Back in the 1950s, a bedridden man faced certain death from inoperable, terminal cancer.
Tumors the size of oranges had invaded the man’s neck, groin, chest, and abdomen. The patient’s only hope was a new experimental cancer drug called Krebiozen.
Three days after the initial treatment, the man was out of bed and joking with his nurses. As treatment continued, his tumors shrunk by half.
Ten days later, he was discharged from the hospital … the cancer was gone.
That’s pretty amazing in itself. The more amazing thing is that Krebiozen didn’t actually work.
In this episode of New Rainmaker we look into the unstoppable power of belief, and what it means for doing business in the 21st century.
Stay tuned …
In this 8-minute episode you’ll discover:
- The one human drive that can drive the future of your business
- Why you need to pay close attention to the placebo effect
- How the wine industry was enhanced by a better story, not better grapes
- How to build the unwavering trust of your audience
- The key to finding prospective customers who take action
- Why research is where your marketing efforts are won or lost
- Why you shouldn’t waste time convincing anyone of anything
Listen to New Rainmaker Episode No. 12 below …
The Key Element of 21st Century Persuasion
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Robert Bruce: Back in the 1950s, a bedridden man faced certain death from inoperable, terminal cancer.
Tumors the size of oranges had invaded the man’s neck, groin, chest, and abdomen. The patient’s only hope was a new experimental cancer drug called Krebiozen (also known as “Substance X”).
Three days after the initial treatment, the man was out of bed and joking with his nurses. As treatment continued, his tumors shrunk by half.
Ten days later, he was discharged from the hospital … the cancer was gone.
Strangely enough, none of the other cancer patients treated with Krebiozen showed any improvement.
Stranger still, a few years later it was conclusively determined that Krebiozen had no therapeutic value whatsoever.
Welcome to the power of the placebo effect. And more importantly, the power of belief.
According to Seth Godin, the placebo effect is a change in the human brain that’s caused by marketing. Consider the case of Riedel wine glasses, one of Godin’s favorite anecdotes demonstrating the power of belief in a commercial context.
Riedel produces a highly successful line of glass-blown wine receptacles designed to deliver the wine’s “message” via the carefully-crafted form of the glass. In other words, the shape of the glass makes the wine taste better.
Skeptical?
So was Thomas Matthews, executive editor of Wine Spectator. Premier wine critic Robert Parker, Jr. was also initially unconvinced.
And yet Matthews, Parker, hundreds of other wine experts, and thousands of customers now swear it’s true. Taste tests throughout Europe and the U.S. proved time and again that wine — expensive, inexpensive, and middling — tasted better in Riedel glasses.
Except it’s not true. At least not empirically.
When subjected to double-blind testing that doesn’t let the taster know the shape of the glass, people found no detectable difference in taste between glasses. Objectively, the shape of the glass just doesn’t matter.
But subjectively, when belief in the glass and the experience of the glass are added back in the mix, it matters. And the wine does taste better to these people, just like the placebo effect can make people well.
But when we say “belief,” in the context of commerce, what are we really talking about? We chatted with Tom Asacker, author of The Business of Belief, for his thoughts.
Tom Asacker: When we make any decision in life, we have come to the conclusion that whatever that choice is, is the appropriate choice for us given our place, time, circumstances. So that in essence is what a belief is. The word “belief” comes from an old word, root of the word “lief” which means “to wish.” So to believe something is to wish that it is right, is appropriate, is the best choice. So our beliefs are driven by our desires to have the right choice for us as individuals.
Robert Bruce: So how does belief relate to trust? And which comes first?
Tom Asacker: I’ve been asked that, for the distinction between belief and trust more than one time. And the way I think about it is that belief is something that comes before the actual experience. So I would say trust is one step beyond belief and that some type of experience has been validated for us.
Robert Bruce: And what does this have to do with persuasion? Well, we do what we believe in – so if you’re looking to inspire action, you must first inspire belief.
Tom Asacker: … what we desire is what we end up believing. And what we believe is what we end up doing. So it’s desire, belief, action. And then the action either reinforces the belief, supports it, encourages more of it, or it doesn’t.
If you can discover desire, you win.
Robert Bruce: So what’s the key to modern persuasion? How do we discover what people desire in the first place?
Tom Asacker: … if you think about it: sell, persuade, even influence, they don’t seem to get at the essence of what’s required to move people. Especially when people are inundated with choice and then they’re very skeptical.
Then you have to really understand what’s going on inside of them so that you can align what you’re doing and complete that story in their head that’s already partially there.
Robert Bruce: It turns out that understanding your audience determines your ability to move them to action. And that takes good ol’ fashioned research – but the payoff from what you discover is powerful.
But here’s the thing … it’s much easier to discover and align your media content with the existing beliefs and world views of your prospective audience. In other words, discover desires and then fulfill them.
Tom Asacker: Let’s give them a “reason to believe,” and what they typically are saying, “let’s give them information to rationalize their decision.” Because their real reason to believe something is their desire for it.
If we go into an organization or if we’re marketers talking to a particular audience and we’re trying to get them to believe in something for which they have absolutely no desire to believe, it’s an impossible task because desire is what leads to belief.
