How do you try to convince others?

By | David Klaasen | Director @ Talent4Performance | Strategic Organisation and People Development
There is a significant difference between having some thoughts about something and being convinced about it. When it comes to your clients and customers it can make the difference between achieving a sale or not. The ability to convince others is critical to business success.
For example it could be providing a strong enough business case for your pet project or proposal to the board, getting buy-in from your team about the direction you need it to go in, or judging whether a new employee is good at their job or not.
Is seeing believing?
It’s not uncommon to hear people say “I’ll believe it when I see it” and while this may be true for many, it is not true for all. In fact when it comes to becoming “convinced” of something, only 55% of the population will be convinced by seeing it (this is based on the research done by Rodger Bailey in a work context). So what’s going on with the others?
What channel are you tuned into?
Whilst we have five senses, we tend to use only three of them to make sense of the world; only chefs need to use all five on a daily basis! Depending on our particular individual sensitivities and previous experiences we develop sensory preferences, and these preferences become our main ‘input’ channel. This channel will need to be activated in order for us to become convinced. If our particular preference is not stimulated, the information received (if it is even noticed!) may be mildly interesting but not really that engaging. It will certainly not convince us.
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