Are You Selling "Positive Nourishing Nuggets" or "Junk Food" in Your Interactions?

Alabama Nurse, Mar-May 2006 by Gaddis, Suzanne

Are you being suggestively sold? To find out, take the following challenge: The next time you go to a fast food establishment, notice if the cashier is using suggestive selling techniques by paying attention to phrases such as:

"Do you want fries with that?"

"Will that be a large pizza?"

"Do you want to giganticize-size that?"

"Would you like desert this evening?"

Cashiers trained in suggestive selling are taught that by gently guiding you to order the largest item or additional items on the menu, they can increase sales and generate additional revenue for the company.

Suggestive selling works because it allows the consideration of additional possibilities in instances when we would normally never have contemplated an option(s) without external prompting. When offered this option, people are likely to say "yes." After all, why would we want to deny ourselves?

So why is an awareness of suggestive selling important to you? Because many times everyday-without you even realizing it-you are being suggestively sold. Consider the difference between someone suggestively selling you the idea, "We're going to make this a great day," as opposed to them selling you the idea, "It's not going to work. We're never going to get all of this done."

Similarly, think about being sold the idea, "No matter what we do it's never enough," compared to, "We're doing the best we can with the time that we've been afforded." These phrases affect us, they directly help or hinder our perceptions.

Without knowing it, we listen to other people's "food for thought," and even without being consciously aware of it, we "bite off and consume other's ideas. It's our choice as to whether or not we want to offer and/or consume positive tidbits of soul-nourishing interactive speech or negative "junk food."

by Suzanne Gaddis, PhD

Susanne Gaddis, PhD, known as the Communications Doctor, is an acknowledged communications expert who has been speaking and teaching the art of effective and positive communication since 1989. Gaddis' workshops, seminars, and keynote presentations are packed with tips and techniques that can be immediately applied for successful results. Gaddis also provides quality training and executive coaching for organizations, corporations, and associations across the United States. For more information, call 919-933-3237 or visit www. communicationsdoctor.com.