an introduction to highly persuasive corporate communication

8/7/2019 An Introduction to Highly Persuasive Corporate Communication

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An Introduction to Highly Persuasive

Corporate Communication

Because one highly persuasive text can sell more than a hundred skilled salesmen!

Paul J.Q. Vessies, M.Sc.


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2010 Persuasure. All rights reserved.

An Introduction to Highly Persuasive Corporate Communication

Paul J.Q. Vessies, M.Sc.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any

means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or stored in a database or retrieval

system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Persuasure Publishing

Mezquitalaan 49

1064 NS Amsterdam

The Netherlands

[email protected]

www.persuasure.com


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The Royal Bank of Scotland

"Nowadays the financial institutions should regain their customers' trust and Persuasure is offering the solution to this matter

identifying key elements to reach this goal!" (C. Scutaru, Global Transaction Services)

DHL

By the assistance of Persuasure, you will see enormous change in the perception of your products through brilliant written

communication techniques. I believe, this change will be more than you could ever imagine! (E. Bezikoglu, Global Partnership

Coordinator)

Damansion Strategic Marketing Services

While working with Paul, I have had the great pleasure of meeting a highly skilled and talented person. It's inspirational to see

how he uses words and creates fascinating (sales) stories. Paul - I am looking forward to working with you more and many

thanks for sharing your insights! (I. Schurink, Founder)

INAS S.A.

The 'Highly Persuasive Communication' white paper is an impressive work, which challenges you to understand and develop

such persuasion skills. Understanding those techniques each individual may get the best results while spending less time,

money and effort! (I. Tircomnicu, Sales & Marketing)

Hamburg & Partners Communications

Paul does what he says: one highly persuasive text can sell more than a hundred skilled salesmen. His paper "An Introduction

to Highly Persuasive Corporate Communication" is an incredibly clever way how to educate entrepreneurs, but also how to sell

your/his own product. By putting together marketing, advertising, psychology and cognition, Paul has done a lot of work and you

can feel the energy on every page you read. Well done! (A.L. Supp, Public Relations)

Canvas Company

"Measuring and quantifying communication has been a challenge for a long time! Persuasure has found a very structured and

pragmatic way to approach this matter that definitely adds value in this "LOUD" world! It has definitely helped us to improve our

communication strategy!" (A. Jovanovski, Strategy and External Relations)


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"Persuasure has put together a high quality

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Services marketing!" (B. Babychan, Regional

SCA Group

"Nowadays, people value time more and mo

spending less time and resources. With thes

trust you after reading your proposal or web

goal!" (M. Karimova, Sales & Logistics)

Chloe Technologies

"Persuasure has an excellent knowledge and

their approach!" (G. Sreenidhi, Managing Dir

Piraeus Bank

"Throughout my whole career I had been thin

showed us that trust can be built only throug

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What several years of scientific research revealed about how to achieve

groundbreaking results in corporate communication strategiesThroughout history, the art of persuasion has always been a closely guarded secret to most people.

The great philosopher Plato once said that persuasion is the sign of a free society, because almosteveryone wants to be able to get other people to do what he or she wants. It is how human beings get

what they want in life, and it is therefore that persuasion is the most rewarded skill in a free society.

After years of research, Persuasure has identified the key elements of persuasion and has developed

a scientific method to evaluate whether a corporate communication strategy is persuasive (known as

The Persuasure-21). These elements derive from meticulous tests, with surprising, sometimes

even shocking, results. The acquired insights have proven their worth again and again and never fail

to gain response and increase sales for a wide range of products through every direct marketing

medium.

In this white paper, we will reveal the most important secrets of the art of persuasion, and teach you

how to use them in corporate communication strategies. We will teach you:

to persuade people in your line of business to desire your product or service above that of

competitors.

to identify instantly the weakness of an advertisement, website text, career vacancy, or sales

letter and thereby make it stronger.

to achieve groundbreaking results that will surprise both you, the people you work with and

for.

to understand why 99% of all the commercial communication will not lead to a maximum

turnover.

to make it easier to identify and launch products and services that people want to buy.

If anything, we want to show you the big picture of how to understand the power of highly persuasive

corporate communication, giving you a great battlefield advantage over those who lack these

insights. You will discover how to make your prospective clients welcome your advertisements and

sales letters obvious and get increased revenues, withouthype, falsehood, or superficial gimmicks.


