Of course not. They're not you.

In a previous newsletter (How 'Try Before You Buy' Helps Prospects Take the next Step. With You), I talked about the need to Demonstrate Value, and some of the ways you can do that.

Today I want to help you understand another dimension of selling you may not have come across - matching how you Demonstrate Value with the way a prospect gets convinced.

I’ll cover

How people get convinced
What you can do to find out how the person front of you gets convinced
How you can use that knowledge to Demonstrate Value in the way that is most likely to convince them.

Let's dive in.

How people get convinced

Well, there are two components, the ‘channel’, and the ‘mode’ - the way people take in the information that may convince them, and how much of that information they need to see to become convinced.

There are four common ‘channels’:

See - These people need to see it, but not necessarily ‘in the flesh’. They might be convinced by images, or by visiting a showroom or by videos. Most people (around 55%) have this preference.
Hear – These people need to hear about it. They might be convinced by listening to what other owners think or by talking to a salesperson, or listening to a radio, podcast or audio book. Around 30% of people prefer to hear.
Do – These people need to physically experience it. They would definitely want a test drive. This preference is shared by 12% of people.
Read – These people need to read about it. They might get convinced by reading articles and reviews in magazines or online. Only around 3% of people prefer to acquire information by reading.

And four ‘modes’:

Number of Times - Most people (52%) get convinced (one way or the other) after taking in information a certain number of times. The number varies from individual to individual, but most only need 3 or fewer.
Period of time -A fair proportion (25%) get convinced after taking in information for a period of time beforehand. As with Number of Times, the duration varies from person to person, but isn’t that long.
Consistent - Others (15%) are never quite convinced. They re-evaluate every time.
Automatic - A very small proportion of people (around 8%) get convinced very quickly, based on a very small amount of information.

Acknowledging someone’s preferred convincer mode and channel in the way you Demonstrate Value will really help them to make up their mind. But how do you find out what their preferences are?

What you can do to find out how the person front of you gets convinced

Ask these simple questions:

“Have you ever asked someone to take over a job on a regular basis (at home or at work?).” The ‘someone’ could be en employee, a colleague, a partner or even a child you’ve asked to take over a job regularly.
“Once they are doing it, how do you know they’re doing a good job?”

Listen to their answer. They’ll tell you:

“I watch them doing it a few times/for a while, them leave them to it” means see and number of times or period of time.

“I get them to write a report/fill out a checklist the first few times/at the beginning, them leave them to it” means read and number of times or period of time.

“I get them to record themselves doing it so I can listen back.” or “I sit in another room and keep an ear out for what they are doing” means hear.

“I do it with them the first few times, then leave them to it” means do plus number of times.

“Once I’ve seen/heard/read them do it, or done it with them once, I leave them to it” means they’re a rare automatic.

Any of the above plus “I check up every now and then to make sure they’re still doing it right” means they are probably consistent - never quite convinced.

It’s also interesting to think about this for yourself and your team. How do you get convinced? How do different members of your team get convinced? Do you all match? Are you making the most of each person’s preferences? For example, Consistent people are great for quality control and assurance, but might be uncomfortable in experimental situations.

How you can use that knowledge to Demonstrate Value in the way that is most likely to convince someone.

Video will cover a lot of bases

Include videos on your website to make it easier for ‘See’ and ‘Hear’ people to Qualify you.

Add in videos that capture the experience of using your product or service and you may find these ‘See’ and ‘Hear’ people convince themselves to buy before you even hear from them - especially if you have several videos for them to watch a number of times, or over a period of time.

Include videos of customers or clients actually using your product or service, then you may even convince the ‘Do’ people too.

You don’t need to restrict yourself to just your website - send a video as a response to an enquiry or as part of a proposal. Or send a link to a page of videos for them to binge watch over time. Always include transcripts for the readers, and audio-only versions for the hearers.

But some people will need more than this

For example, say I’m a ‘Period of Time person’, with a ‘Do’ channel.

A really good way to convince me might be to encourage me to ‘have a go’, or ‘give it a try’ for a period of time, with a get-out clause if I’m not convinced by then.

Can you devise other ways to let people experience what it’s like to work with you, without actually having them work with you? Could you translate some of what you do into interactive exercises, or do-it-yourself options? elf-study courses may work well here. 'Doers' will have a go, but may well ask for more help once they're convince it will work.

Remember, you’re not changing anything about the offer, only the way you present it, to make the decision as easy as possible for the person in front of you.

After all, there are only 16 permutations

The options may seem daunting, but after all there are only 16 potential combinations, and they overlap considerably. It would be relatively straightforward to work out how you can present your offer to suit each potential combination.

To help you I’ve created a Convincer Channel and Mode Crib Sheet with some ideas for all the permutations.

I’ve also made a simple Convincer Channel and Mode Map for you to use whenever you create content, or to audit your existing content. Simply check the Channel/Mode combinations that this piece of content works for.

What about the ‘Consistent’ people who are never quite convinced?

The only way to convince these people is to do it repeatedly. Make it easy for them to try you out safely, then keep convincing them after they buy, by keeping every promise that you make every time.

Not a bad discipline to follow with all your clients.

That’s almost it!

Here’s what I hope you learned today:

People vary in their preferences for the way they take in information. If you aren’t catering to all those preferences, you could be missing out on attracting and signing up many of the people you could serve. If you only offer information in text form, you’re making a decision more difficult for 97% of the people you’re trying to attract.
Simply adding visual forms of information - video, diagrams, images - takes that percentage down to 42%. Adding audio too takes it down to 12%. To help that last 12% make a decision, you need to include ways they can experience what you do, rather than simply watch, hear or read about it.
People also vary in the way they process that information to become convinced of something. So if you want to really convince as many of your ideal clients as possible, you need to take that into account. Fortunately, that largely involves being consistently good at keeping the Promises you make to clients and sharing the results with prospects.

Finally, have a go at auditing the materials you currently use to Show Up and Demonstrate Value:

Pick a piece of content, or some part of your Share Promise strategy, such as your website, or your LinkedIn or Instagram account.

Using what you’ve learned today, use the Convincer Channel and Mode Map to audit which preferences you’re mostly catering for.

Look at any gaps in that Map, then for each one, ask yourself:

__“If I wanted to demonstrate the value of my service to a prospect with a (channel), (mode) preference, so that they gladly sign up for the long-term, I could…“__

Get your team involved. Not only will it be fun, there’s a good chance there’ll be some different profiles who can give you excellent feedback.

Go on, have a go, and as always, let me know how you get on or get in touch if you need help.

Thanks for reading!

The Disappearing Boss

Enabling customer‑focused small‑business owners to gently dis-embed themselves from their business, one holiday at a time, so they can turn their successful companies into self‑managing promise systems —no silos, no supervisors—where people can run end‑to‑end processes with real‑time feedback to keep customer value flowing, and anyone can take a break without breaking the business.