In last half a decade plus, we realized through our training, facilitation, consultancy & interaction, we seem to have lost our focus on convincing power which is limited to sales only and not beyond that can lead to connecting with every individual. For connect we need convincing power to be used not only for sales but for our life to an even greater extent. We have deployed a new term, a “CONVINCING to CONNECT with PRISM”. We need to focus in convincing power not only in sales, but for our life.
Life is full of change as saying goes change is inevitable and change bring a unique set of pressures when working with people. Whether its personal or professional life; changes are to be implemented, developing new processes and systems, or supporting people / staff to learn and perform new work practices for self & for others; all of which require us to work effectively with people by using our convincing skills. Developing Convincing power need preparation, respect for each other needs, implement thoughts, share benefits & challenges and finally maintain the protocols.
The strategies needed to move self or organization forward; we firstly need to define objectives and the need to achieve them. Organization people keep a close eye on the business environment within which they operate. Same way for personal goals people focus on their performance, initiatives, outcomes etc.
But, to make all of this happen you need people. People who sell; people who can work with dedication and accuracy; people who can communicate clearly with a diverse group of individuals; people who can examine business intelligence information and find trends, opportunities and insights; people who can manage other people. To work with people you first need to convince them for achieving your key objectives.
We often hear the phrases ‘our people are our key resource’ or ‘my family are the secret of our success’, but sometimes we suspect these are empty words, spoken without any sense of real meaning behind them. However, in successful people life or in an organization, there is a strong basis for these phrases. We could also add to them:
- People have different priorities and concerns; we need to understand
- People value different things; we need to respect them.
- Senior managers are people; we need to acknowledge.
- Our customers are also people; we not only need to sell them but connect with them.
Five approaches can help you to develop great convincing skills. It is PRISM-an acronym for Prepare, Respect, Implement, Share and Maintain. Very simple mantra that can help you share your perspective and will help you to form connect leading to convincing others.
PREPARE: Preparation for anything is key to success. Convincing others is a skill that needs to be practised and you firstly have to do your homework on identifying need or wants of other. Secondly, the important preparation we need to do is handling Objection; most people fail to prepare for objections. Identify the 10 to 20 most common objections and prepare answers for them. Your answers should be clear, correct and concise. Thirdly, there’s an art to providing what others want at the right moment. Figuring out what someone needs and offering the person can be an effective strategy for getting the yes that you’re looking for.
RESPECT: You should identify language and show respect. Use key words like ‘You are’ instead of ‘are you’, Use Thank you instead of appreciate, Use ‘I think’ instead ‘I don’t know’, ‘You are welcome’ instead of ‘pleasure’, use ‘Imagine’ or instead of ‘let me tell you’, ‘value’ instead of ‘price’. Using right words is the secret to getting to “yes” and leads to convincing people. The ‘human touch’ with right words means having the humility to accept that our own behaviour has a part to play in many of the people issues we encounter; then having the courage to do something about it.
IMPLEMENT: Once you in interaction, feel great when you deliver. Be positive in pitching because everyone in this life is anxious about the outcome. Put yourself in a great emotional state first and then logical state by making them visualize their goals to feel inspired.
SHARE: Share to understand. Want to know the real secret of convincing is to share that too empathically. You need to understand others wants and needs, their challenges and problems, so you can help them in the best possible way by sharing your own experience and success.
MAINTAIN: Go ahead and put your time and energy in learning new skills and knowledge leads to build and maintain the relationships.
Always remember, convincing power in life helps you and others forming connect and strong relationship; this is based on engagement. The nature of the engagements can also vary widely. We may be required to engage at an early stage to evaluate. Sometimes our work may provoke the need to challenge and convince people of an alternative course of action; sometimes it may need us to handle situations with empathy and care. Hence respect is something that should be maintained. These different situations have one thing in common: they all involve people and, as a result, will require an assortment of behavioral skills if they are to be handled well, use PRISM approach.
Hence, anyone working in business or in our life we will encounter many different personalities and situations, each of which will need to be handled with care. People, whether they’re customers, senior executives, suppliers or colleagues, friends, relatives or self can sometimes behave in inexplicable ways. As a great person, you have a choice i.e PRISM. You can make an attempt to understand where they’re coming from, accept that you need to adapt your own behaviour to align with the needs of others and begin to move things forward. This needs preparation. There is technique that can provide helpful insights into our behaviour and that of our near & dear ones, colleagues and customers. These can enable us to develop strategies to cope with any set of people or business complexity and personal diversity, and thus achieve successful outcomes.
Our model “PRISM Philosophy” that we have created has started becoming most beneficial. During our business project, working with people across a range of business situations, we have used them to resolve challenges and improve performance leading to a convinced situation. Use your convincing power not only on sales but in life. We hope you find them useful too. Enjoy
Anubha Maurya Walia – Founder of Prism Trainings & Consultancy is an International Trainer in Corporate & Quality & OD Consultant. She created the PRISM Philosophy that results in transforming people and processes. Anubha is the first lady in India to do a research on Followership & Leadership. She is Self-Discipline Strategist who relates profound truths coupled with a humorous anecdote; has empowered 38000 professionals. You can read her Blog anubhawalia.wordpress.com and can be reached at anubha@prism-global.org.
