Building Authority So People Buy Without Asking
In 2009 Dave Wood was broke, sleeping in a Dodge Caravan, canvassing street corners for Greenpeace until they fired him for being late. A few months later he was pulling in commissions on autopilot using the exact same sales lines he’d always used. And the only thing that had changed was how people perceived him. In this episode he breaks down the authority principle he found in Robert Cialdini’s Influence, the one that gets a customer to pull out a credit card the same way a tribe follows a chief into the mountains without asking a single question. Here’s the episode.
I just finished reading Chapter 6 of Robert Cialdini’s bestseller Influence for the third time, and I was struck again by the studies showing how authority affects our unconscious minds and makes us respond automatically to instructions. Creating authority is a real, tactical key to selling easily and building win-win relationships with your list and your customers.
From a Dodge Caravan to a Commission Vacuum Cleaner
The best way to explain what I mean is to go back to the transition that happened in me and in my business in 2009, when I first started marketing and selling online. Before that I’d been broke. I was homeless, living in a 1996 Dodge Caravan, working for Greenpeace, hitting people up on street corners to canvass them for donations, which was supposed to be the image of success. Then I got fired for being late, right as the office was downsizing. I had no money, no job, no list, and I wanted to get rich making money on the internet.
I struggled in my business for a couple of months until I ran across a set of teachings called attraction marketing, which let me create a magnetic response in the marketplace, customers literally lining up with their credit cards in hand, ready to buy from me and join my team without even having a conversation first. Because they wanted to join a leader with heart and vision, someone like me, and like you. It was like a switch had flipped in their brains. Suddenly I could sell on autopilot. And the objections my prospects used to raise just melted away into a new sense of recruiting power. I was using the same lines, asking the same questions, presenting the same way. Yet something had completely changed, like I’d developed magical selling powers, some unknown force letting me pull commissions out of the internet like an out of control commission vacuum cleaner running on overdrive.
What changed was that I learned how to build authority by creating content like this. Instead of pitching my business, I learned to solve people’s problems and make their lives better, the same way I’m trying to do for you right now. Doing that created a reciprocation response in their minds, an automatic, unconscious buying switch that made them think, yes, I want to buy from you right now.
The Click-Whir Response Cialdini Found
Why did that work so well, and how do you get people to pull out their credit card and buy automatically, with no resistance? In his book, Cialdini cites multiple studies about how perceived authority creates what he calls a click-whir response inside your customers’ minds, where they trust your recommendations automatically and follow through on them unconsciously, without even thinking about it. That click-whir response is an unconscious mechanism built deep into our psyche, one that makes us act certain ways when we’re stimulated by our environment, for our own safety and survival. It’s a response that evolved in human beings to keep us safe in a demanding world where we’re competing for limited resources.
The Chief and the Tribe: Why Authority Gets Obeyed Without Question
Think about it like this. If you were in a Native American tribe of thirty people, and the chief stood up and said, everyone, get up right now, we’re headed to the mountains, leave everything behind but your clothing, if you don’t move right now you’re going to get left behind, what would you do? You’d do exactly what I would do, and what the whole tribe would do. You’d grab a sack with your clothes, grab the babies, and follow the chief into the mountains. You wouldn’t question him. You wouldn’t raise objections. You wouldn’t ask if it’s a pyramid scheme. You’d just pick up your things and go, because you’ve learned that when the chief gives an order, for the survival of the tribe, you follow it without question, right then.
How do you apply that in your own business and life? When you position yourself the right way, people develop an automatic, unconscious response to follow you. They’ll pull out their credit cards and buy without asking questions or raising objections. They’ll trust you and listen to your advice, join your business, and stay in it for years. Because you’ve learned that positioning yourself correctly is one of the real keys to social power. The chief principle is now working in your favor, getting people to pull out their credit cards with you.
How do you do this? You position yourself in the marketplace as a trusted advisor, like a consultant who solves other people’s problems, not like a salesperson. You want your emails so valuable that your list feels like they’re missing out on time-sensitive, important information if they don’t open them and click through. You want to show up in the marketplace the way a doctor or a judge shows up in theirs, so that when you say buy right now, your list decides to pull out their credit card and buy right now, because you said so. When you give your list what they actually want, you get what you want too, including the commissions and the wealth, if you’re willing to give more value.
Full episode transcript
Lightly edited from the original recording — fillers removed, nothing added. Income disclaimer.
Hey there, my friends. I'm Dave Wood, and in today's episode of The Daily Shortcut, I want to focus on building more wealth in your life with less effort and time. I just got done reading Chapter 6 of Robert Cialdini's bestseller, which is called Influence, for the third time, and I was fascinated today by some of the studies and the information he shared that show how authority affects our unconscious minds and actually makes us respond automatically to instructions. Do you want to get more commissions online in your business? Then pay attention, because creating authority is a proven tactical key to unlocking your ability and power to sell easily and to create win-win solutions with your list and your customers.
In today's episode of The Daily Shortcut, I'm going to show you how to create authority as you're building your business so you can make money the easy way online. What do I mean by easy commissions? Well, the best way to describe this is to go back in time to the transition that happened inside me and my own business in 2009, when I first began to market and sell stuff on the internet. See, previous to marketing, I had been broke. I was homeless.
