“Hey Dave, I’m debt free!”
“Congratulations. How’d you do it?”
“Beans and rice, Dave – beans and rice!”
If you’ve ever tuned in to the Dave Ramsey talk radio show, you’re probably familiar with this exchange that occurs dozens of times a day. Individuals and families who were ‘buried in debt,’ call in to proclaim their freedom from the proverbial financial noose that used to hang around their necks. They have saved their financial health and well-being, and they give Dave the credit for helping them, not only see the light, but providing them with the successful game plan.
One of the core tenants of Dave’s advice in rebuilding your financial health is to stop using your credit cards. In fact, going one step beyond that, he tells people to cut them up and start paying for everything in cash. Why is he so relentless in this approach?
Dave believes that people spend 12-18% more when they purchase things with credit cards rather than with cash. Why is that? “Credit card purchases don’t feel real. Flipping a credit card up on a counter registers nothing emotionally” It is intangible, an abstract spending experience. It doesn’t feel like you’re spending real money, until you get your credit card statement at the end of the month and you gasp in amazement. “I can’t have spent that much money. Did I really spend THAT much money?”
However, when you reach into your pocket and pay for the purchase with cash that’s a completely different buying experience. You feel the money leaving you. It’s more concrete, as you know that when you hand the money over the counter, you’re going to have $50, $100 or $200 less in your bank account. You take more ownership in each and every purchase, and it’s a more emotional experience for you when real cash is leaving your pocket or your bank account.
There’s a highly valuable lesson that applies to the fast paced world of business today.
Why is it that when people need to be their most persuasive: in front of customers or on sales calls, during executive presentations or board meetings, or inspiring and motivating the ‘troops’ in company meetings that they fire-up their PowerPoint slide deck? They click rapidly from one slide to another, directly spelling out the message, ‘hitting them between the eyes’ with the facts? The challenge is that while the facts may seem logical to you, they are often intangible to everyone else. People are left wondering how to make sense of it and what it means to them.
If you want to motivate your customers or employees, rather than just give them the facts, tell them relevant stories. You engage your audience and involve them with the ideas that you’re sharing. In his book, The Springboard, Steve Denning says, “In addition to creating buy-in, stories mobilize people to act. Stories focus people on potential solutions. Telling stories with visible goals and barriers shifts the audience into a problem-solving mode. A story is an exercise in mass customization – each audience member uses the story as a springboard to slightly different destinations.”
Relevant stories are more concrete, and they go beyond telling information which is often an intangible exercise and show your audience exactly what you want from them.
So, the next time you need to be at your persuasive best, don’t bury them with information. Tell them a relevant and meaningful story.
By Mike Miller, Consultant, Corporate Visions Inc.
The Messaging Feed 