How do you go about convincing someone who, for one reason or another, doesn’t see eye-to-eye with you? Someone who gives you a flat out “no”? It's hard but possible.
Going against what they know and have emotionally and financially decided to invest in can be ridiculous at best and threatening/insulting at most, so be prepared to receive an emotional response and leave all logic out the window.
It's no easy task, but the people who can consistently do this are very successful in businesses or leadership roles. It's a skill worth learning.
For a more detailed guide, I would recommend reading this book and applying for a sales Job (nothing beats real-world experience)
Laura’s book, Edge: Turning Adversity into Advantage. It's a compilation of interviews to more than 60 leaders who were trying to convince business associates and other constituents to change their minds on a course of action that they initially disagreed with. The leaders who were most successful in overcoming others’ skepticism were those who diagnosed the root of the fundamental disagreement before trying to persuade.
Ok, so how do you go about doing this?
These leaders often pinpointed which aspects of their arguments elicited the most pushback and the most emotional reactions. Then, depending on the answer, they approached the situation with one of the following three targeted strategies:
- The Cognitive Conversation
When to use: When you think the detractor may be opposed to your argument because of an objective reason. This strategy is most useful when the person you are trying to convince is a no, no-nonsense type of person, who sets asides emotions and favors logical and hard data over all.
How it works: A successful cognitive conversation requires two things: sound arguments and good presentation. You want to prepare sound arguments that disprove the detractor’s objections. You also want to use a logical framework and clear storyline to force the detractor to reassess their thinking. Be very cautious about not introducing emotions into the discussion, which could give the impression that you and your detractor are not on common ground.
2. The Champion Conversion
When to use: When you see data and logical arguments are getting you nowhere.
How it works: Don’t jump in and try to convince the other person. Instead, invest time in personally learning about and building rapport with them. Here, it’s not about arguments or presentation, at least initially, but understanding their perspective and why they might feel personally affronted. Once they feel you get them, and they trust you enough, they will open up to your proposal.
3. The Credible Colleague Approach
When to use: There are times when the detractor’s deeply-held personal beliefs make them fundamentally opposed to your proposal. It’s sometimes tough to pinpoint where these personal beliefs stem from, but some combination of the person’s upbringing, personal history, and unspoken biases will, at times, make it seemingly impossible for them to accept a decision, no matter what logical or emotional argument you throw their way.
How it works: Unfortunately, in these situations, there isn’t much you can say or do in the short term to change their mind. You need a person they trust to vouch for you. If you have ever seen a mafia movie, this is exactly how undercover cops get in.
Rather than trying to argue with someone who seems resistant, bring in a credible colleague. A champion of your position from another part of the organization, whether they are a peer or superior, may be better-suited to convince this detractor. This forces the detractor to disentangle who you are from what your argument might be and evaluate the idea based on its objective merits. If you and the detractor are at an impasse, the credible colleague might just tip the scales in your favor.
I make a big emphasis on the 2nd Strategy, the Champion Conversion because it seems to be the type of situation you were in. They don't trust you enough, you need to build report with them and then once they open up you can show them the sound arguments.
A great example of this situation is Michael's sale from the hit series "The Office" please watch this 5-minute video. It will explain this strategy way better than I can with words (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYWwfdb2A88)
The catch: No matter how much of a champion the other person becomes, don’t expect them to agree with a decision that’s fundamentally illogical. You can’t rely on relationship alone; your stance still requires to be backed by clear logic. Additionally, these types of detractors can easily sense if you’re trying to manipulate the situation to get them on your side. Authenticity is key: allow the other person to see who you are so that they can more fully understand your point of view.
Make a list of possible excuses as to why they won't change or consider Bitcoin or Ethereum the better option, and address each one of them in your pitch after you feel they have opened up.
Empathy is key here.
If you find out what their main incentives are, then you can generally pinpoint a list of objections. Usually there are 3 kinds of people who would be interested in Hedera. They generally fall into one of these aspects in terms of incentive:
- Business people looking for a competitive Edge that gets them more sales, or a promotion/recognition
- Developers looking for easier, safer and best practice approach to building or improving a tool/software/app
- Retail investors looking for the next big thing to get in early and exponentially grow their investment for an early retirement
I am willing to bet both you and them fall in slot 3. Retail Investors mostly interested in seeing quick short-term return on their investments.
Remember, you are asking them to reconsider and sell off what they have seen to be proven and tested and get into an even riskier and unknowned territory. It's a big ask, but it's possible, since you went through it.
Think what would make you sell off all your portfolio and go all in or partially with another new project? What's stopping you from doing that right now? Those might be their objections. If not, you need to listen to what they have to say or feel like you aren't getting. Once they trust you, they will tell you. Try it out, let me know what happened, and if you still don't succeed I can help you.
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