What illusionists can teach us about the art of persuasion over the phone

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There are a few things we can learn from illusionists on the subject of persuasion over the phone, believe it or not.

[READ MORE] Discover the second post of our series on phonecall convincing: inspired by hypnosis!

Breaking news: magicians are not so because they got a gift from the Beyond! Let’s just say it: they’re mostly quacks. If your ambition is not to become the next David Copperfield, this article might still be useful. Indeed, illusionists master the art of voice-based convincing, and can be a practical inspiration in your daily customer relationships over the phone.

Tell a story

Magicians have their audience enter a wonderful world at the beginning of their show. It sets their minds outside of their daily life and gives them elements of context that unconsciously generates connections in their mind. A particular story will make them recollect to a particular moment of their lives and therefore will put them in the same emotional mindset. Create a story around your discussion will make your arguments stick longer in your customers’ minds and also, will make them enjoy the conversation more.

Silence is golden

Convincing people is about managing the time factor: leaving blanks so people integrate and reflect on what you said is key to their understanding. It can also be a good way for you to gather your ideas, stay calm and not rush into things. Just think of an illusionist who would use a moment of inaction so people reduce their concentration to find the trick.

Be calm

Illusionist never show a sign of stress nor hesitation: it would raise their audience’s attention to mistakes, who would then find tricks more easily.

When trying to convince over the phone, people tend to get over-excited or too enthusiastic. While it can be a good thing under certain circumstances, if your aim is to provide a solution to a problem (in customer support or in sales), you’d better stay calm. First, enunciating your arguments clearly helps with understanding. Second, people tend to trust calm people: it gives the impression that you are self-confident.

Keep your head up

Magicians use micro-movements to imply emotions for their audience. For instance, during their show, they can make us believe they are screwing their trick by bending their head. Keeping your head up, on the contrary, automatically makes you sound more confident.

If you are facing an issue, a doubt or a hesitation, you can use a technique called “energy intake”: use the ground or a piece of furniture to support you. Using a physical item gives your body a concrete basis for getting energy that has a direct impact on your voice confidence.

Don’t be too nice

The audience of illusionists is necessarily suspicious at first, as are most of your interlocutors over the phone. The natural tendency is to be nice to tame them. On the contrary, you should consider niceness as an attitude that should be deserved, not self-proclaim yourself nice. If you are nice from the beginning, your interlocutors won’t feel the need to adjust their suspicious behavior, whereas being neutral would tend to make them want to warm relationships between you.

Keep your “wow” for the end

Illusionist always keep a “wow” moment in their magic hats that concludes the show. Keep in mind something you’ll say or offer to get this waouh moment – that will help you as well wrap up a call and terminate it in a proper way and leave a great impression that will stick in your mind’s customers. Last impression is as important as the first one!

Want to see that in practice? Give us call. We’ll try to let the magic happen…

Published on September 24, 2014.