Dear Subscriber & Friend,

Yes, once again, it’s time to reveal a huge secret about what motivates us as human beings… and… how to get people to take the actions you want them to take.

It’s time for what I call…

Psychological Trigger Time!

I’m not going to deny there’s a little “mind-control” going on with what I’m about to share with you. But anyone who markets anything learns early on that in order to achieve a desired outcome, sometimes (ok — often) you have to “skew” the circumstances in your favor.

Listen to this… learn it… memorize it… and put it in front of your eyes at all times. 

Ready?

One of the most fundamental reasons people make decisions is due to….

FEAR OF LOSS

Did you get that? This concept is worth repeating so I’ll say it again another way.  When people are afraid (or worried or concerned or sometimes terrified) of the consequences of inaction, they act. Or sometimes they simply want to avoid a certain outcome so they do something to prevent that outcome.

Did I lose you? Let me give you some examples to illustrate this.

1. Insurance salesman sells you home insurance in case you lose your home to a fire, flood, storm, etc. If you didn’t fear losing your house, you would not be as motivated to purchase the policy (this pretty much applies to all insurance).

2. Real estate broker gets buyers to make a quick offer at top dollar. Why? Because buyers have fear of losing a hot new home that they’ve gotten attached to and likely toured several times.

3. Green Bay Packers season ticket holder renews his season tickets year after year. Besides loving his team, an underlying reason is if he gives up his tickets, the more than 100,000 fans on the waiting list (yes, this is the actual number of people on the wait list) will be ready to snatch them up — and he’ll never get the chance to get them back! (True story: Packers fan who waited 34 years, finally gets his season tickets. Full story is here: http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/packers/2013/10/24/packers-fan-nabs-seat-after-34-year-wait/3181649/ . There are other marketing lessons here about building value, supply and demand, and the scarcity principle, but we’ll tackle those another time.)

4. Senior citizen purchases a mobile oxygen tank for fear of losing his independence and mobility.

5. Hundreds of consumers line up in front of Walmart or some other store on Black Friday for fear of losing their opportunity to buy the door-buster deals from 7 – 9am. Fear of losing a good deal also taps into the “greed gland.”

Get the idea? I can go on and on with examples. In fact, there’s an entire (relatively new) multi-billion dollar industry built on fear of loss. It’s called the identity theft industry. The fear? People will lose their identity to hackers, thieves and cyber criminals.

What Do People Fear Losing?

Here, “loss” can take many forms and can come in all shapes and sizes. People fear losing money, their health, opportunity, freedom, relationships, reputation, status, their identity, their youth, time, an inside scoop, a good deal, their family, love and many other things.

As an attorney, you have to hone in on what your typical kind of client fears losing the most. How can you use that in your marketing? How will you phrase your ads, letters, and website content? What kinds of entries will you post on your blog based on fear of loss? What buzzwords will you use during your initial consultation that address your prospect’s fear of loss? There’s so much you can do here.

Don’t miss out on using this amazingly powerful persuasion tool. It’s yours for the taking.

Criminal defense clients fear losing their freedom, their job, etc.

Family law clients can fear losing their family, money and possibly their status.

Bankruptcy clients fear losing their credit, good reputation, respect, etc.

Personal injury clients fear losing money, opportunity to litigate, their health, wages, etc.

And on… and on…

You can compile your own “fear of loss” list, no matter what your area of law or type of client.

Does this all makes sense? Let me know if you have any questions.

P.S. – Did you notice my subject line today? It certainly demonstrates how fear of loss works. You didn’t want to miss whatever it was I was going to reveal so you opened up the email. Aren’t you glad you did? Like I said, think about how you can apply fear of loss to your law practice to increase business, close an initial consultation, generate buzz, etc.