There’s an observation that most people don’t change until the pain of not changing is worse than the difficulty of changing.
Because change is hard.
It’s hard because of the resiliency of routines and habits, fear of the unknown and the discomfort of learning and doing something unfamiliar.
But maybe more than any other factor, change is hard because we have reasons for nearly everything we do.
The decisions we make are (almost) always our preferred choice from the options we have at the moment. We form habits and routines by repeatedly making the same kinds of decision… all for reasons that makes sense to us.
So as persuaders, you and I have a difficult task: getting folks to do something different than the norm. And pay us to do it!
You see a lot of sales copy trying to overcome the inertia against change by hyping up a “better” way.
Another approach goes back to the observation that pain may be necessary. That kind of copy shows you all the ways what you’re doing is wrong and dangerous.
Then it presents the “better” way.
Your favorite late-night infomercials use this approach to great effect.
You can strengthen that by telling your audience they’ve been lied to and/or taken advantage of by proponents of the wrong way.
Whenever possible, I prefer a third approach.
Externalize the change. There’s a new sheriff in town and the rules are different now.
For example, “the process of purchasing rental properties is completely different now that mortgage rates are above 7%.”
The external change can be either an imminent threat or an emerging opportunity. Or both.
So rather than focusing on the change you want your should-be buyer to make (because there’s a fair chance he’ll stick with “the devil he knows”)…
You focus on the size/severity/sweetness of the change happening in the world.
All 3 of these approaches work.
This message is all about making sure you have all 3 options at your disposal.
Have a productive day!