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Finally, our goal is to turn you and other people in your company in the fastest way possible into

marketing gurus, who know how to use the art of persuasion, how to pull the strings of the

marketplace, and have the marketplace welcome you as its saviour. Someone who stands for

excellence in your product and service.

Once you have mastered these skills, you can outscore any competitor. You dont need a silver

tongue or a golden touch, but just the secrets that I am about to share with you.

Happy reading and may this white paper have a great impact on your sales and responses!

Yours sincerely,

Paul J.Q. Vessies, M.Sc.Research Director

[email protected]


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The basic principle of corporate communication

Were going start with providing the basic principle of (commercial) corporate communication, and

after that we will aim to advanced element of highly persuasive corporate communication, the subject

of this white paper.

The history of modern corporate communication goes back to the month May of the year 1904, where

a famous meeting took place between Albert Lasker and John E. Kennedy, two of the three founders

of the science of modern corporate communication. Albert Lasker was the owner of an advertising

agency in Chicago, and was a great persuader in personal sales presentations. He however had no

idea how of how to implement his talent into written communication. This tortured him, since he

recognized that the right written corporate texts could have an enormous positive impact on sales

numbers but he had no idea which factors were responsible for success (and which was much more

common which factors were responsible for failure) and how they should be applied to make

success predictable and reliable.

This moved him to start a search for the answers to his questions. He traveled several months, talked

with many prominent individuals in the field of advertising, but nobody could give him the answers to

which he was seeking. It seemed that his search was in vain, until he met John E.Kennedy, a

Canadian officer. He told him he had heard of his quest, and knew the answer to his questions.

He first asked Albert Lasker what he thought what "corporate communication" exactly was. He replied

that it was "bringing news about a product or service". Kennedy said: "No, news is just a way of

presenting, and corporate communication is very different, namely: "salesmanship in print". This

definition got a few years later changed by Claude Hopkins, the first person who published a book on

this science, to multiplied salesmanship", and until this day the main principle for the best written

corporate texts. A well-written, persuasive corporate text does the same job as a large group of

individual sellers, who need to present themselves to their potential clients every time when they walk

from door to door or make call after call.


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The wrong approach of corporate communication

When you browse the Internet you can discover that there are now thousands of organizations and

individuals in our country and in the rest of the world offering services in the field of corporate

communication. Unfortunately a large number of them have a different (and according to frequent

research less successful) approach. This is because neither they nor their clients measure or

examine the results of their communication efforts. There are often large sums spent on the

broadcasting of commercials on television and publishing advertisements in magazines or on the

Internet, but confusing their mission with their medium.

Because they do not embrace the definition of "multiplied salesmanship", they try to imitate the

entertainment they see in a certain medium. When a particular commercial or advertising is praised for

its creativity, the direct impact on sales results is almost never considered. However, those who do are

aware of the historical definition, knowing that the aim of a corporate message is to achieve results

and not to receive applause or win awards.

The changed climate within the world of corporate communication

There have been a few radical changes over the past 100 years in the field of corporate

communications. The number of commercial messages that are spread today in particular via the

Internet could not be counted, and tightened legislation against telemarketing and unsolicited

mailings makes it for most organizations increasingly difficult to reach and persuade their target

audience. In addition, more and more people are less susceptible to traditional methods and widely

used texts and are in this era of information (unconsciously) forced to ignore or remove commercial

messages to get through their day.

It is for many organizations therefore necessary to approach potential clients in another way. Although

the 'look' of a commercial message is nowadays pretty important, we will in this paper only focus on

the 'content' of a business message, because this is probably easier for you to direct apply.


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The secret of highly persuasive communication

Studies revealed that a highly persuasive text should be related to a context, e.g. a story created

around a product in order to get the communicated message across. The main purpose of a context is

to create a willingness to be convinced thus making your target less sceptical and more susceptible to

wanting to know more about the product offered. Simultaneously a text should have good content. By

that we mean information about the product explained in a rationaland practicalway, free from

subjective claims. The main aim is to build up a certain level of trust. Only after these steps should you

advance to the proposition, which holds an overview of your products. In the following overview of

the 21 elements of persuasion you will learn more about this.

PropositionContext Content


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Which are the most common mistakes companies do?

