Persuading from The Zone

Athletes talk about 'The Zone' a lot. It's described as that point when whatever it is you are doing -- running, swimming, playing an instrument, even selling -- that point where everything is in perfect harmony and you are accomplishing and achieving with ease.

For myself, I know that there are times when I'm teaching or speaking to a group and feeling like I'm really in the zone, feeling like I'm absolutely in sync and the information that I'm giving my students is exactly what they want and need. I feel at that moment that I'm affecting them deeply and giving them valuable, meaningful information. I absolutely intend this to be the case all the time. However, we all have off days and when that happens (and it rarely happens), instead of being hard on myself, i chalk it up as a lesson on what to improve.

I have a friend who is a certified massage therapist. She recently told me a story about how after years of doing massage, she finally felt she had given a really amazing massage for the first time recently. She said, "I have known on several occasions when the massage I'm giving is awful, where I'm not going to see the person again under any circumstance because I'm absolutely not connecting with them or they aren't connecting with me, but I never could tell when I was giving a really good massage and I think that's because I wasn't giving really good massages. I think I was giving mediocre massages that people were appreciative of just because most of the time when we're touched in a healing way, it feels good whether it's amazing or not."

I was absolutely blown away. I had to know what it was after nine years that she did differently that switched what she considered a mediocre massage into a phenomenal massage, so I asked, "What did you do differently?"

"It's the strangest thing," she said. "I didn't have my mp3 player in the office. And usually when there's no music, the client wants to talk, but I made a conscious decision to have it be completely silent. And then I imagined myself on the table, almost as if I slipped into their skin, and simply listened to what their body wanted. And when I was done, I felt I had been in a trance for an hour."

In my mind, she achieved the zone. And whats more, she achieved the persuasion zone. Because what does this sound like but rapport? She figuratively slipped into her client's skin. She could feel what they needed and knew how to meet them at that level.

The zone is easily replicated once you know how to get there. Just as she was comfortable giving mediocre massages, she is now even more comfortable replicating the phenomenal massage and reaching that level with each of her clients.

About the Author

Kenrick Cleveland teaches strategies to earn the business of wealthy clients using persuasion. He runs public and private seminars and offers home study courses and coaching programs in persuasion strategies.

Comments

No comments posted.

You do not have permission to comment. If you log in, you may be able to comment.

Complete the details below to send a link to the page:
http://uniquebusinessarticles.com/sales/persuading-from-the-zone.html