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Last week, I wrote a little about two of Cialdini's six elements of Persuasion. This week i will cover two more.
Scarcity - This principle is borne out by Cialdini's research that shows we want what we can't have and that objects, ideas, and information that we believe are rare or unique hold greater apparent value than they would if we believe they are common.
This fact is powerful on its own, but is supercharged when coupled with the perspective that LOSS is the ultimate form of scarcity. That is, we may strive for something that we don't have and think is rare but we will work VERY hard to prevent losing something that we ALREADY have if we feel it will be difficult to replace. Humans are generally more motivated by fear of loss than want of gain.
Implementing this knowledge in a business situation is critical. Stop talking about what your counterpart will gain in an arrangement, and tell them about the valuable things they will lose. this is illustrated in an example in which 50% of potential customers were told that if they insulate their homes better, they could start saving a dollar a day. The other 50% were told that if they FAIL to insulate, they will continue losing a dollar a day. The sales among the customers that were given the 'losing" language was 150% of the other sales from the other customers. 50% more persuasive, even though the amount of the savings was the same! People are more mobilized into action by the idea of losing something. Combining the idea of scarcity with loss language makes for a particularly powerful argument.
Cialdini says. "You simply register what things people might be losing in an arrangement, honestly, and bring them to the surface. When people are reminded of what they stand to lose, they are more motivated to act."
The word "honestly" is important to note. Long term benefits accrue only to those that are credible.
Authority - Another element of persuasion is rooted in the idea that people will tend to obey authority figures. A person can even be persuaded to do something they wouldn't normally do if it is made clear that they will not be held responsible for their action.
The business application for this kind of persuasion is generally made when you are having a hard time convincing people to do something and you are having the hard time because they don't really believe you know what you are talking about. In other words, they do not recognize you as an authority on the subject. Citing authorities or better yet, PRODUCING an authority that will actually endorse your recommendation can help tremendously.
Sometimes, though, people will still hesitate because they are concerned with the impact to them if something goes wrong. You will encounter less resistance if you can assure the person that what you are asking for is just their indulgence to allow you to try the course of action and that you will take responsibility if there is a problem. If they are clear that they will not be held responsible in any way in the event of an issue, they will often step aside and indulge your experiment.
Insist on great business results! Go to Pathfinder Communication
Showing posts with label persuasion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label persuasion. Show all posts
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
Persuasion and Robert Cialdini
The current series of articles is about Persuasion, and your emails tell me you have done a good job using the general principles offered so far.
• Prepare yourself by thinking through your interests.
• Ask questions to understand the other party's interests.
• Be open to modifying your position in order to satisfy everyone's interests.
• Your credibility is crucial; don't do something that could sacrifice it in order to persuade someone. It is never worth it when they find out that you did.
• The emotional elements of a given situation are enormously persuasive; avoiding regret, appearing heroic, or feeling valued and respected are many times more persuasive than pure logic. Pure logic can help you choose between options, but emotion is what makes us WANT something to the point of NEEDING it.
• Do not criticize people if it can be helped, and it almost always can.
• Pay attention to behaviors, and not individuals; process, not people. Give everyone the benefit of the doubt.
Let's talk about some of the things that Robert Cialdini, the pioneering social psychologist, has learned are at the root of what persuades us.
Cialdini’s groundbreaking work identified six different areas in which can create persuasive advantage. I will cover two of them this week.
Reciprocity - Relationships are most comfortable when they are balanced; when neither person is beholden to the other. When they get out of balance, we are driven to 'put them back in balance'. if a person does something for us, we want to reciprocate and do something for them.
To use this persuasively is simple to understand from a "you owe me one" perspective, but that approach has limits and Cialdini discourages using those words. Instead, you would like to cause your counterpart to appreciate the value of the thing you did, and reciprocate with something of equal value. "You owe me one" doesn’t always inspire others to look at the value of what you did as much as to figure out a way to reciprocate soon.
It is also important to consider something that we already know, and studies have confirmed; after doing a favor for someone, the value of the favor tends to INCREASE in the memory of the favor GIVER and DECREASE in the memory of the favor RECEIVER. Although I know of no way to prevent this effect, Cialdini describes ways to minimize it.
You need to “cement” the value of the favor in the mind of the person for whom you did it. If you stayed late and did extra work for them, you might wait until JUST after they have received the benefit of it and ask “You know that report I did for you the other night? Did that turn out to be helpful to you?” When they say “yes, it was – and thanks very much” reply with something like “well – I am glad it turned out to be valuable for you. And I know you would do the same for me, right?”
