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Establishing rapport at the level of beliefs and values makes success inevitable.
As you listen with great attention to the words and sentences someone uses, along with the emphasis they place on certain words, you will be able to ascertain topics and subjects that they have strong beliefs about, and as you listen further you will uncover their most important values. This information is the unconscious key to your audience, client or customers' soul. Because when you know what is truly important to them you will be able to impact, persuade and influence with absolute confidence that subliminal success is assured.
To achieve this you must understand how to define a belief, value or attitude. Once you can recognise how a belief influences, then you will be able to identify it in conversations, negotiations, presentation and any other form of human interaction.
Defining Beliefs and Values
Values
They are deep belief systems, which can be either unconscious or conscious, about what is important and what we evaluate as good and bad. Values can change with context. That is, you probably have certain values about what you want in a relationship and what you want in business, and they are not necessarily the same.
Values are how we decide whether our actions are good or bad, right or wrong. When we communicate with ourselves or someone else, if what is being proposed in some way conflicts with our values, there is likely to be a conflict when we are making a decision. Values are those ideas in which we are willing to invest time, energy and resources (money etc) to either achieve or avoid.
Body language, gestures and predicates in the interaction will indicate if a value is presupposed. For example if a member of the audience at question time states:
'I think subliminal persuasion is taking advantage of a situation.'
This individual is suggesting within the structure of their statement, 'that taking advantage is unacceptable.' You must then establish what is 'unacceptable' before you proceed...
Values in an interaction are usually two or three phrases behind the statement offered in the beginning.
Beliefs
Beliefs are convictions or acceptances that certain things are true or real. They are generalisations about the state of the world we live in. Rules that we make influence our behaviours. Beliefs are presuppositions that we have about certain things that either create or deny personal power. Beliefs are essentially our on/off switches for our ability to achieve and accomplish goals, because if you don't believe you can do something, you probably won't have the opportunity to find out. Body language, gestures and predicates in the interaction will indicate when a belief is activated. You will clearly know when you have fired up an individuals belief system. Their whole demeanour will change and shout out, 'hang on a minute, I don't believe that'!
For example a prospective customer states: 'Your company is well know for quality... and high prices.'
Presupposed within the structure of the statement is that quality means high pricing. This is a generalised belief that may or may not be true. But, as a sales executive if you try to negate the statement by giving as many benefits and features for the reason for the quality and price, failure will be the outcome. You cannot change a person's belief with the same thinking that created it. You must engage with them to determine what defines quality for them, then you will be able to demonstrate the 'right' benefit that equals their definition of quality, rather than what you have interpreted. Only then can you proceed to achieving success. |