Robert Bruce: Discover your prospect’s problems and desires, use search engines and social media to discover the actual language they use — and the world views that come attached — create engaging online media content that moves them toward your solution and their satisfaction.
That’s how modern persuasion works. You’re telling your audience the story they want to hear, and then providing the perfect ending.
You can get all of this done with the Rainmaker Platform. Start your free trial today, and get more power and less hassle from your online marketing and sales website, without breaking the bank.
Visit RainmakerPlatform.com and get started.
The New Rainmaker broadcast is written by Brian Clark and narrated by Robert Bruce.
A special thanks to today’s featured authority, Tom Asacker. For a deeper understanding of belief, pick up a copy of The Business of Belief anywhere books are sold.
And, if you find these New Rainmaker broadcasts useful, please let us know by leaving a rating and a comment in iTunes. Thanks.
Until next time …
Awesome post! Thanks guys.
Q: Who or what site are you using to do your transcriptions?
What a nice, intuitive and uncluttered design, was eargely awaiting to check out the new rainmaker. Enjoyed listening to the interview as well
Thanks
Excellent and edifying post. Also like the production quality of this podcast. NPR quality 🙂 Desire does drive the sales and marketing engine, stories persuade and there’s no use selling Shakespeare to a Reality TV exec. Checking out the Rainmaker Platform. – Mike
While I hesitate to post this comment (because I don’t want to be “that guy”), how can we put trust in someone’s advice when the research is shoddy? All of my professional life I have dealt with preachers and speakers who use material simply because it serves their purpose, regardless of whether or not it is true. (And trusting in the fact that 99% of the time nobody will look it up to see if it’s true.) As a professional communicator that irks me.
In today’s podcast the stated origin of the word “belief” intrigued and disturbed me in that it implied that a person’s belief system was nothing more than wish fulfillment. So I did a little research and discovered that the word belief does not come from the root lief as indicated, but from a different old English root leve. True enough, lief is the root word for desire and is based on the idea of desiring good wishes for a loved one. While leve (the root for belief and believe) is a word that describes the mental action of trusting or confiding in a person or thing. It is based on the idea of English loyalty to a person to whom one is bound by promise or duty.
Honestly, I have no ill wishes for today’s guest. And I believe he is dead-on target when he says that discovering a person’s desire is the best way to motivate them to action. Great advice. But based on his slipshod research presented as wisdom, I wouldn’t put my trust in him.
Thanks for commenting Jack, and for the research. The word “belief” appears to be a highly charged word for many. And I’m sorry if you now have a problem “trusting” me.
Based on my philosophies, I would guess your lack of trust–your belief–is based on your wishes and rationalized by your bit of “research.” In fact, that is how most people make decisions.
Here’s some more “research.” A quick Google search returned this passage attributed to the author Alan Watts (http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2014/06/27/alan-watts-belief-vs-faith/):
“Belief, as I use the word here, is the insistence that the truth is what one would “lief” or wish it to be. The believer will open his mind to the truth on the condition that it fits in with his preconceived ideas and wishes.”
Jack, I’m not trying to preach to anyone. I’m simply trying to help people see the reality of how human beings form beliefs and make decisions, so that they can do a better job of helping them make the best ones.
My bit of “research”? (I don’t appreciate your condescending tone.) Try Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, a standard for researchers of the English language, which traces the meaning of words and their etymology to their origins (in this case, Middle English, 13th Century). Compare that to your quick Google search.
Let’s simply call it a difference of beliefs:
belief (n.) late 12c., bileave, replacing Old English geleafa “belief, faith,” from West Germanic *ga-laubon “to hold dear, esteem, trust” (cognates: Old Saxon gilobo, Middle Dutch gelove, Old High German giloubo, German Glaube), from *galaub- “dear, esteemed,” from intensive prefix *ga- + *leubh- “to care, desire, like, love” (see love (v.)).
Agree, with open hands and full heart. I have the utmost respect for Brian Clark and all he has done to lead so many of us into this new age of the Internet. And Tom, I wish you the best in all your endeavors.
Thank you Jack. My best wishes to you as well.
A simple, powerful message!
Great message! You know, it’s amazing how much we are being influenced by our subconscious mind.
That’s how modern persuasion works. You’re telling your audience the story they want to hear, and then providing the perfect ending. Epic.
Amazing message! The circle media concept is incredible!
Thanks Robert—nice choice of Tom Asacker for this interview!
Tom has made some fascinating observations in his latest book, The Business of Belief that square completely with my 30 years of experience in advertising and marketing. He takes it a step further, giving real marketers the insight they need to connect with their key audience—if they’re willing to go deep. (And rainmakers have demonstrated that desire.)
I’d like to suggest you invite him as one of the featured speakers at your convention next year. He’s a dynamic speaker. See/listen for yourself: http://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/Why-TED-Talks-Don-t-Change-Peop
Why does it jump from episode 9 to 12? Just have gotten into these and am gong back and checking them out.
I think we deleted a couple of episodes that related to the pilot launch of the Rainmaker Platform that were no longer current information. Don’t worry, you’re not missing anything content-wise. 😉