The Persuasion paradox

I have been pondering the above statement lately from a personal view point and a business approach. In a nutshell, I see it as being simply a good human from a personal perspective and from a business perspective a good starting point. It has also got me thinking about all the times we have applied this approach and then taken a bold and fearless move in business.

I have been trying to be more present with people, notice my surroundings and listen carefully to people beyond what they have to say. I have always asked a lot of questions and I have never been afraid to ask when I do not understand. I am a keen fact finder as I have mentioned before (although it has never really helped me at quiz nights!). I like to think I am quietly persuasive but I am not sure I am always an observer who provides great responses, on the basis that it is needed at the time. One of the reasons why I think my responses may not be wonderful is that I have a terrible habit of putting my personal lens on the observation rather than keeping it clean. Sometimes I need to accept it for what it is, full stop.

I really don’t like aggressive conflict/arguing and will often run from it as my first response. I certainly don’t rely on force or intimation but prefer thoughtful persuasion. I am much better at handling a conflict when I have had time to process and think about my response. I remember during my legal professionals course I was always paired with a top scholar at Auckland University as my lecturer thought he would make a good match for a moot (maybe on paper we looked equal!). But I am a terrible responder and always lost against him. I could never be a barrister as I would have to keep asking the judge for time to think and process.

My ramble could go into all the ways to persuade and if you Google search ‘how to persuade’ there are a number of different theories but it seems that Cialdini's 6 Principles of Persuasion: reciprocity, scarcity, authority, commitment and consistency, liking and consensus are the most popular. But I have preferred to ponder about the initial steps of persuasion which I believe equates to being a good human. Observe, listen and ask questions.

So has my business ‘nil’ been ethically persuasive in helping people to look after the planet?

Yes we observe and listen. Each year we do a brand survey to check in with our customers that we are on the right track. We would love you to give 2 minutes today to answer our latest survey, link below.

nil SURVEY

As you all know we have a Showroom/retail presence at 471 Adelaide Road, Berhampore and we love engaging with our customers and finding out what they need, want and how we can help them.

But do we do a great job on social media or through our EDMs (mailers)? Hmm I am not so sure. That has always been a hard one. We could make our engagement more personal. But I personally have never wanted to be the face (but probably vicariously the personality) of the brand online as I worry about all the trolls and the invasion into my private life. Although these rambles are quite a step for me in that direction. Many brand strategist and PR people have tried to get me to be the face and maybe they are right.

I think our strength is that we are great observers and listeners. We are often the first to bring new exciting eco products to the market as we observe and listen to the market beyond New Zealand. We also observe our macro environment from government polices to private enterprise sustainable initiatives. I like to also think we can be bold and fearless with the information we obtain.

 

Being bold and fearless after listening, observing and asking questions

When I am being bold and fearless are the times when I get the most excited. I feel alive. They are times when I feel the strongest. Often it is when I ignore what traditional society expects of me.

Below are some of the times we were bold and fearless in business and gosh it was exciting.

• Presenting at the Emmys and gifting our products to the stars in LA
• Contracting with China back in 2014 over the internet when at the time many people thought it was dangerous where I look back now and think it was racist!
• Going to our first export Expo in Sydney with only two suitcases to set up a stand and winning the Best Eco business of the show
• Meeting the Governor General for tea as a chosen impact business
• Self-publishing to then being picked up by a publisher to publish our second book
• Negotiating a deal in the middle east
• As one my lovely customers said the other day’ I remember Anna coming into my shop with her baby in her sling to see if I would sell her cookbook’. Yes baby and products together while selling in on 'sale and return' arrangements. To now selling in large retailers, supermarkets and overseas and my babies are no longer babies but young boys.
• Making over 200,000 facemasks during covid in 4 weeks
• Seeking out a financier that believed in what we were doing when the banks said no.
• Engaging directly from our tiny NZ office with large international supermarkets and retailers and getting ranged with them over larger brands
• Merging our two brands to ‘nil’

So I suppose my rambling today is to myself and to you all is to ‘Be bold, be fearless and feel that excitement of life. Be persuasive by listening, observing and continue to ask questions. Don’t argue but persuade with a paint brush not a sledgehammer. By being a good listener, being observant and asking questions to understand another is part of being a good human to those you love or connect with. But over to you as to how you then execute on being persuasive (follow Cialdini's steps of persuasion or the 6 P's, or the 4 P's – so many P's. Lol) but please be ethical with it.

Thanks for listening and please contribute to our survey. Link here again.

Anna xx
www.nilproducts.com
nil waste nil harm