"My most brilliant achievement was my ability to be able to persuade my wife to marry me."
- Winston Churchill

2 Sales Secrets That Can Improve Your Personal Life

If you could spend a day in the offices of today's most successful businesspeople, you'd find that they rely on a few surprisingly simple secrets to make more sales than their competition. And you can use the same techniques yourself - not only, as you would expect, to grow your own business, but also to gain prestige, increased respect from family and friends, and lots more of the things you want out of life.

Today, I'm going to show you how, with the first secret.

When we learn techniques that help us become better marketers, most of us don't think about using them outside the realm of "work." But consider this...

When you want to talk a friend into eating at your favorite restaurant, your spouse into seeing the movie you want to see, or even a neighbor into pitching in on trimming the trees on your property line, you want that person to see things your way - Right?

It's a lot like the challenge a salesperson faces when trying to convince you to buy whatever it is that he's selling, don't you think? Well, just like a salesperson, when you use proven marketing techniques to persuade people to accept your ideas, you'll hear that wonderful word "yes" far more frequently.

For example, Shawna's school acting group was invited to Ottawa to participate in the National Schools "Play" Down. As you can imagine, the kids, parents, and teachers were excited. After all, they were the only school in the whole province that got an invitation.

But there was one big problem. Sending the group would cost $60,000 - and the school wasn't about to foot the whole bill. Neither were most of the parents. It looked like the trip might not happen... until Shawna stepped in.

She knew that local corporations often sponsor community events and have a budget just for that purpose. So she decided she was going to get some of those funds for the school play. While she could have just asked several companies for the money - and probably would have gotten some donations - she used two powerful marketing secrets and was far more successful.

Secret #1: Talk to the Heart, Not the Head

Every great marketer knows that people buy things for emotional rather than logical reasons. Most of the decisions people make are emotional too - including whether or not they will buy into someone else's ideas.

When you can tug at their heartstrings by figuring out how doing what you want them to do will make them feel good, they'll follow you just about anywhere... and oftentimes give you exactly what you want.

In the letter Shawna wrote to solicit money for the trip, she didn't say much about the National School "Play" Down. Instead, she talked about the kids in the play. She wrote about their hard work. All the long hours they'd spent practicing just to win that coveted invitation. She also reminded the companies of the great publicity they'd get just for helping.

And thousands of dollars in corporate sponsorships came pouring in!

While Shawna won accolades from her fellow acting members, their parents, and staffers at the school, the companies that contributed money for the trip were just as thrilled with their decision to help out. They not only felt like heroes, they also enjoyed plenty of free publicity.

That's another bonus of using this secret when you're trying to convince someone to do something. Considering their point of view not only helps you get the "yes" you're looking for - they get something out of giving you that "yes." Which means that everyone involved is happy.

Give this technique a try, and you'll see how effective it is. Whether you're talking to the other person or writing a letter, just remember to speak to the heart, not the head.

Simply ask yourself three questions to get started:
1. What emotions is this person feeling about this topic?
2. What are this person's emotional wants and needs?
3. How can I satisfy them?

Next time we will look at the second secret.
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