Power of Persuasion: Look Like a Big Fish Part IV
Thursday, January 28th, 2010Two-hour lecture on Power of Persuasion: BUY NOW
Here are the final three tips to help your small business look bigger:
1) Be specific when answering the question, “how’s business?” The small fish will typically answer “it’s going well.” The medium fish will usually answer, “Good, sales are up this year by 5%.” The big fish will typically respond, “Good, this quarter is up 5% over last year.” By speaking in terms of quarters and quantifying your response, you appear sharper and your business appears bigger.
2) Appear busy because the law of scarcity dictates that people want to work with busy people. If you’re not busy, they wonder how good you really are. If you’re not busy yet, endeavor to look busy. When making appointments, avoid saying, “I have all day Thursday open” or worse, “Next week my schedule is pretty much clear.” Instead, consider using this verbiage, “Monday is out, and so are Tuesday and Wednesday, but how does Thursday look at 11:20 or 4:40?” Off times such as 7:20 give the impression that you are well organized and busy, and they will respect your time more. In fact, it is proven that people are more prompt for appointments made at less common times such as 11:10 rather than 11:00.
3) Observe the big fish in action. Listen to how they talk about their businesses, look at their business cards, analyze how they interact, and you will soon see the common denominators as clear as day.
Keep in mind that appearing bigger is not always beneficial. It depends on your product/service, target market and industry. In the cases where it is beneficial, be sure to use these techniques as appropriate. Always use your judgement, as it is one thing to enhance your image and another to over-stretch.