I’ve just had my driveway “cleaned and treated” by a trio of dodgy Paddy’s. It’s bizarre timing as the wife mentioned only on Sunday about the state of the drive (weeds and moss etc) and she also slipped on its slipper surface yesterday. That’s pretty much the only reason I said yes, and that they weren’t that expensive.
However, that’s not the point. The sales patter the guy had was excellent, and hit ALL of the major influence factors proven to get people to buy: Reciprocation; Consistency; Social Proof; Liking; Authority and Scarcity. He also had several upsells and downsell in his pipeline designed to maximise profits.
Sales patter:
– He informed me that they were doing the estate and had already done some of the drives round the corner. Social Proof – TICK.
– He said that it was normally £180, but he’d do it for £90 – Reciprocation – TICK. (actually I paid £50 in the end, also he used the Contrast Principle here too).
– He was a very affable fellow, full of smiles, and trying to give me the impression he was doing a favour, just for me. Liking – TICK.
– He was only “in the area today, we won’t be here tomorrow”. Scarcity – TICK
Post agreement Upsells (I’ve said yes once, I’m more likely to say yes again, Consistency principle – TICK.):
– Upsell 1 – Repairing my uneven driveway, he “Does block paving for a living”. Authority – TICK.
– Upsell 2 – Fascias and Sofits redone in PVC.
Downsell (the principle here is if you’ve tried upsells and they don’t work, then try a down sell. He was quite deliberate to wait till I’d definitely said no to the upsells before offering me the downsell):
– They put on the “Summer” coat on the drive, but lucky me, they had just 1/2 a tin left over of extra special Winter coat stuff. *Just* enough to do my drive, and they’d put on this extra durable coat for a very low £30 more. 😉
All in all, a masterful sales performance.
If you’re interested in learning about this subject and the psychological triggers that make people say yes, I can’t recommend this book enough:
UK Link – Influence – The Psychology of Persuasion
USA Link – Influence – The Psychology of Persuasion
