understand concept of "free", or they don't have total faith in principle of reciprocity.

For example, consider offer "get a free camera when you subscribe to our magazine for two years." That's not free. Or, "free installation with a one year commitment." That's not free. The customer is paying with an obligation. No sale.

Consider offer,"receive latest issue of our magazine absolutely free. No bill will be sent." If prospective customer finds magazine to be of value, they feel an obligation to subscribe. Or, "one month of free Internet service. No credit card required." If Internet service performs well, prospective customer feels an obligation to sign up.

The trick is to create something that has high perceived value to a prospective customer, but costs you little or nothing to produce. Free information is a good example. Here again many advertisers totally blow it. The free information turns out to be nothing more than blatant advertising.

Free samples of your product or service is another good example. Again, many businesses blow it. They either produce a cheaper version of their product to use as free samples, or they use free sample campaign as a means to dump reject product.

The largest Internet Service Provider is well known for giving away hundreds of hours of service for free. No credit card required. The largest cookie company is famous for giving away free cookies. Reciprocity is a very powerful marketing strategy.

Psychological Selling Trick Number 2: Scarcity

Scarcity works like this: There is a limited amount of item available. After those are gone, item will not be available. "urgency" implies Scarcity. For example, "this offer will be honored only for a limited time".

The effectiveness of scarcity principle is well demonstrated by large segment of population involved in pursuing antiques, collectibles, and memorabilia simply because these items are scarce. Scarcity is often contrived, as when a company produces a "limited edition".

For example, when Disney releases a limit edition of one of its classic stories - yes, limited to a production of more copies than they could ever possibly sell - then it goes in "vault". And how fortunate we'll be a few years from now when they decide to do us favor of taking it back out of vault.

Note: Manufactured items, especially DVDs and CD-ROMs, cannot be "scarce". It's a simple matter to put manufacturing dies back into production. All scarcities of manufactured items are contrived.

One popular incarnation of scarcity is "going out of business sale". Customers somehow don't pick up on fact that mark-downs are not that great, or that store has new merchandise coming in back door to take advantage of increase in traffic.

Scarcity is a very powerful marketing tool. There are many ways to contrive scarcity. You can create a limited edition, or for items like information products, scarcity can exist in form of urgency by creating a limited time offer.

Psychological Selling Trick Number 3: Commitment

Commitment involves getting a prospective customer to take a tiny step towards a goal. For example, you might get them to request free information, or fill out a survey. When prospective customer takes that first step, they have made a commitment, however tentative, towards goal you have set out for them. They are likely to take another step.

One example of this process is "two step" method used in mail order. When a mail order marketer runs an advertisement, they don't even try to sell product. Instead, advertisement offers free information. A prospective customer makes that first commitment towards purchasing product by requesting free information. The free information they receive is designed to entice them to take next step.

Another example of using commitment as a marketing tool is a survey. By checking a few boxes and answering a few questions, a prospective customer takes that first step towards a commitment. The result they receive from survey is designed to entice them to take next step.

Yet another example of using commitment as a marketing tool is a lottery. For example, people enter their name and address on a ticket for a chance to win a new car. A salesman uses that information to contact them. By entering their name and address on lottery ticket, individual has made a commitment to own that new car.

The most common example of principle of commitment are those long-winded full page advertisements in magazines. The prospective customer invests a great deal of time reading through entire advertisement. That investment of time represents a commitment. They are likely to take next step, responding to advertisement.

Online surveys reinvent traditional format and offer a unique way of interaction – all benefits of internet without programming. Here are ten reasons why they may be silver bullet marketeers’ need, complete with examples supplied by Martin Day, managing director of Survey Galaxy - one of a new breed of websites making online surveys quicker and cheaper

1. It’s cheap as buttons Select right survey website and creating surveys can be free of any charge and cost to publish is minimal.

Useful information harvested from surveys can be reused and repackaged in other marketing and PR for use in press outlets making it a very efficient form of information gathering.

2. It’s easy peasy Anyone can develop an online survey. Survey sites allow people who are interested in benefits of surveys, rather than technicalities, to side-step required programming skills and create relevant up-to-the-minute surveys,instantly – surveys that are even easier to complete than they are to make.

3. Anyone can play Once survey is online it’s a simple step to promote it, either through email (with a link enclosed), via a link from a website or referenced by other forms of advertising. Anyone who has link can be connected instantly to survey, at a time that’s convenient to them, 24x7.

4. We’ve all got an opinion – and we like to give it

Customers like surveys – they’re not seen as spam, but as an empowering opportunity to make their voice heard and a chance to have an impact on a brand. They can be particularly good for broaching sensitive subjects with concerned employees; a survey asking a workforce on their opinion of change allows key issues to be raised in a positive way and encourages employee participation. Online surveys allow message to reach each individual and invite feedback in a manageable form.

5. Get inside their heads You can lead a customer to an advertisement but you can’t make them think. Surveys actively engage respondents, who think about question before giving their response

6. Beautiful relationships start here It needn’t all end at end of survey – while you have their attention and are in mood you can ask if they want to sign up for more information or a regular newsletter – making most of window when you have their interest.