Introduction

Overview

I love to fix people! I draw genuine pleasure in helping others achieve success and fulfill their dreams. I have committed many years of my life to studying the path to success, and have trained, coached, and mentored thousands of people. Early on, I learned that persuasion is one of the most important skills to develop if you truly want to be in control and achieve all you can in life. After learning this profound lesson, I decided to dedicate my life even more specifically to the study of persuasion and influence because I knew it was the only way I would realize my loftiest dreams.

I now see that persuasion permeates day-to-day life, influencing hundreds of decisions large and small. I can’t even imagine carrying on my daily routine without my sharply honed persuasion skills! For example, how can someone be an effective manager or parent without persuasion skills? I have worked for many corporations and have seen time and time again the old style of management: Do it or you’re fired. Sure, this results in short-term compliance, but it also results in long-term resentment, mistrust, and anger. And it definitely does not result in effective, win-win persuasion, either in the short or long term. So, I dedicated my life to finding the true, honorable, win-win forms of persuasion, motivation, and influence.

Here, within these pages, lie some of the gems I’ve learned about helping others become better people and achieve more in their lives—while they in turn improve the lives of others. Why go through life doing things you hate to do? Why lose spark and energy as life progresses? Life should be full of excitement, enthusiasm, and vitality! These traits are not reserved just for children. When you find your passion, your calling in life, then you will once again possess these traits. The missing ingredients for most people are contained in Maximum Influence. Learn them, use them, and you’ll change your world.

Maximum Influence contains thousands of hours’ worth of academic and scientific research with hands-on models and examples. Over the years, I have read countless books and taken just as many training sessions and seminars. They all offered excellent key points on persuasion, motivation, and influence, but I could never find a source that combined the hundreds of scientific studies of persuasion and influence into a single, comprehensive catalog of persuasive principles, strategies, and techniques. They all had a few nuggets of wisdom, but I was looking for the gold mine. The principles of Maximum Influence are designed for anybody who relies on the power of persuasion in his or her career. It is an absolute must for sales professionals, business managers, marketers, advertisers, lawyers, fundraisers, politicians, nonprofit enterprises, or anyone who wants more control over their income, their job, and their life. Applying these skills makes the difference between hoping for a better future and having a better future. As you effectively apply the principles taught in this book, the results you desire will come with greater speed and less effort.

Persuasion and influence have changed a great deal in the past twenty years. If you are involved in any kind of persuasion, your consumer, your prospects, and your customers have changed. They are bombarded with more than five thousand persuasive messages a day. Your prospect is better educated and more skeptical than ever before. If you use only the same tactics that you learned years ago, you’ll lose sales. Have you ever had a potential customer that you knew needed your product or service? They wanted your product or service, they could afford it, but they still didn’t buy from you? What happened? It was a perfect fit for both parties. As a master of persuasion and influence, you will understand your prospects’ mindset, their decision-making process, and how to close the sale so both of you win.

I have never met anyone who knows all the laws of Power Persuasion. What we have found through research is that most people actually use only two or three persuasive techniques. Even the most successful salespeople typically use only seven or eight persuasive tools. This is like playing ‘‘Chopsticks’’ when you could be equipped to play Mozart.

Many top producers stop learning when they start making a comfortable living. If you follow the steps I outline in the following chapters, you will be equipped with countless techniques, strategies, insights, and tools to manage any situation. You will find yourself starting to wield Maximum Influence.

Pay the price to become a professional in your field. Don’t settle for mediocrity; become the best you can be at what you do. Who is the best in basketball? Michael Jordan. He knew he could not become the best without daily practice of fundamental skills along with the addition of new skills. He also knew he could not excel without a team, and especially not without a coach. True excellence comes from knowledge, continuing education, and consistent practice.

