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I can almost hear you going, "Huh? Now what the heck is he talking about?!"
I'm talking about, as the title says, low pressure, passive, high pressure marketing.
"Traditional" high pressure marketing is a big turnoff for most people, and, while some professional sales people can get away with it in person, most simply lose the sale. If you've ever gone to a car dealership, you may have run across a young, enthusiastic sales person who poured on the pressure to try to convince you to buy a new car. The chances are that you didn't buy the car.
Most people like to make their own choices, in a relaxed, friendly environment. The human ego does not like to be pushed, but naturally says, right or wrong, "I'm in control - this is MY reality!" In other words, whether you recognize the fact or not, your subconscious mind virtually always rebels when pushed to make a decision.
On the other hand, if you go into that same car dealership, walk around looking at all those nice new cars, and either no one comes to help you, or the person helping you only speaks when you ask a question and then only answers your direct question without offering any other observations or information, the chances are STILL good that you won't buy that car.
Why not? You're not being pressured; in fact, the sales person is very passive and low key - isn't that a good thing?
The direct answer is, no.
Once again, there's a problem with the way your ego is being handled. Your ego likes to be stroked - it makes you feel good - important, in fact. It makes you feel that you matter, something that is very important to the human ego.
Further more, in a world filled with choices, the ego once more rebels at the idea of actually making a choice. The ego, that is, you, would much rather have someone else make the choice, as long as it doesn't realize someone else is making the choice!
(I have chosen the auto trade for my examples, because there ARE so many choices. Any vehicle with 4 wheels, a roof, and an engine that runs would probably work for most people, so you must have a reason for buying the particular automobile you buy.)
So, the sales person's job is to be there for you, answer your questions, help you choose the colour, seating arrangement, automatic or standard, offer friendly tips on the benefits to you of a particular product, allow you to help them fill out the sales agreement, allow you to choose the financing arrangements, and so on.
What the good sales person is doing by working this way is called "Low Pressure, Passive, High Pressure Marketing," and it works for any kind of sales and marketing. A good sales person never pushes the ego (causes instant rebellion), but helps the ego by asking questions, listening, and giving intelligent, helpful answers (low pressure, passive), and by offering choices that lead into the next choice,(high pressure - but you don't notice it!) then helps make the choice, (again, passive, low pressure).
What then happens is that the ego never notices that it is being squeezed ever tighter until it causes you to grab the pen on the sales person's desk and sign the agreement. Your ego is quite certain that it has been in control all along and has made a totally intelligent, sovereign decision, leaving you feeling very good about your purchase and quite likely to return to see the same sales person at the same dealership the next time you go to buy a car.
You can put this same principle to work in any area of sales and direct marketing you're involved with. Always remember that you NEVER want to create any feeling of pressure from YOU, the sales person, but at the same time, you MUST pressure the ego from within to make the choice to buy, or it likely will not happen.
Take the time to study, practice and use these principles. They will always work when properly used. Always put yourself in the prospective client's shoes and imagine it is YOU you're talking to. If you can't sell to yourself, don't try to sell to another.
God bless,
Dave
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