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Reciprocity at the Car Dealership

I can barely feel my fingers. The wind whips while I work in the wintry 6° weather. Fahrenheit.

My car’s alarm won’t stop sounding since I tried, and failed, to jumpstart the car. It’s a constant blast of the horn.

Cars have been trouble since the day they were invented. Photo "Changing a Tire" by Don O'Brien, Flick, CC-By-2.0
Cars have been trouble since the day they were invented. Photo “Changing a Tire” by Don O’Brien, Flick, CC-By-2.0

Now I’m trying to silence the alarm with some key trickery that the dealership is suggesting over the phone. I can barely hear anything over the car’s alarm.

“Turn it left for ten seconds,” he says. “No, wait, try turning the key to the right.” Continue reading “Reciprocity at the Car Dealership”

I can’t hear a word they say:
Decoding Non-Verbal Communication

Hello #PRL reader! Today we’re starting our next PRL book, Joe Navarro’s What Every BODY is Saying.

Joe Navarro's book teaches you to decode body language.
Joe Navarro’s book teaches you to decode body language.

Awesome book. After understanding the concepts in What Every BODY is Saying, your eyes will be opened to these non-verbal behaviors around you, all the time. Continue reading “I can’t hear a word they say: Decoding Non-Verbal Communication”

Trump for Liberals Like Me

I see a lot of my friends and family scared with Trump in the Oval Office. Within a year, he went from a clown that many dismissed to the President of the United States. Among my friends, I see suffering and confusion. I hear their stories of protest and anger, fear and sadness.

Photo "women's-march-nyc-5" by Sarah WY, Flickr CC-By-2.0
Photo “women’s-march-nyc-5” by Sarah WY, Flickr CC-By-2.0

Continue reading “Trump for Liberals Like Me”

How to Please Your Customers:
Hopkins’ My Life in Advertising Wrap-up

My new boots came in the mail. They were far too small. I felt like a kid again and my feet had grown over the summer.

These boots had everything I wanted. Leather, waterproof, and insulated, I expected to keep them for years. But of course, they had to fit right.

Winter Boots are a necessity around these parts. Image "What's Down There?"by James, Flickr, CC-By-2.0
Winter Boots are a necessity around these parts. Image “What’s Down There?”by James, Flickr, CC-By-2.0

Luckily, the online retailer made the exchange simple and free. I mailed the boots in to try a second pair, and I waited.

It was going to be a cold, snowy Thanksgiving in Wisconsin.

Continue reading “How to Please Your Customers: Hopkins’ My Life in Advertising Wrap-up”

Persuasion Machines
A review of Richard Dawkins’ The Extended Phenotype

 PRL Guest Post by Robert Sherwood

Introduction

Most books on persuasion are written as how-to manuals. They may include information about social science research to explain why persuasion techniques work, or may include information about history’s greatest persuaders. Primarily, though, persuasion books are made to help you use or resist persuasion techniques.

Everyone's unique DNA is passed down from generations before. Image "dna security system" by jon jordan.
Everyone’s unique DNA is passed down from generations before. Image “dna security system” by jon jordan.

The Extended Phenotype, by British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, is not like those books. Continue reading “Persuasion Machines
A review of Richard Dawkins’ The Extended Phenotype“

If most people fail to meet their goals, why would they have good advice? (My Life in Advertising: Chapter 8)

Last week on PRL, we discussed Hopkins’ career in medical advertising. After seeing all the cash being made by his own advertising efforts, Hopkins gets interested in his own profits.

Chapter Eight, Hopkins is recruited to work at Liquozone, a failing company selling another medical tonic.

Liquozone was Hopkins' own medicine company after he and investors really spent $100,000 to buy the product rights for the US market.
Liquozone was Hopkins’ own medicine company after investors really spent $100,000 to buy the product rights for the US market.

Against the opposition of his friends, Hopkins takes the job. He is to be paid no starting salary. He reasons that if most people fail to meet their goals, why would they have good advice? [tweetthis display_mode=”button_link”]”If most people fail to meet their goals, why would they have good advice?” [/tweetthis]

Hopkins creates a new scheme for Liquozone, where six bottles are available for $5, guaranteed to work. Again, he has a druggist sign the paperwork for the guarantee, lending authority to the tonic.

Light through the ear? Because yeah, druggests have the best reputation. Image by Arallyn, Flickr, By-CC-2.0
Light through the ear? Because yeah, druggists have the best reputation. Image by Arallyn, Flickr, By-CC-2.0

“I had a proposition which no reasonable person can refuse.” Hopkins insists that a salesman should remove all attempt of protecting himself in a deal. Make an offer that the buyer should not reasonably refuse, and the sale is easy.

Vague facts never sell as well as specific claims. Image by Arallyn, Flickr, CC-By-2.0
Vague facts never sell as well as specific claims, such as the price of Liquozone. Image by Arallyn, Flickr, CC-By-2.0

Within one year, Hokpins has enough sales to turn the Liquozone company around with a large profit.  The advertising lesson learned is “ask a person to take a chance on you, and you have a fight.  Offer to take a chance on him, and the way is easy.” [tweetthis display_mode=”button_link”]”Ask a person to take a chance on you &you have a fight. Offer to take a chance on him…”[/tweetthis]