X-Message-Number: 10119
From:
Date: Sat, 25 Jul 1998 16:00:23 -0500 (CDT)
Subject: Re: Sales and Persuasion
In Message #10105, Scott Badger discussed the issue of emotion in making a
decision to purchase
something (such as cryonics) and suggested in part that
"when consumers make buying decisions based on an
>emotional appeal, they're most typically buying impusively. As recently
>discussed, signing up for cryonics is a process that requires considerable
>effort and reflection. It's pretty hard to be impulsive when you're signing
>up for cryonics, I would think. An emotional appeal may get your foot in
>the door and you'll want to sustain emotional interest as long as possible,
>but given that it can take months to make all the arrangements necessary to
>finalize the sign-up, a rational argument will eventually be required to
>convince the majority of prospects. It's the old one-two punch."
My own few years in selling real estate (when dinosaurs roamed the earth and
wanted larger
houses for their growing families) demonstrated to me over and over that the
most coldly-
calculated purchaser still required an emotional "push" at the moment of
decision. I can
remember only one exception in my own experience where a participant in the
purchase of a house
made the decision to make an offer without an emotional "prod".
I suspect that we are all discussing the same thing, and only placing emphasis
more on one stage
or another of the decision-making process. My focus, in this discussion, is
more on how to get
the (future) "stiff" to take the initial action. "Buyer's Regret", the fear
that you have made
the wrong decision in any major purchase, is most real. Ask any seller of large
ticket items
about this phenomenon. This is a separate stage of the selling process.
However, how many
times we have run across those who will agree with cryonics but balk when it
comes to taking the
step of doing something.
I can't remember how many times I would be with a prospect offering him what he
needs, what he
wants, at a price that is well within his ability to afford - and he balks. I
soon learned that
giving reasons wasn't enough. Even when the mind is convinced the decision is
the right one,
the human being needs to feel an urgency to take the step forward. That urge is
emotional.
This is also why I am advocating placing more emphasis upon getting individuals
to "protect"
*others*, whom they care for rather than just "saving" themselves. You may view
yourself as a
selfish monster for seeking personal immortality (due to the cultural norms) but
you are more
likely to cast yourself in an heroic role if you are trying to save those you
love and care for.
I really feel this approach is one which has great promise.
I also like Scott Badger's suggestion of causing more grass roots efforts to
talk about cryonics
in the local community, but there is an even deeper level of action we can take.
All of us
already know friends and relatives we care for. I am suggesting that we need to
better approach
our own inner circles with the emotional benefits of the cryonics option. I
have been receiving
emails from several members who are busy brainstorming on just this issue. I
would encourage
everyone to do the same.
It seems to me it would be very useful to have a "sales" approach for personable
contacts laid
out so that we essentially have strong emotional as well as factual answers for
the objections
given by those we care about. There is risk here for the relationships. We
would need to
overcome our own concern for how we are thought of in favor of trying to save
their lives. This
is true. But if we truly believe in the potential of cryonics, we will not
hesitate to risk
personal censure to save the life of someone *we* care for.
I am reminded again of how other movements such as active religious groups, have
a distilled
series of messages to win converts. Who hasn't seen or read the small comic
book style "Chic"
tracts used by some fundamentalist Christians? Who hasn't been confronted by a
someone with a
simple series of questions, such as "Have you accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as
your personal
saviour?" or some other pithy question which cuts directly to the matter of what
you personally
think and intend to do about this or that issue.
For those of you who are only reminded of the crassness of such encounters, have
you never had
someone you personally knew come to you and present the same questions without
your feeling
resentment? I have. When you already know someone and you actually care about
their welfare in
a certain context, this usually carries through in your conversation with them.
I would to like see a hierarchy of benefits, perhaps in a flow chart form, which
we could
develop and study, as a guideline in presenting cryonics especially to those
people we already
know. There has been an enormous amount already written and published to review
from this
perspective.
There is much work that needs to be done here, I believe. But with steady
effort, I think it
can be done.
What do you think?
-George Smith
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Peace on Earth ... one mind at a time.
THE ANGER CURE (tm)
http://www.netcom.com/~smithid/angercure.html
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