Selling is an art. The Art of persuasion

You must read this post about buying a rug in Turkey when he never intended to buy a rug in Turkey. It is brilliant. It gives you a precise breakdown of the anatomy of good selling. I always fall for that guilt setup of getting something and feeling obligated to give/get back. If you want to train someone to really sell well, then this is a great place to start. The most beautiful thing about the sales job the guy did on him was that he knew he was being tweaked and turned and used and even tells the salesman exactly what he is doing. Love it!

Hat Tip to my blogger “friend” Guy Kawasaki for the link.

PILOTed: What I Learned Buying a Rug in Turkey

According to Robert Cialdini, there are 6 weapons of influence. We can all use them, and they are used on us, either knowingly or by accident:

1. Reciprocation: we try to repay what another person has provided us
2. Commitment and consistency: we desire to be consistent with what we have already done
3. Social proof: we tend to rely on what other people are doing to determine our own actions
4. Liking: we tend to go along with and follow people we like
5. Authority: we feel a sense of duty to follow someone who has authority
6. Scarcity: opportunities seem more valuable to us when their availability is limited

You can see how the rug salesmen used practically every one of these weapons in getting me to purchase the rug.

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