Feint For Sales Success

One word is causing the Democratic Alliance to score an own goal and lose voters in the next municipal elections. The same word slaughters advertising campaigns. It shoots our blood pressure through the roof. It reduces our sales and terrifies us more than a Stephen King novel.

Hypnotists and savvy manipulators have long known about the power of this word. They�re like champion boxers, feinting this way and that, waiting to land the knockout punch. This word is pure deception, disguising what it really wants us to do.

Used correctly, this four-letter word can seriously improve your sales.

The word is don't

Remember when you were a child (this probably pertains to the boys more than the girls) and your dad asked you not to do something. It went something like this:

�Don�t do that son.�

Of course, like any naughty boy I carried on.

�I said, don�t do that, Jacques.�

Whatever

�Don�t do that. I�ll give you a hiding if you carry on!"

Mmm, the old man seems to be getting a bit tense. He�ll never do it.

Of course, after the third warning, my old man would blow a gasket and give me a jolly good hiding.

As a child, I soon realised that my actions didn�t always have consequences and if they did, it took a while for them to catch up with me. At a subconscious level I came to understand that whenever my dad prefaced a sentence with �don�t� it didn�t mean anything (for a while at least).

School was the same thing, wasn�t it? The teachers were always telling us don�t do this and don�t do that. And we got away with our behaviours more often than not, didn�t we?

The short version is that for most of us our pulse doesn�t go up a beat when somebody tells us don�t. Our subconscious doesn�t hear �don�t� and only registers the words thereafter.

This is why don�t is such a brilliant deceptive word to disguise what we really intend. Master persuaders, canny marketers and deep-eyed hypnotists have been using �don�t� to bend us to their will for many years now.

Below are some examples of how �don�t� can be used. Your subconscious skims over �don�t� and only hooks into the words thereafter. I�ve marked the real, hidden message in red.

The following examples will have the opposite effect that was intended by their writers:

-          Don�t split the opposition. Democratic Alliance advertising slogan

-          Don�t drink and drive. Arrive Alive slogan

-          Don�t eat that

-          Don�t abuse women

-          Don�t vote for the opposition

-          Don�t shout at me

-          Don�t be late

-          Don�t be stupid

-          Don�t use that tone of voice on me

-          Don�t procrastinate

-          Don�t smoke

-          Don�t deny that you said it

-          Don�t be scared

-          Don�t hesitate to contact me should you have any problems

Top persuaders would couch the messages in these terms

-          Don�t decide now

-          Don�t make up your mind now

-          Don�t try us now

-          Don�t be fooled by the advertising campaign

-          Don�t vote for us � until you get the facts (two instructions)

-          If you don�t go with our solution initially, that�s ok

-          Don�t read the next paragraph until you�ve thought about �

-          Don�t sign now until I�ve showed you more benefits

Don�t have fun with this principle. Don�t have a great week. Don�t make more sales. And, don�t come on one of my seminars.

PS. This technique is hugely powerful in bending people to your will, so please use it with integrity and extreme caution. Whenever I�m in doubt as to whether I�m manipulating people to suit my needs or leading them on a path that will benefit them, I go to the words of Anthony Robbins to see if I�m in integrity. He says that it is ok to persuade somebody if:

-          It�s good for you

-          It�s good for your client

-          It�s good for the company you work for

-          It�s good for the greater good

Copyright 2006 by Jacques de Villiers 

This article may be copied or republished with the following credit:

"By Jacques de Villiers, Inspirational Speaker, Johannesburg, South Africa.
+27 (0) 82 906 3693   www.jacquesdevilliers.com "

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