One of the biggest mistakes most businesses will have in gaining new customers is that they think they have to change the attitude of their prospects.
Usually, when a person buys a product or service, they go from being ignorant about it,
It’s the same train of thought we all follow with everything new:
“I’ve never heard of that.”
“Yeah I’ve heard of that, but I don’t really care.”
“I looked into that, and it’s not for me.” or “I looked into that, and it might work for me.”
The big problem here is that you can’t actually change someone’s mind.
A person’s attitude about your product or service belongs to them. In fact, if you try to change it, they will likely fight against you to stop it.
So what’s the answer?
You might be surprised to know it’s deceptively simple.
Instead of trying to change a prospects attitude, just focus on changing their action. Even a tiny shift in action can cause a change in attitude.
When a person takes a small action, it triggers a different feeling. And that feeling starts to shift their attitude all by itself.
There is a famous tale in Robert Cialdini’s seminal classic Influence in which he talks about people collecting money for Cancer research. Initially, the collectors went door to door asking for donations. Some said yes, but most said no.
Next, they tried something a little different. Instead of asking for donations, they went door to door asking if each person would wear a small badge that said “I support cancer research’. They asked them to do this for a week to raise awareness. Almost everyone they asked agreed.
Two weeks later, the collectors returned and asked the people what their experience had been. The people mentioned that they had been asked by friends and family about the pin, and they now really felt cancer research was an important cause. Many of them actually asked to donate, rather than having to be asked.
This shows the power of a small action and how it can change an attitude.
You see this all time in stores such as Apple, where the customers are free to use the devices as long as they want. Or the frozen yogurt store that lets people eat as many small samples as they like.
The small actions taken by the prospects begin to shift their attitude. They soon want to buy because their attitude changed through action.
How does this work in your business? What small action can you ask a prospect to take that can make them feel different?
Remember that a small shift in action is often all it takes for the person to slowly change their mind. Best of all, they feel like it is their decision because it actually is.
As James Crimmins, author of 7 Secrets of Persuasion reminds us “Attitude shouldn’t be the key target of persuasion. The real goal of persuasion is to change behavior – to get someone to act differently.”
Focus on the action, not the attitude.
Your results may surprise you.