From: alexhormozi
A powerful persuasion tactic involves using the word “but” strategically to own deficiencies and increase prospect trust [00:00:03]. This approach leverages integrity to enhance believability [00:00:07].
The Foundation of Trust
The degree to which a prospect will buy is directly correlated with how much they trust you [00:00:20]. In a B2B scenario, if someone truly believed they would make ten times their investment, everyone would buy without logical hesitation [00:00:27]. This highlights that underlying belief is crucial [00:00:37].
Referrals are an excellent example of pre-established trust; a person comes into a sales conversation with sky-high trust because they’ve already been vouched for [00:00:52].
The Concept of Damaging Admission
This tactic, learned from Eminem in “8 Mile,” utilizes the word “but” as the core mechanism [00:01:07]. It is formally known as damaging admission and is considered a highly effective persuasion technique [00:01:19].
By being more honest than usual and owning deficiencies, you stand out positively in a world where others often make inflated claims [00:01:27].
How it Works
The “but” tactic involves reversing the traditional order of statements:
- Ineffective: Positive statement but Negative statement [00:02:19]
- Effective: Negative statement but Positive statement [00:02:24]
When structured as “Negative statement but Positive statement,” the word “but” acts as an amplifier for the second, positive half of the statement [00:02:26].
Essentially, everything after the word “but” is amplified [00:03:41], while everything before it is diminished [00:03:52]. This allows you to strategically direct your prospect’s attention [00:03:58]. The more negative and truthful the initial admissions are, the more believable the subsequent positive statement becomes [00:03:18].
Examples
-
Business Program:
- Ineffective: “You’re going to make a ton of money if you work with me, but it’s going to be a ton of work; you’ll have to go through hundreds of hours of videos and spend five hours a day.” [00:01:54] (Directs attention to the work).
- Effective: “If you sign up for Gym Launch, you’re going to have to go through hundreds of hours of videos, you’re going to have to take five hours a day to work and do these things, but you’re going to make more money than ever in your life.” [00:02:34] (Amplifies the money-making potential).
-
Personal Example: “Sometimes I have a temper, I can be short at times, I don’t have a ton of time to get dedicated to a relationship right now because my business is taking up the majority of my time, but I’m absolutely fantastic in bed.” [00:03:00] The more negatives upfront, the more believable the final positive statement [00:03:18].
-
Gym Launch Reviews: “Gym Launch has tons of one-star reviews, but we also have thousands of five stars.” [00:04:52] This makes the thousands of five-star reviews more credible, similar to choosing a restaurant with 4.7 stars from 3,000 ratings over one with 5 stars from 19 [00:05:00]. The negative reviews lend credence to the positive ones [00:05:14].
-
Viagra Commercial: The famous Viagra commercial included a warning label: “If an erection lasts longer than four hours, you must contact a medical professional” [00:05:31]. By stating a genuine risk (the negative), they amplified the perceived power and effectiveness of the product (the positive) [00:05:41].
-
Tax Burden: “Warning, when you sign up and start working with Gym Launch, you’re gonna massively increase your tax burden. We are not liable for the amount of taxes that you’re going to have to pay as a result of the amount of money we’re going to make.” [00:05:57] Warning of an extreme adverse effect (high taxes) as a consequence of the promised positive result (making a lot of money) makes the positive outcome seem assumed and more believable [00:06:11].
Conclusion
This persuasion tactic is highly effective because it is based on integrity [00:06:45]. By truthfully stating potential negatives that a prospect might eventually discover, you use those very points to increase the persuasiveness of your overall argument [00:06:49].
When woven into copy or used in sales presentations, this approach makes your message significantly more believable and persuasive, leading prospects to trust you more and be more likely to buy [00:04:40].