I was living in a 1996 Dodge Caravan, working for Greenpeace. That was a job I had, hitting people up on street corners to canvas them for donations, the image of success. And then I was fired from that because I was late, and the office was actually downsizing. So I had to go back in time to the transition that happened inside me and my own business in 2009. I had no money.
I had no job, no list. And then I wanted to get rich and make money on the internet. When I got started, I spent a couple of months, I was struggling in my business until I ran across a principle and a series of teachings called attraction marketing, where I was able to then create a magnetic response in the marketplace, literally having customers lining up in droves with their credit card in hand, ready to buy from me and join my team without even having a conversation. Because they wanted to join a leader with heart and vision, people just like me and just like you. It was like a switch had flipped in their brain, and suddenly I was able to sell on autopilot the previous objections that I used to have that my prospects would come up with suddenly melted in my new found sense of recruiting power.
I was using the same lines. I was actually asking the same questions, and I was presenting in the same way. Yet something had changed completely, and it was like I had magical selling powers. Some unknown force had given me the ability to extract commissions from the internet like an out-of-control commission vacuum cleaner on overdrive. What changed?
Well, I was taught how to create authority in my business through creating content like this. Rather than pitching my business, I learned how to solve other people's problems and help their life be better, like I'm solving yours. And I was able, through doing that, to create a reciprocation response inside their minds, an automatic, unconscious buying switch that made them say, yes, I want to buy from you right now. Why did what I was doing work so well, and how can you get people to pull out their credit card and buy automatically with no resistance? Well, in Robert Cialdini's book, he cites multiple studies about how perceived authority creates a click-whir response inside the minds of your customers.
Where they're going to trust your recommendations automatically and begin to follow through with them unconsciously without even thinking about it. A click-whir response is actually an unconscious response mechanism built deep into the fabric and psyche of our unconscious minds, making us act in certain ways when we're stimulated with external environmental stimulus for our own safety and survival. This is a response that's evolved in human beings as a survival mechanism to keep us safe and help us survive in a demanding environment where we're actually positioned in a way that makes us compete for limited resources. Think about it like this. If you were in a Native American tribe, and you were Native American, and we were in a tribe together with 30 people, and the chief stood up and he said, everyone, get up right now.
We're headed to the mountains. Leave everything behind but your clothing. If you don't take action right now, you're going to get left behind. It's urgent. What would you do?
Well, you would do the same thing that I would do and the whole tribe would do. You'd pick up a sack with your clothes, grab the babies, and follow the chief into the mountains. You wouldn't question him at all. You wouldn't give him any objections. You wouldn't ask him if it's a pyramid scheme.
You wouldn't argue with him. You would just pick up your things and you'd head to the mountains. Why? Because the chief gave an order and you've learned that when you receive instructions from the chief, you follow them without question right then for the survival of your tribe. How can you apply this in your own business and life?
Well, I have an automatic unconscious response to follow you. People will just pull out their credit cards and buy your products right now without asking any questions or having any objections at all. They'll automatically trust you and they'll listen to your advice. They won't ask you dumb questions or be disrespectful on the phone. They'll join your business automatically and they'll stay in it for years.
and you'll make lots and lots of money. Why? Because you've learned that positioning yourself right is actually the key, at least one of them, to social power. The principle of the chief is now working in your favor and getting people to pull out their credit cards with you. How can you do this?
Learn how to position yourself in the marketplace as a trusted advisor, okay, like a consultant who solves other people's problems, not like a salesperson. You want your emails to be so valuable that your list feels like they're missing out on important, time-sensitive, valuable information if they actually don't open your emails and click every link you get. You want to go into the marketplace in a way that's attractive and powerful so you're perceived as a doctor or a judge, but in your own niche. So when you lay the hammer down and say, buy right now, your list decides to pull out their credit card and buy right now, like you said. When you give your list what they want, you get what you want.
And that includes the commissions and all of the wealth you could imagine if you just are willing to give more value. Today, I have a special gift for you for taking action and putting your name and email in the form below on this page and pay attention carefully to what I'm about to say to claim your bonuses. I want to help you win faster in your life and create authority and you need to be able to do that. And you need to be able to do that. And you need to be able to do that.
You need authority and you need to learn these concepts to build wealth and to achieve your goals. So I've prepared three powerful bonus shortcuts to help you do exactly that while also helping you give more value in the marketplace at the same time. So in your first daily shortcut, you're going to get a free PDF workbook that you can print now that will help you think through these concepts of creating social authority in your business and improve your ability to do that dramatically. You're also going to get a transcription of today's episode so you can read it and also go through the questions in the workbook at the same time. In your second daily shortcut, you're going to get a free audio download you can listen to again and again and absorb these ideas into your unconscious mind.
You'll become more powerful because you're learning powerful principles that create trust by actually being worthy of trust in the marketplace. And your third and most important daily shortcut, I want to give you my entire business system which we call the Total Shortcut System. As you're watching these daily episodes, you can earn money and create simultaneous lifestyle on the side if you want to. Simply fill in your name and best email to claim your bonuses then click the button that says give me the total shortcut and you'll be immediately taken to download your three powerful bonuses. I'll see you in the next episode.
I'll see you in the next episode of The Daily Shortcut and I wanted to tell you that you are worthy of great things and you and I together can make the world a better place one video, one day at a time. See you in the next episode.
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