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How can a simple question increase your profits?

Boost sales and profits with positive test strategy.

In this short article, we’re going to take a look at a psychological trait that, if used correctly, can boost your profits and help you gain repeat business: positive test strategy.

It’s a technique that good copywriter’s make use of in their work to put potential customers in the right frame of mind for your product or service. Copywriters can work on a wide variety of print and digital media- check out this link about copywriting services.

Positive test strategy is a type of confirmation bias.
Confirmation bias is a predisposition we have to seek out, interpret and
remember information in a way that confirms what we already believe to be true.

Positive test strategy is a search for evidence that will confirm a given hypothesis or assumption. 

The power lies in the suggested hypothesis.

How can you remember the time something never happened?

Try this:

Think of all those times you didn’t feel anxious, or stubborn, or jealous, or overworked.

A week last Tuesday? Just before you went to the cinema three months ago…most of the time you were seven years old?

Hard, isn’t it?

As people, we look for the instances that confirm the hypothesis rather than all the lack of times. We look for data. Not the absence of data.

For example, asking someone, “do you ever feel under-valued at work?” will lead that person to think about all the times they have felt undervalued, rather than embarking on an unbiased evaluation of their work environment.

There’s nothing wrong with this way of thinking. It’s completely normal. Your natural tendency is to search for confirmation. It’s almost impossible to scan your memories for feelings and behaviours that never happened.

However, as with all shortcuts to reasoning and decision-making, it doesn’t guarantee the most accurate recall or provide you with the information necessary to make an informed choice.

Setting the psychological scene

Choosing a copywriter is an important decision. You need to ensure they understand your business, your customers and your messaging.

Knowledge of how people think is a key part of my skillset. I have a degree in psychology, as well as a background in working alongside people with many different skills and abilities

Robert Cialdini and single chute questions

The acclaimed author of Influence, which I thoroughly recommend and can be found here, Robert Cialdini discusses positive test strategy in Pre-Suasion, his follow-up to Influence and another book I think should be on everyone’s reading list.

The central idea is that setting the scene for influence is one of the major factors in the success of the subsequent influential technique.

And one way to set the scene for persuasion is with a special question that encourages your target to get in the right frame of mind for your sales pitch.

Cialdini called these single-chute questions.

They can be really effective in leading someone down a particular trail of thought.

He discusses the experiment by Bolkan and Anderson (2009). They masqueraded as clipboard holding salespeople on the street and asked for a few moments of people’s time. Passersby said yes only 29% of the time. However, by asking a scene-setting question, they boosted the positive response to 77.3%.

Would you like to know what that question was?

That question was simply:

Do you consider yourself a helpful person?

Most people consider themselves helpful. You can probably think of any number of examples when you offered someone help. At home, in the office, the stranger on the street who dropped something…if fact, you’re probably multitasking right now as you scan for your own examples.

So, the scene was set with the target feeling helpful. Only now were they are asked to spare a few minutes of their time… and the positive response sky-rocketed. After all, you’ve just described yourself as helpful and this person is just asking for a few minutes.

How to use this tactic ethically in marketing

However, it is possible to use the positivity test bias and single chute questions, for example, to subtly increase the positive memories a person has and associate them with your product or service.

The positive test strategy in action:

A recruiter could ask, “Are you frustrated with your job?” and trigger a prospective job-hunter to search their mind for all the times they felt frustration at the office.

The recruiter can then talk about the amazing opportunities they have on their books.

Let’s say you run snow-boarding courses, and you ask:

Do you consider yourself an adventurous person?

There will be many people who will immediately think no and move on. That’s good, you don’t want to waste anyone’s time.

But what if they scan their mind for all the times they longed for adventure or tried something new? Now they are in the right place to start thinking about how much fun it would be to try out snowboarding.

Now they are primed to receive your message.

Let’s give one more. How about:

Do you dream about a big, beautiful wedding?

If that conjures up images of floating white gowns and seven-tiered cakes, you have found a receptive prospect.

The possibilities are endless

Think of all the sorts of questions you could ask to get people thinking positively about the products or services you offer.

  • Are you unhappy with your current broadband speed?
  • Are you the sort of person who cares about your health?

Once something is thinking about what they want, they want to experience more of it. And if they are thinking about what they would rather avoid, they are open to alternatives.

Can you begin to see how asking these questions can be useful to setting the scene for your product or service?

As with all marketing, the effect is subtle. But harnessing the delicate power of the positive test strategy helps you attract the most receptive clients. Give it a try and you could see happy, repeat customers swelling your profit margin.

And did you know when it comes to attracting those happy, repeat clients and increasing profits, a copywriter is worth their weight in gold? Take a quick peek at this infographic and you’ll be amazed by the percentage difference good copy can make. 

If you’d like to find out more about how I can help increase your profits and grow your business, get in touch, and let’s see how I can help.