Magic Words

Hey all - Hope you had a wonderful Holiday Season and are cranked up to kick 2024 off with a bang!

If any of you followed through on last month's “Psychology of Money” idea, let me know how it went!

I was fortunate enough a few years back to take part in an Executive Education program at The Wharton School, and one of my classes was with Marketing Professor Jonah Berger. Jonah did a great job of not only providing well researched and interesting material, but also challenging us to always translate what we were learning into actionable ideas for our businesses.

Jonah has written 4 really good books: Invisible Influence, Hidden forces that shape behavior; Contagious, Why things catch on; The Catalyst, How to change anyone’s mind; and Magic Words, What to say to get your way. I highly recommend them all!

Magic Words is his most recent book, and this year I’ve used A LOT of my learnings from it with advisors to help them develop more effective language with prospects and clients. While there are a ton of great nuggets in this book, I’d like to highlight two examples specifically in this message for growth as an advisor and as a leader.

• Turn actions into identities. When people can see themselves as the outcome they desire, they are significantly more likely to engage. For example, if someone said the following statements to you, which would be more likely to drive your engagement/follow through?
  • "I help people develop a Financial Plan to guide their future" OR "I help people become better planners in their financial lives”
  • "Would you mind introducing us?" OR "Would you be the facilitator for us meeting?”
  • "Will you look through your client list for people who might be interested in a career with us as an advisor?” OR “Will you be my partner in growing our office with the type of people you’d be proud to associate with?"
  • BONUS for those of you with younger kids - next time you ask them to help pick up their toys/laundry, etc, ask them “Will you be my helper in cleaning this up?” Instead of saying “Come help me clean this up” You might be surprised with their level of engagement to help! 😉
• Praising a person’s ability or outcome, rather than praising the process a person used can be detrimental to their growth.
  • Praising the Right side of the Blue Book can give a dopamine rush that quickly gives way to the potentially paralyzing stress of duplicating an outcome.
  • Praising the Left side of the Blue Book that drove the results reinforces the work they can control to achieve more consistent outcomes.
    • As leaders, we need to go one level deeper and make sure that our well-intentioned praise is giving people what they need to grow!
  • “Janelle hit P40 - an amazing accomplishment that few people achieve, and highlights her ability to be a great advisor!” OR “Janelle has shown her commitment to being a professional business owner, which was shown in the consistency in her daily activity and mindset, regardless of circumstance. Her ability to execute on a consistent process has resulted in her achieving P40, an amazing accomplishment that few people achieve and highlights her ability to be a great advisor!"

Read my notes on Magic Words (FPP Library)

Cheers to a great 2024 and, as you’re driving your business plan, if you have more priorities than you currently have talent on your team to execute, let’s have a conversation!

Think Differently,

Steve