The rubber band effect on sales

People will naturally act in a way that is consistent with their cognitions (beliefs, attitudes, and values). Therefore, when people behave in a way that is inconsistent with these cognitions, they are in a state of discomfort. In such a state of discomfort, you will naturally be inclined to adjust your behaviors or attitudes in order to regain mental and emotional consistency. When our beliefs, attitudes, and actions fit together, we live in harmony. When it doesn’t, we feel dissonance on some level, that is, we feel weird, uncomfortable, restless, disturbed, annoyed, nervous, or confused. To eliminate or reduce such stress, we will do everything we can to change our attitudes and behaviors, even if it means doing something we don’t want to do.

Leon Festinger formulated the theory of cognitive dissonance in 1957 at Stanford University. He stated, “When attitudes conflict with actions, attitudes, or beliefs, we feel uncomfortable and motivated to try to change.” Festinger’s theory lays the foundation for the Law of Dissonance, one of the twelve laws of Maximum Influence.

Imagine that there is a big rubber band inside of you. When there is dissonance, the rubber band begins to stretch. As long as the dissonance exists, the band stretches further and further. You have to act before it reaches a breaking point and breaks. The motivation to reduce tension is what makes us change; we will do everything in our power to regain balance. We seek psycho-emotional stasis at all times, just as we experience the ever-present need for food and water to satisfy our physical selves.

When we feel cognitive dissonance, we have to find a way to deal with the psychological tension. We have an arsenal of tools at our disposal to help us return to cognitive consistency. The following list describes different ways that people seek to reduce dissonance.

* Denial: To eliminate dissonance, deny that there is a problem. You do this by ignoring or downgrading the source of the information. You can also deliberately misperceive the confrontational position.

* Modify: You change your existing cognitions for consistency. Most of the time this involves admitting that you were wrong and making changes to remedy your mistakes.

* Reframing: You change your understanding or interpretation of the meaning. This leads you to modify your own thinking or to devalue the importance of the whole matter, considering it completely unimportant.

* Search: You are determined to find flaw in the other party’s position, discredit the source, and seek evidentiary or social support for your own point of view. You can try to convince the source (if available) of your mistake. You can also try to convince others that you did the right thing.

* Separation–Separate conflicting attitudes. This compartmentalizes your cognitions, making it easier for you to ignore or even forget the discrepancy. In your mind, what happens in one area of ​​your life (or someone else’s) should not affect the other areas of your life. (Blame)

* Rationalization: Find excuses why inconsistency is acceptable. You change your expectations or try to alter what actually happened. He also finds reasons to justify his behavior or his opinions.

Most of us feel more harmonious in our lives when everything is consistent: our jobs, our homes, our clothes, even our soft drinks. Consistency is the glue that holds everything in our lives together, allowing us to face the world. Think of all the people you admire. I bet that, in general, most of them are consistent and congruent people. What they believe, what they say, and what they do (even when no one is looking) flow seamlessly together. Typically, a high degree of such consistency in one’s life is indicative of personal and intellectual strength. People are naturally more inclined, even subconsciously, to gravitate towards and follow people who are consistent in their behavior. The reverse is also true: inconsistency in one’s personal and professional life is generally considered undesirable. The person whose beliefs, words, and actions are constantly inconsistent is seen as hypocritical, two-faced, confused, or even mentally ill.

For additional information on the rubber band, go to Magnetic Persuasion and start winning.

Conclusion

Persuasion is the missing piece of the puzzle that will crack the code to dramatically increase your income, improve your relationships, and help you get what you want, when you want, and win friends for life. Ask yourself how much money and income you have lost due to your inability to persuade and influence. Think about it. Sure you’ve seen some success, but think about the times you couldn’t do it. Was there a time when you didn’t understand your point of view? Are you unable to convince someone to do something? Have you reached your full potential? Are you able to motivate yourself and others to achieve more and achieve your goals? What about your relationships? Imagine being able to overcome objections before they happen, knowing what your prospect is thinking and feeling, feeling more confident in your persuasiveness.