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Selling Through Future Pacing

Future pacing is a phenomenal strategy that reminds your prospect of all the reasons they made the decision to purchase or sign up with you, and transfers all of those reasons to the future, reminding them why, through triggers and signals that you will have installed.

I do this every time I sell without thinking twice because it's such a powerful way to help your prospect or client lock in the decision no matter what outside influences say or regardless of the second thoughts they may have themselves.

With that said, I'm not going to get into the technique too deeply, but I'd like to tell you a story about how I used this when I was a young man selling health spa memberships.

I had a customer come in one day, an eighteen year old, who wanted a membership. I didn't even have to sell him. He was ready to go.

After he signed the contract, I went through some future pacing and said, 'Imagine if someone tried to tell you that you that signing up with us was a bad decision and how stupid are you to pay for a membership, what would cause you to stay with the decision anyway?'

And he said, 'I want this and no one's going to talk me out of it. I do what I want.'

I said, 'Okay. Supposing you begin to doubt the decision yourself, what would cause you to stay with this decision?'

He said, 'This is absolutely what I want and there's no way I'll doubt it. I definitely know what I want.'

Later that day my phone rings. The young man's mom is on the phone. 'Hey, you sold my son a gym membership.'

I said, 'He came in and bought one, I didn't have to sell it to him.'

She said, 'Well, he may have wanted it, but I'd like you to cancel it. And please send me the notice that it has been canceled.'

I said, 'I'm sorry, can't do that. He's over eighteen otherwise I couldn't have sold it to him. He needs to bring in the paperwork, as per the terms of the agreement that he signed, and we'll be happy to cancel it. He has seventy-two hours to do it.'

'Okay, we'll be there tomorrow,' she said.

The next day the young man and his mother came in. He was pretty unhappy about what he was there to do, it was obvious. He said, 'I need to cancel my membership, but I was wondering if I could work out today and show my mom the guy. Is that possible?'

I said, 'Certainly. Go right ahead and show her around.'

If I recall correctly, the young man and his mother drove separate cars, and after he finished working out, he ducked out the back and left his mother there.

She came up to me and said, 'Okay, we need to get this canceled.'

I said, 'Sure. I'll be happy to take care of that for you. I'll need the contract.'

She said, 'I don't have it. He has it.'

I said, 'I have to follow the terms of our agreement and I will be more than happy to cancel it, just bring me the contract within seventy-two hours.'

The next day the kid comes in, brings the agreement and says, 'I'm supposed to give this to you, but before I do, can I just work out?'

'Absolutely.'

For the second day in a row he worked out, and for the second day in a row, he left without seeing me.

On the third, and final day, the mother dragged him in and yelled at him, 'Turn it over to him right now.' He hesitatingly handed it to me.

'Cancel it immediately,' she said.

I turned to him and said, 'Do you want it canceled?'

He said, 'No.' And he started arguing with his mother. He was ready to sever the relationship with his mother over this gym membership.

At this point, I realized what was happening. This kid was unable to back out of our agreement because I had future paced him. I immediately took the contract and canceled it.

When you future pace something, you lock it into the mind of the person and I'm telling you right now that with the power of the strength of their own mind, you will have virtually locked them in.

Article Source: http://www.uberarticles.com/articles

Kenrick Cleveland teaches strategies to earn the business of wealthy prospects using persuasion. He runs public and private seminars and offers home study courses and coaching programs in persuasion strategies.

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