Thursday, August 16, 2007

obligation, expectation and reciprocity.

it is a cornerstone of salesmenship that the more the client feel as if he`s recieved benifit and value in a presentation, the more he`s likely to reciprocate with a purchase decision.

this kind of early bonding can last for many transactions during the relationship of the buyer and seller.

this is borne out in customer loyalty, and is referenced in the clinical work of skinner, pavlov et al.

though in some cases the client genuinely likes the product and would have made the purchase over time, it is in the best interest of the salesman to expediate the process mechanically by patronising.

and after all, the salesman has to make the sale to survive.

this form obligation has come to be known as pressure selling, and has given car salesmen and insurance agents a bad name.

and to the sophisticate that strategy is about as subtle as a hammer in the head.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

You didnt mention dating? ... or politics, but I guess it sorta all falls together.

Persuasion is not for the faint of heart. I think it's at the core of pure capitalism, and anywhere we venture out to cut some big deal in life.

maybe this is where you can cut the christians some slack. They have an idea that gives them hope and connection to life and simply want to share that ... that takes genuine courage. Of course it's mostly the new ones that retain that zeal. It fades over time it seems, until the group-think takes over.

Dr.Alistair said...

implicit in the act of selling is it`s social aspect.

we are all selling all the time and there is only one product.

this is all about re-production.

so that`s what we are all selling all the time.

the religious make one grave error right at the begining.

they have spiritual questions and go to a church for answers.....or they were taken before they had a choice........

the zeal is innocent enough; they don`t realise they`ve been sold a bill of goods.

Dr.Alistair said...

and nobody has any right, divine or otherwise, to inflict thier beliefs on others.

Dr.Alistair said...

and obligation in dating is THE game.........

Anonymous said...

Obligation in dating is reality.
Playing soccer is a game!

Thank you for allowing me to wake up and face reality.

I have been pleasantly refreshed!!

Dr.Alistair said...

dating and soccer are both games.

the term "game" does not diminish either activity. calling them games is purely for illustration.

we could as easily call them activities or behaviours.

in analysis of games there are rules, overt or otherwise and there are players, again overt otherwise, that dictate play.

sometimes it isn`t clear at the onset what the rules and amount of players are, and some are willing to ignore some of these facts (which, of course, is another game.....) and this fluid process is what makes the human experience so rich and interesting.

the reality of dating isn`t so much that it is entirely about obligation, but that`s the end result for most.

and it is the prime reason for break-ups, and eventually divorce.......because the rules for one change......or were covertly different from the start.