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Persuasion and Focus 

Here's an understatement for you: we live in a world of distractions. In every facet of life we are bombarded. As I sit here typing, for example, I'm getting 'new e-mail' alerts, my assistant is instant messaging me, my kids and dog want to play, I'm thirsty, the phone is ringing. . . you get the point. Just writing one paragraph can be exhausting when there are so many things dividing ones attention.

There's an old saying, 'If you chase two rabbits, both will escape.' When we scatter our energy, we are not giving enough attention to the tasks at hand.

Alexander Graham Bell once said, 'Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus.'

Take, for example, your inner thoughts while you're with a prospect or client. Maybe you're concerned about having bad breath or a piece of spinach stuck between your teeth from lunch. Maybe you have larger concerns, the kids getting to school on time or what the mechanic might have to say to you when you call this afternoon. Issues both small and large battle for our attention. When we've got all these things going on inside, where is the focus on our prospect? Our goal as persuaders is to persuade and to do that, we must concentrate on determining the criteria and core values of our prospects and clients.

I think of this focus as a flashlight. For example, if we aim our flashlight at a wall out in front of us, we might think we're seeing quite a bit. But say there's something on a shelf that you really want to see. . . what do you do? Well, if you have a flashlight like mine, you have the ability to make the beam wider or narrower. When it gets narrower, it penetrates further. And when it's wider, it shows me more space, but less distance. By beginning to focus laser-like on one aspect, we can see more clearly what we want to see (in this case, what we want to know is what our clients want).

I like to imagine that the client is a white board which I have wiped clean, and I've wiped myself clean, and they are writing themselves onto that board of which I'm becoming a part of. By focusing on identity as persuaders, this is a key area for which we can develop parts, a key area that we can frame and reframe and it is a very powerful area.

The whole point to persuasion is being able to, with agility and flexibility, shine the our lights in a variety of ways so that we can best understand and provide what our affluent prospects and customers require. Next time you're interacting with someone, really interact, concentrate, focus, and remain open to what they are saying and shut out all other distractions.

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Kenrick Cleveland teaches strategies to earn the business of affluent clients using persuasion. He runs public and private seminars and offers home study courses and coaching programs in persuasion strategies. This and other unique content persuasion articles are available with free reprint rights.

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