Commercial texts often fail to bring their message across because:

1) Information about the services, products and solutions is provided without explaining their context

and content. This is an aggressive approach to marketing, and can create a lot of distrust with

prospective clients, because the client feels he or she wont be understood. You can compare it with

the Scholars mate in chess, this is only effective when youre playing against an absolute beginner.

2) The text starts by pointing out solely the content of the offered products, without describing the

context. This form is less aggressive, but usually very clich. Without a context there is no

psychological value added and the product or service wont be considered to be special or different

than others.

3) The text does not mention the content, but only creates a particular context. This way of writing

creates too less trust, and there will be no criteria that people normally need to make a decision to buy

the product or service. People can easily get regrets from the sale.

Proposition

PropositionContent

PropositionContext


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Element 1

Trust

Trust has the power to let people accept the message you are communicating to them. On the other

side, no rational argument or logic has the power to do the same when trust is absent. Trust can be

split up into 5 fundaments: Proof of personality (whether you are considered to be honest), Proof of

competence (whether you have the right skills and qualifications), Proof of self confidence (whether

you are not doubting about work), Proof of trustworthiness (whether you are fully licenced, well

educated, and cutting edge), and Proof of congruence (whether you are consistent). See also:

OBrien, R.C. (2001). Trust: Releasing the Energy to Succeed. West-Sussex: John Wiley & Sons.

Element 2

Candour

Never underestimate your client's intelligence, or pretend to be more knowledgable than you are: it

can cost you a lot of credibility. No one can predict the future so keep claims therefore credible.

Dont be afraid to show candour, since most of your prospective clients will like i t and respect your

honesty.

The 21 most important elements of persuasion

After years of research and studies of behaviour about text and persuasion, Persuasure was able to

identify the most important elements that actually persuade a person to response positively to a

commercial message. These elements form The Persuasure-21, a model normally used to write

highly persuasive texts for websites and sales letters. In the following table you will learn what these

elements are, accompanied with a brief description


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Element 3

Problem / Irritation

People can accept your message more readily when one of their specific goals or desires is presented. It

is crucial to gauge such goals and desires to motivate them to buy your product or listen to your

message. Goals and desires with higher emotional value are most successful in sensitizing people to

your sales pitch.This element can successfully eliminate the well-known no interest-excuse.

Element 4

The Credo Technique

Credo is the Latin translation for I believe, and this technique is the most effective way to present your

most important core values and (business) principles to your market. Never be afraid to highlight what

you believe in and stand for.

Element 5

Criteria

Criteria are the standards and evidence we apply in order to make decisions and judgments, and can be

seen as the more complex, equivalent meaning or value of a product or service. Think about stability,

success, harmony or respect. See also: Dilts, R.B. (1999). Sleight of Mouth: The Magic of

Conversational Belief Change. Capitola: Meta Publications)


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Element 9

Rational and objective proof

It is very important to save subjective claims about your product (better, more tasteful, more

effective) without providing additional proof that may be considered as objective and rational. Studies

show evidence that people usually buy on proof. Anyone can claim to be better or more effective. Your

prospective clients know this and therefore dont want to waste time with these (mostly unsupported)

claims. Instead, rational, strong, unquestionable proof is a cr itical element your advertisement must

have. This element also eliminates the disbelief excuse.

Element 10

Non-cliche Unique Selling Point (USP)

It is much more dif ficult to define a strong unique selling point than people normally assume. This is the

element where you come up with a promise to your prospective clients to solve their problems or

frustration, and can eliminate the no perceived difference with competitors exit.

Element 11

Social proof

This principle states that people's beliefs and actions are shaped by what other people believe and act

upon. It has been shown that this element is the most powerful under uncertainty (when people are in an

unsure, ambiguous situation, they are more likely to attend to the actions of others or accept those

actions as the right ones) and similarity (people are more likely to follow the lead of similar others). Seealso: Cialdini, R.B. (2001). Influence: Science and Practice. Boston: Pearson / Allyn & Bacon.


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Element 12

No important question marks

Are there any important questions left unanswered? Clients have normally neither the objective nor time

to find out for themselves by contacting you if they think it is not important enough to do so.

Element 13

Expertise / Authority

The famous Milgram studies of obedience showed evidence of strong requests for authority in our

society. It is frequently adaptive to obey the dictates of genuine authorities because such individuals or

companies usually possess high levels of knowledge, wisdom, and power. Examples can be titles,

clothing, and even automobiles. See also: Cialdini, R.B. (2001). Influence: Science and Practice. Boston:

Pearson / Allyn & Bacon.

