How To Increase Your Influence Skills

Persuasion and influence skills are powerful tools, whether to move and influence a child, a customer, employee, community or county. NLP has a great number of skills that directly apply to improving your influence and persuasion skills. By developing some of the following skills and strategies you can begin to dramatically increase your level of influence skills.

1) Set a specific outcome for your interaction. Depending on the situation it could be to pick up the phone and call, send in a postcard; schedule a meeting, sign up, etc. Determine upfront the specific outcome and/or action you want the other person(s) to take.

2) Develop confidence and passion for your concept, idea, product or service. You can do this by connecting emotionally with the benefits of your idea or product. A key here is to think and remember all the people it’s helped already or all the people it will help in the future.

3) Build rapport with the individual or group being persuaded. This can be done by matching and mirroring physiology, vocal qualities, values, beliefs, etc. Rapport is an extremely powerful skill, that when utilized properly can make a world of difference in all your communication.

4) Identify what’s import to that person about your topic of discussion. For example if you are presenting a new phone service, identify from them what’s important by asking the question, ‘What’s most important to you about a phone service?’ Once you’ve identified their ‘criteria’, tie it back into whatever it is you're offering.

5) Outline the specific benefits of taking action now. Develop emotional reasons for them to buy into your idea or to buy from you specifically - now. This can also include some questions to stir up the pain of not buying from you. As well as the reason they should buy now.

6) Offer logical reasons as to why buying your product, service or idea is important. Remember everyone buys for emotional reasons and justifies with logic.

7) Ask for the sale! Offer to sign them up or register for your product, service or idea. Don’t be afraid to ask. Many times the prospect doesn’t know what they are supposed to do so you must lead them to the action you want taken.

The steps mentioned above will get you started on the path towards increasing your influence and persuasion skills.

Practice these steps and watch your persuasion and influence skills grow and develop.

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