To help you as you learn the techniques and strategies of Maximum Influence, let me outline what I call the ‘‘Five P’s of Success.’’ The first ‘‘P’’ is psyche. That’s the mental aspect of the game. It’s a critical skill for all successful salespeople, but it works equally well in all fields. You will not be able to achieve your goals until you believe you can achieve your goals. All the best techniques and tools will not help you until you first believe in yourself. Unfortunately, most of the people we know tend to bring us down. When you tell them about your dreams and the things you want to accomplish in life, they can be very discouraging. Do you know people like that? When you have the right psyche, you know where you’re going and what you want to accomplish, and anything that people say is not going to matter. The right psyche involves knowing what you want and having a plan to get it. When your psyche is in its proper place, you will always follow your heart.

The second ‘‘P’’ is persistence. Persistence is the number one reason why people are successful in life. It’s also the driving force that determines why certain people are wealthy. Their success is not due to financial backing or education. They owe their achievements to persistence. There’s an old sales adage: ‘‘Some will; some won’t. So what? Who’s next?’’ It’s a numbers game. Most sales are closed after the fifth attempt. Never let obstacles in life take your eyes off your goals.

The next ‘‘P’’ is personal development. All top producers have a personal development program. There is a direct relationship between your personal development program and your income. Personal success expert Brian Tracy says, ‘‘If you can get yourself to read thirty minutes a day, you’re going to double your income every year,’’ and I know from personal experience that this technique works! Most homes valued at over a quarter of a million dollars have a library. Studies consistently demonstrate that those who are learning and growing every day are more optimistic about life. They are more enthusiastic about where they’re going and what they hope to accomplish. Those who aren’t learning and growing every day become negative, pessimistic, and doubtful about themselves and their future. Turn your car into a university on wheels by listening to motivational tapes and CDs. When you’re at home, turn off the TV and read a book. There are two ways to learn in life: You can learn by trial and error, attempting to figure things out on your own, or you can learn from somebody else, who’s already been there and done it before. Somebody has already figured out everything you need to learn about life, and written a book about it or put it on disk or tape. So invest in your future by investing in your personal development.

Do you know the number one thing that will change someone’s mind? It’s the fourth ‘‘P’’—passion. More than anything, passion will allow you to recruit the hearts and minds of your prospects. Do you have passion and heartfelt conviction for your product or service? We love people who are excited, animated, and full of passion. When you have passion for something you’re excited about, you have zeal and you want to share it with the world. You’re excited to convert as many people to your cause as possible. Passion alone can be effective in swaying opinion and getting people to support your product or service. Passion springs from a combination of belief, enthusiasm, and emotion. Find passion for your product and find joy in helping others enjoy it.

The fifth and final ‘‘P’’—and the one that comprises most of this book—is persuasion. Spend a little time each day learning and mastering the world of persuasion and influence. The basic premise of Maximum Influence is to get what you want when you want it, and in the process to win friends and to help people love doing what you want them to do. There is a big difference between presenting and persuading. Anyone can spit out a list of features and benefits, showing off their product or service and pushing their products on people. By using Maximum Influence you draw people to you, and thus attract more customers—and more sales. We want you to get customers to beg for your product or service and win customers for life. And that’s exactly what Maximum Influence strives to do.

For further information on any of the topics covered in this book, or to master the art of persuasion and influence, go to www.maximuminfluence.com, click on free reports and use the following keywords:

Keywords

Chapter 1. Power of Persuasion

Chapter 2. Twelve Laws of Persuasion

Chapter 3. Law of Dissonance

Chapter 4. Law of Obligation

Chapter 5. Law of Connectivity

Chapter 6. Law of Social Validation

Chapter 7. Law of Scarcity

Chapter 8. Law of Verbal Packaging

Chapter 9. Law of Contrast

Chapter 10. Law of Expectations

Chapter 11. Law of Involvement

Chapter 12. Law of Esteem

Chapter 13. Law of Association

Chapter 14. Law of Balance

Chapter 15. Pre-Persuasion Checklist

Test Your Persuasion IQ

Free Persuasion Newsletter

What Is Dissonance (audio)

Universal Laws of Success

Reading Nonverbals

The 5 C’s of Trust

Scarcity Questions

Perfect Speaking (audio)

Psychology of Motivation

Goal Mastery Form

How to Increase Involvement

Power of Praise

How to Resist Persuasion

Find Statistics

Design Your Message