Sant Qiu’s Speed Profit Blog

I’ve been quite fascinated with the happenings of the US presidential elections 2008. It’s interesting to observe how the US presidential candidates position themselves and their campaigns. I’ve found the commentaries on their speeches and debates among the candidates to be an interesting case study of the persuasion tactics of ‘reframing’.

In persuasion, ‘reframing’ is an effective way of turning a negative quality/situation into a positive one. This means changing the context so that people see things differently.

For instance, if someone thinks they are too old to do something, you can reframe their outlook by saying, “Compared to younger people, you have more years of experience and practical know-how to do this.” You are effectively changing what they saw as a shortcoming and turning it into a positive attribute by placing it in a different context.

The United States presidential elections 2008 has been a fertile ground for mudslinging among candidates (and in some cases, their spouses) and criticisms of each other’s campaigns and political stand. But it is also a great resource on how to reframe ‘negative’ facts to project a positive spin.

Case study: Barack Obama has positioned himself as a candidate that represents change. This positioning is so powerful that he got all the other candidates scrambling to find a position in his ‘change’ game. Almost all of them were talking about the change they are going to bring to the White House. (That’s a sign of a winning campaign)

Hillary Clinton, in an attempt to steal the thunder from Obama’s change campaign, reframed the situation. She said that Obama is only talking about change, while she has been making changes all the while when Bill was president and continues to make positive changes.

Isn’t that just smooth?

Another great example: When Barack Obama faced criticisms from other candidates concerning his relative inexperience in Congress, he equated “experience” with being “conventional” saying, “Nobody had more experience than Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney and many of the people on this stage that authorized this war. And it indicates how we get into trouble when we engage in the sort of conventional thinking that has become the habit in Washington.” (Knowing that there are many voters who are unhappy about the long-drawn Iraq war and are ready for a “fresh” change in the White House.)

Reframing is also a very good way to smoothly overcoming a customer’s objections, rather than getting defensive. Most of the time, when a potential customer raises a strong objection, the salesperson tend to:

1. get defensive about what they are selling,

2. fabricate features in a desperate attempt to make the sale, or

3. they disparage a competitor’s product so theirs looks better

These are all techniques that are weak and won’t get you the sale. The only thing they accomplish is to look really desperate.

Instead of trying to meet the objection head on or justify the ‘limitation’ of your product, reframe the objection.

Objection: “Your product is way more expensive than the competitor.”

Reframe: “You’re right. We’re more expensive because we offer a top quality that will ensure reliability and durability so you get what you pay for. I’m sure you want to get something that you can depend on and last long for your investment, don’t you?”

What you’ve done is agreeing that it is expensive. Explain the great reasons for the premium price. Attach the premium price to other attributes that the prospects feel are important. Now they have attached the idea of expensive with top quality.

Isn’t that much smoother?

Tags: barack obama, close more sales, handling objections, hillary clinton, persuasion techniques, reframing, sant qiu

This entry was posted on Monday, February 4th, 2008 at 12:00 am and is filed under Branding Positioning. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.