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Persuasion Equation
Book

Persuasion Equation

The Subtle Science of Getting Your Way

AMACOM, 2015 more...

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Editorial Rating

7

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  • Applicable

Recommendation

Persuasion dominates the world of business. Even office workers who are not in sales spend nearly half their time trying to persuade others, so you can imagine what salespeople have to do. Persuasion expert Mark Rodgers has nearly three decades of experience helping his clients get to “yes.” He shares his knowledge on how persuasion works and teaches you how to persuade others, one “nudge” or step at a time. getAbstract recommends this potent treatise to salespeople, entrepreneurs and anyone seeking to become more persuasive – including the parents of adolescents and teens themselves.

Summary

“Persuasion Fundamentals”

Success often comes down to your persuasion skills. You can’t persuade people every time on every issue, but you can build the skills to bring people around to saying “yes” more often. Persuasion is “ethically winning the heart and mind of your target.” Ethical persuading means not using tricks. Winning means securing agreement to do – or not do – what you wish. When you win someone’s heart, you gain “emotional buy-in”; when you win that person’s mind, you gain “logical buy-in.” In both, manipulation has no place in professional persuasion. Be straight with people. As business writer Daniel Pink says, “Treat everyone as you would your grandmother.”

The greater your credibility, the more persuasive you’ll be. Persuasion has two goals: winning a yes or convincing someone not to take a particular action. To be effective in business, you must be able to do both. Persuading people isn’t easy. You need to know enough about them to understand what matters to them and to cut through their resistance. You must demonstrate your offer’s value by painting a compelling word picture. You must be astute about your offer’s timing. If you raise the wrong subject...

About the Author

Mark Rodgers is a principal partner at the Peak Performance Business Group.