Leverage Avoidance Values for Irresistible Selling

What are values? Values are filters that everyone uses to helpmake sense of all the information we must process before we makea decision. When you appeal to a person's values you speakdirectly to their decision-making criteria.

Values:

In simple terms, values are what is most important to us. If youask yourself: what is most important to me about having a newcar? You will discover the key issues that you consider whenbuying a car. Your prospects will also pay attention to theirvalues when you present your offering.

Ask your prospects what is most important to them and they willtell you their values, it is then up to you to structure yourconversation around what matters to them.

So if they value ease of use and simplicity - don't waste theirtime talking about advanced functions. Instead spend extra timeand go into great detail explaining all there is to know abouthow easy it is to use the product.

By talking about what your prospect considers most important youwill grab their attention and quickly find out if your offeringis for them. And this is as far as most people get with theirpersuasion skills. There is a further step however.

Avoidance Values:

When you also discover and appeal to what your client wants toavoid, you become an especially valuable advisor. Everyone hasavoidance values i.e. what is important to avoid. In the exampleof buying a car, it could be wanting to avoid costly maintenance,high insurance premiums and the disapproval of the neighbors.

Your only challenge is that people often won't tell you whattheir avoidance values are because they don't always knowthemselves. Only when you ask the right questions will you beable to help them discover what these values are. Give them anexample of what you mean by avoidance values and then ask them:

What must you absolutely not have when driving a car?

What do you not want in a car?

What do you want to avoid at all costs by using this product?

Which factors are the most important to avoid?

Typical answers might include - poor visibility, limited legroom, a noisy engine. Let's say you were selling software, theanswers might be data loss, system crashes, limited upgrades.

Show your prospect how your product satisfies her values andprotects her from her avoidance values and your powers ofpersuasion will be irresistible.

Give yourself time to get used to asking probing questions thatelicit avoidance values. Although it seems unusual at first itdoes get easier with practice.

Peter Murphy is a freelance business writer. He publishes a freeweekly ezine full of practical tips for communicating at yourbest under pressure. All new subscribers receive a free e-bookwith powerful strategies for being at your best.