The coronavirus outbreak is currently wreaking havoc on society, but it also provides us with a great lesson in the Ed-Med area of sales. On of the best ways to slow the spread of the virus and to reduce its long-term impact is to practice isolation in order to slow person-to-person transmission. By simply staying away from others, you reduce the risk of contracting the virus, or passing it along if you already have it, to almost nil. However, convincing people to stay at home alone or with family is a challenge, which highlights the importance of moving people in this area.
Even with widespread calls for social distancing and self-isolation, many people are still out and about, even if they aren’t an essential worker. These people have not internalized that the temporary gain they get from going out is not worth the potential damage it might cause, despite all they’ve heard about it.
What we have to demonstrate is not all of the great reasons for self-isolating, but rather to get others to realize this on their own; getting somebody to provide a reason for something themselves will lend that reason much greater power than if it was provided by someone else. By showing clarity in our discussions with others, and being open with them about the seriousness of the matter, we can draw them out to come to these conclusions themselves.
BoweryJE22
Good idea for a blog post. Convincing everyone to say inside and avoid leaving their houses at such a large scale takes some serious persuasion skills. It’s like we’re witnessing one of the largest demonstrations of persuasion in history. Great insight.
I agree with you. The process of convincing someone to social distance could follow the same process as trying to sell something. We have to frame the conversation in a way that allows people to realize on their own what the benefits of staying home are. The difference here is that convincing people to stay home is on more of a time crunch, and there are much greater consequences if the “sale” doesn’t go through.
This is a really interesting way of thinking about sales but you’re so right. Allowing people to come to their own necessary conclusions about what they must do in order to improve their lives in some way is much more effective in most cases than someone trying to move them by their own opinions. Good point!