Element 14

Limitation of risks and frustration

One of the best-kept secrets about the ability to gain someones trust is diminishing the perceived risk

that comes with buying a product. There are several ways of limiting the (perceived) risks to your

prospective clients. These include a demonstration (e.g. the before-after comparison), the non-clich

guarantee (e.g. the 110% money-back guarantee, the multiple benefit guarantee, the try us free

guarantee), specifications of the product (e.g. specific prices instead of only a starting-from price, or aprice excluding additional taxes), explanation of how your service or technique really works, and

testimonials (which should be rough-edged and real).


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Element 15

Scarcity / Exclusivity

People attach high value to scarce opportunities. Things that are difficult to get are typically of highervalue, and according to the psychological reactance theory, items or experiences less accessible are

increasingly in demand. Studies have also shown that limiting access to a message causes people to

desire it more and become more favorable to it. When a particular message is received, it is more

effective if it is perceived as a consisting of exclusive information or content. See also: Cialdini, R.B.

(2001). Influence: Science and Practice. Boston: Pearson / Allyn & Bacon.

Element 16

Contrasting

Making an objective comparison with competitors without denigrating them. This is an excellent way to

show and prove why your product or service stands above that of your competitors.

Element 17

Text richness

Is the story as a whole containing active verbs and is it sensory rich? Using the right words can change

the perspective of the way your prospective clients are thinking and looking at things. Words are

combined in ways to express concepts, notions and ideas in qualitative ways. Therefore using the right

words can lead to mental empowerment. Just like the use of the wrong words may evoke an unpleasantsensation, the use of the right words may strike a chord.


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Element 18

Avoidance of beliefs

Is it clear what the beliefs are that must be avoided? Especially when youre offering a new product orservice, you must be aware of negative beliefs towards them (forthcoming from negative experiences

with comparable products or services). This element has a strong cultural dependence.

Element 19

The overall context

Pointing the real reason for starting up the business or the product-line can make the people who

receive the message more committed because they will have a better understanding of the existence of

your company or product.

Element 20

Avoidance of cognitive blind spots in the text

A cognitive blind spot is forthcoming from social psychology and describes the phenomenon of when a

recipient of a message cant understand the principles of the subject, while the sender takes them for

granted. Especially in the technological industry this is a well-known phenomenon. Examples are

specific terminologies and acronyms.

Element 21User-friendly proposition

Do you come up with a user-friendly proposition? The very common exit of want to think about it a little

longer arises because your prospects dont want to decide immediately, arent sure about product

affordability, afraid about making mistakes or have doubts about your guarantee. This element can

eliminate this very common problem.


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Industry-specific supplements

For a complete picture of this 'persuasion' model, we offer the possibility to receive an industry-specific

supplement to this paper, which focuses on the application of this model in practice. Due to the great

diversity among the different industries this cannot be described in this white paper. In such an

addition we will provide:

Results of our research regarding the quality of communication methods within your industry,

Examples of corporate texts that are used within your industry (mostly from prominent

organizations), accompanied with comments on their level of persuasion

Draft versions of how these texts could be rewritten to achieve a higher level of persuasion.

These supplements are available for the following industries, and can be requested via your contact

person or via [email protected]:

Corporate Services

Management Consulting

Marketing & Advertising

Market Research

Public Relations

Professional Training

Staffing & Recruiting

Translation & Localization

Events Services

Logistics & Supply Chain

Outsourcing & Offshoring

Commercial Real Estate

Import & Export

Human Resources

Supplies & Equipment

Finance

Banking

Insurance

Financial Services

Real Estate

Investment Banking

Investment Management

Accounting

Venture Capital

Capital Markets

High Tech

IT Services

Computer Software

Computer Hardware

Computer Networking

Internet

Semiconductors

Telecommunications

Biotechnology

Pharmaceuticals

Airlines & Aviation

Nanotechnology

Computer & Network Security

Wireless

Legal Education Non-Profit

Law Practice Primary & Secondary Non-Profit OrganizationsLegal Services Higher Education Philantrophy

