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PERSUASION WIKI

Plowing

Plowing is merely the act of persisting relentlessly in terms of persuasion. It’s pure persistence, almost in a stubborn, or even delusional manner. An example can include:

  • “I’m not sure the product fits my needs”;
    • “Why wouldn’t it? What are your needs?”;
  • “Well, I’m not sure it works for my type of person”;
    • “I’m sure it does. Is that all? Is that the only reason?”;
  • “Well, I’m just not sure it works for my case…”;
    • “Why wouldn’t it? I’m sure it’s not a unique case. I’m sure it works. Is that all?”;

The Persuasion Psychology Behind the Technique

Plowing simply works by making the person understand you won’t quit. By showing that you will be the last man/woman standing, and that it’s useless to resist, because this will be done.

It can be used ethically or not. It’s, in fact, the core technique behind high-pressure sales.

Plowing is not so much a technique by itself as an accelerator, that can be used in combination with other techniques

  • Plowing with preemptive labeling and negative anchoring
    • “John, I know you fear [ABC] and [ABC]. And I know that [ABC] can go wrong. Are you against buying?”;
    • “Well, I don’t know”;
    • “Look, I know that you fear [ABC] and [ABC]. And that there’s a risk of [ABC] and [ABC]. But we protect against that. Are you against buying right now?”;
    • …
  • Plowing with implementation intention
    • Similar to a technique by Grant Cardone called “The Inquisition”;
    • “How can you buy this today? How can we make it happen? How can we get this signed? What do you need from me? What can we do here? …”;

Usage

Examples

"Don't care, get it done"

When you have a manager in a company that wants to force something to get done, and accepts no excuses, it’s this at work. “But we have no time”. “Get it done”. “But we lack resources”. “Get it done”

High-pressure sales

The technique behind high-pressure sales is precisely plowing. It’s a dark version of it. The salesperson just keeps hammering until they “break” the person and convince them to sign

"Burn it to the ground"

This is the expression usually used with this principle. The goal is to try something at any cost, until you get a clear “yes” or a clear “no” – and you will get both with this

  • Other examples:
  • Donald Trump (Donald trump was very effective at persuading by using plowing alone; Even when there were no other merits to his arguments, he would just keep insisting with the same point. E.g., in the debate with Clinton: “Her emails. Lock her up". “What do you think about [ABC]?”. “Doesn’t matter. Her emails. Lock her up. Her emails”. “But what about [ABC]?”. “Doesn’t matter. Lock her up. Her emails”)

Use Cases For the Four Quadrants

Key Takeaways
(4 Total)

How to Stack This Technique