How to Coach Yourself and Others How to Influence, Persuade and Motivate | Page 186

On the subconscious path, the listener spends little or no time processing the information. This approach results in those automatic triggers we previously talked about. These knee-jerk reactions happen when you follow your intuition or use a mental shortcut. Your mind reaches a decision without doing any logical processing. These subconscious decisions are largely driven by instinct and emotion. Individuals who spend lots of time on the subconscious path do so because they lack the time, motivation, desire, or ability to really listen to your message. They're not really involved in the subject. They use their instinct or emotions instead of their intellect. Passive processing and automatic decision triggers rule their decision making. The key is knowing when to use which method. Successful application of all the rules and techniques taught in this guide requires that you become skilled at quickly identifying which ones will be the most effective in which situations. In his book Multiple Streams of Income, influential investment advisor Robert G. Allen relates a story of a factory owner whose machine broke down: It was a major and necessary piece of equipment, and so a repairman was quickly summoned to fix it. The repairman studied the machine in order to assess the problem. After a just a few moments, he pulled out his hammer, tapped the machine twice, and stood back to survey the results. The machine started up immediately. The repairman turned to the factory owner and said, "That will be $500, please." Furious that the repairman would dare charge such an outrageous amount for so little work, the factory owner demanded an itemized statement. The repairman left and sent the itemized bill the next day, which read: Tapping with hammer: $ 1 Knowing where to tap: $499 Total: $500 As you study and acquire knowledge about Maximum Influence, you too will know where to tap. Learn, implement, and make the twelve Rules of Persuasion, a part of your life. 186