Posted by Do you know all the psychological tricks that can be used by marketing and salespeople to manipulate you into buying their products? Savvy marketers often use specific psychological techniques to get us to part with our cash – and yet they make it look like it was all our own idea in the first place!
If you’re aware of these methods, it can arm you with enough knowledge not to fall victim to them, so this week I want to talk about some of those psychological tricks, explore why they work and what you can do to protect yourself from being manipulated.
If you’re starting out in property (or any industry, really), you might not be aware of the traps that are easy to fall into. There are countless people out there who may not consider themselves scammers, but to some degree that’s exactly what they are.
Priming the audience
So, imagine you’ve signed up for a seminar. If the presenter – who at the end of the day is hoping to sell you something – doesn’t know you or hasn’t had a chance to build rapport with you, they’re at a distinct disadvantage. People tend to buy from people that they know, like and trust, so when someone is selling to a stranger, they have to find a way to bypass the fact that you don’t know them, you don’t necessarily like them and you have no reason whatsoever to trust them yet.
That’s a massive hurdle to a sale. When you trust the seller, there are almost no barriers: you’re happy to buy from them because you know they have your best interests at heart, and it’s easier to part with your money because you know you’re going to get value. With somebody you don’t know, you have to find a shortcut to that “know, like and trust” process.
If you’ve ever attended an online conference, the chances are you’ve been encouraged to engage positively in the chat to break down the barriers: “Who wants to make some money today? Write in the chat if you do!” Of course, everyone responds positively – it’s why they’re there in the first place.
That’s called priming, which does two things: firstly, it hypes you up so you’re more likely to say yes to the sale, and secondly, when you see lots of other people saying the same thing, it gives you a kind of social proof that if you don’t buy, you’re going to get left out.
Building authority
When a seller tries to impress you by outlining all their accomplishments and success, they’re trying to build authority (and it’s sometimes known as niche authority). It’s important because it establishes them as a potentially worthy mentor for you to learn from. It shows you a positive outcome, but it doesn’t connect you with them emotionally yet because you might see them as being above your level.
So, what they do in order to create that connection is go into their backstory to make themselves more relatable. You’ll get the whole “When I started out, I grew up in poverty/ didn’t have a clue how to start my journey into real estate/ didn’t know where to start investing in the stock market. I was so broke, I couldn’t afford anything/ was really struggling/ wanted to get my family out of this situation.”.
These statements may be true, but they’re designed to put your words into the seller’s mouth. By expressing the emotions you may be currently feeling, it creates connection and trust: the seller has been in your shoes, and so therefore, they’re a good person to learn from.
Whilst there may be elements of truth in these backstories, you should probably take them with a pinch of salt, as they’ll have been twisted to sound better for an audience. Never let the truth get in the way of a good story, after all!
Breadcrumbing value
In a sales presentation, you should always watch out for breadcrumbing: a substantial amount of time spent showing you interesting strategies, techniques and advice – anything that you’re going to find helpful and/or useful.
These are usually something really effective, designed to draw you in and make you want to learn more – the trick is then that the seller tells you that if you buy into what they’re selling, they’ll share a load more information.
It’s showing you a fraction of the value and letting you know that there’s an awful lot more where that came from. Again, take the time to evaluate if there’s anything in those ‘paid for’ offerings that’s really going to help you, preferably before you part with your cash.
The offer
This is where the seller presents the core product and generally follows a pattern.
The seller summarises everything you can get (priming you again), and tells you the ‘normal’ price, which is usually far higher than anything you’d want to pay. Then they give you a ‘special’ price (like a deal for event attendees), which is a massive drop, and more affordable, which will pique your interest. Then you’re going to get the bonus offers – maybe it’s event tickets, maybe it’s a bonus course, maybe it’s a free mentoring call with the seller.
This is where they start to introduce scarcity and urgency: they’ll recap the value, show you what a great deal it is, but then tell you that it’s only available for (eg) the first 20 buyers. Scarcity is absolutely essential in this kind of selling because it makes you decide right there on the spot that you have to buy: any delay at all is going to make you lose this potential offer, which eliminates any hesitation. But remember – a lot of the time the scarcity is fabricated.
New tricks for the online era
Of course, the digital age has given marketers incredibly sophisticated new tools to press your buttons. For example, TikTok’s algorithm is particularly dangerous because it learns what keeps you watching and feeds you more of the same. So, show any interest in “make money online” content, and you’ll suddenly be flooded with get-rich-quick schemes disguised as organic content.
These aren’t traditional ads – they’re designed to look like genuine advice from regular people. The algorithm knows exactly when you’re most vulnerable (late at night, during stressful periods) and serves up content that promises easy solutions to your problems.
The creepy accuracy of targeted ads
Have you ever had an ad appear that felt like it was reading your mind? That’s because it basically was. Companies now use AI to analyse hundreds of data points about you – your browsing history, purchase patterns, social media activity, even how long you spend reading certain emails.
This creates what marketers call “micro-moments” – they know exactly when you’re most likely to be vulnerable to their particular offer. Struggling with finances? You’ll see ads for trading courses right after you’ve been researching budgeting tips. Feeling lonely? Dating coaches and self-improvement gurus will start appearing in your feed.
Subscription psychology and the freemium trap
Modern subscription models have turned the traditional sales process on its head. Instead of convincing you to pay upfront, they make it incredibly easy to start “for free” – but incredibly difficult to stop paying.
The psychology here is brilliant (and devious): once you’ve started using a service, you develop what behavioural economists call “loss aversion” – the fear of losing something you already have feels worse than the pain of paying for it. They’re literally training you to become dependent on their service during that “free” period.
Wising up
Now you know what tricks can be used against you, what can you do to make sure you’re not being taken advantage of?
The most powerful thing you can do is create space between exposure and decision. When you see an offer that interests you, write down the details and then step away from it for at least 24 hours. Without the constant reinforcement of targeted ads and social proof, you might decide that the offer wasn’t as compelling as it seemed.
Try and keep a level head if someone’s trying to hype you up and really take time to evaluate if you’re really going to benefit. Don’t fall victim to FOMO! ‘One-off’ offers are rarely just that – there will always be more offers down the line, so don’t be tempted to make a snap decision purely because you’re caught up in the moment.
Be wary of testimonials – people look for social proof that they’re making a good choice, so want to see customer testimonials from people who bought the product and had great results. A lot of testimonials are genuine, which is great, but how can you tell which testimonials are real, and which are completely made up?
Look at independent review sites to really get a good measure of the salesperson and their business – obviously no one is going to put a negative review on their own website – so look at something like Trustpilot to see what experiences other people might have had.
Remember, the moment you understand how the game is played, you’re already winning.