Education Management Fundraising

E-Learning Individual & Family Services

Research Think Tanks

Civic & Social Organizations


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Manufacturing

Food Production

Consumer Electronics

Consumer Goods

FurnitureRetail

Aviation & Aerospace

Automotive

Chemicals

Machinery

Mining & Metals

Oil & Energy

Shipbuilding

Utilities

Textiles

Paper & Forest Products

Electrical Manufacturing

Plastics

Industrial Engineering

Supplies & Equipment

Renewables & Environment

Glass & Ceramics

Packaging & Containers

Industrial Automation

Media

Online Publishing

Marketing & Advertising

Broadcast Media

Media ProductionEntertainment

Motion Pictures & Film

Museums & Institutions

Fine Art

Performing Arts

Newspapers

Publishing

Printing

Information Services

Libraries

Design

Writing & Editing

Computer Games

Arts & Crafts

Animation

Photography

Graphic Design

Consumer Goods

Cosmetics

Apparel & Fashion

Sporting Goods

SupermarketsConsumer Electronics

Consumer Goods

Furniture

Retail

Wholesale

Wine & Spirits

Luxury Goods & Jewelry

Medical & Health Care

Hospital & Health Care

Health, Wellness & Fitness

Mental Health Care

Medical Practice

Medical Devices

Biotechnology

Pharmaceuticals

Veterinary

Alternative Medicine

Government

Public Policy

Political Organizations

Government Administration

Government Relations

International Trade

Public Safety

International Affairs

Think Tanks

Recreation & Travel

Leisure & Travel

Hospitality

Restaurants

Sports

Food & Beverages

Recreational Facilities

Sporting Goods

Gambling & Casinos

Music

Wine & Spirits


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Our mission and vision

We believe the purpose of corporate communication is to sell or to get good responses, not to win

applause or awards.

We also believe that one measurement is more worth than a hundred opinions. We therefore only rely

on proven strategies we have discovered during our ongoing research and scientific tests.

Furthermore, we believe in communicating with integrity. The strongest messages are free from

falsehoods and unsupported claims, and we therefore expect from our people to maintain high ethical

standards in every campaign they are working on.

Mission

As Somerset Maugham once said: Its a funny thing about life; when you refuse to accept nothing but

the best, you very often get it!. This statement underlines our mission to strive to be the best in

corporate communication strategies.

We are committed to:

Creating groundbreaking results to the number of responses and sales of our clients

Building communication capabilities and mobilizing organizations

Driving sustainable impact

Providing opportunities to become a master of persuasion

Succeeding together with passion and trust


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Vision

Part of achieving the best is envisioning what you would like to accomplish before you go into the

battle whether it is in a commercial campaign or life in general. In other words, a groundbreaking

campaign does not start with writing headlines nor does it start with proper market research, but starts

with the intention to make it so and a clear image of success as it will look and feel to you, as if it is

already achieved.

This ancient wisdom springs forth from The Art of War, a book written by the great Chinese general

Sun Tzu. Even after 2400+ years, this book is used in every major military school. Another one of its

wisdoms: The battle is won even before it is engaged. In the same way, a campaign becomes a

success before the fingers of its creator touch the keyboard if the creator has the intention to make it

so and picture and emotionally feels the success he or she wants to experience in his or her own

mind. In similar way, our cooperation with you can become a great experience even before it unfolds,

if you also intend to make it so. No matter whether youre a client, or professional in our organization.

We dont want this to be your average experience which gives you a temporary buzz, which fades

away as soon as its started, and has you right back where you started again. We want you to

understand the principles of persuasive communication as powerful and reliable as the laws of gravity

or electricity. If you apply them correctly, they will work.


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2010 Persuasure All rights reserved

Contact

We hope that we could teach you a few essential aspects of the art of persuasion by the content of

this white paper, and feel free to contact us for more information. If youre interested, we will provide

you without any obligation a few suggestions how to increase the level of persuasion of any of your

corporate communication media!

Persuasure The Netherlands

Mezquitalaan 49

1064 NS Amsterdam

The Netherlands

T. +31 (0)6 39 217 162

[email protected]

Persuasure India

1162, Sector 42-B

160055 Chandigarh

IndiaT. +91 981 567 4147

E. [email protected]

Persuasure Romania

General Manager: Mihai Dragoiu

Str. Egalitatii, Nr. 8

550228 Sibiu

T:+40 726 680 571

[email protected]

Persuasure GermanyDr. Hans Kapfinger Strasse 13

94032 Passau

Germany

T. +49 176 89 05 00 27

E. [email protected]

an introduction to highly persuasive corporate communication

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