This is 5 times as effective as saying something like “oh, that’s ok – no big deal” when it comes to making the favor seem important longer AND in ensuring the other party reciprocates with something of value.
Liking – In Cialdini’s context, this means two things: a) we are more likely to be persuaded by someone we LIKE (vs. someone we DON’T like) and, b) we are more likely to be persuaded by someone we think is LIKE us (vs. someone we think is NOT like us). This, too, is pretty intuitive so how can we use this info to be more persuasive in a working environment?
The way we dress sends a message about who we are. If we want someone to like us, we could try to appear more like the kinds of people that they tend to like. We can notice other’s interests (golf, NASCAR, woodworking, music) and if we have common interests talk to them about them OR express interest in things they seem to have developed some acumen in that you would like to know more about. In other words, without risking credibility or being insincere, express an interest in who they are as a person and indicate that you, LIKE THEM, have an interest in building ships in a bottle (or whatever).
As with reciprocation, there are things you can do to make LIKING, in either sense, stand out as more memorable to the other person. First, be genuine…there is almost NO ONE I can think of with whom I don’t have SOME shared interest. I don’t need to “invent” a mutual interest; there already is a genuine one. Also, showing your like for someone with an overt act of kindness is a great way to demonstrate your liking them AND to leverage reciprocation. The act should be genuine, appropriate, and aimed directly to them as something between you and not as if it is for show. You shouldn’t tell other people that you have done the person the kindness unless it is alright with them – THEY may tell others, but YOU shouldn’t.
ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS remember that being sincere is more important than being persuasive in the long run.
Next time, we will talk a little more about tools of persuasion.
Insist on great business results! Go to Pathfinder Communication
• Prepare yourself by thinking through your interests.
• Ask questions to understand the other party's interests.
• Be open to modifying your position in order to satisfy everyone's interests.
• Your credibility is crucial; don't do something that could sacrifice it in order to persuade someone. It is never worth it when they find out that you did.
• The emotional elements of a given situation are enormously persuasive; avoiding regret, appearing heroic, or feeling valued and respected are many times more persuasive than pure logic. Pure logic can help you choose between options, but emotion is what makes us WANT something to the point of NEEDING it.
• Do not criticize people if it can be helped, and it almost always can.
• Pay attention to behaviors, and not individuals; process, not people. Give everyone the benefit of the doubt.
Let's talk about some of the things that Robert Cialdini, the pioneering social psychologist, has learned are at the root of what persuades us.
Cialdini’s groundbreaking work identified six different areas in which can create persuasive advantage. I will cover two of them this week.
Reciprocity - Relationships are most comfortable when they are balanced; when neither person is beholden to the other. When they get out of balance, we are driven to 'put them back in balance'. if a person does something for us, we want to reciprocate and do something for them.
To use this persuasively is simple to understand from a "you owe me one" perspective, but that approach has limits and Cialdini discourages using those words. Instead, you would like to cause your counterpart to appreciate the value of the thing you did, and reciprocate with something of equal value. "You owe me one" doesn’t always inspire others to look at the value of what you did as much as to figure out a way to reciprocate soon.
It is also important to consider something that we already know, and studies have confirmed; after doing a favor for someone, the value of the favor tends to INCREASE in the memory of the favor GIVER and DECREASE in the memory of the favor RECEIVER. Although I know of no way to prevent this effect, Cialdini describes ways to minimize it.
You need to “cement” the value of the favor in the mind of the person for whom you did it. If you stayed late and did extra work for them, you might wait until JUST after they have received the benefit of it and ask “You know that report I did for you the other night? Did that turn out to be helpful to you?” When they say “yes, it was – and thanks very much” reply with something like “well – I am glad it turned out to be valuable for you. And I know you would do the same for me, right?”
This is 5 times as effective as saying something like “oh, that’s ok – no big deal” when it comes to making the favor seem important longer AND in ensuring the other party reciprocates with something of value.
Liking – In Cialdini’s context, this means two things: a) we are more likely to be persuaded by someone we LIKE (vs. someone we DON’T like) and, b) we are more likely to be persuaded by someone we think is LIKE us (vs. someone we think is NOT like us). This, too, is pretty intuitive so how can we use this info to be more persuasive in a working environment?
The way we dress sends a message about who we are. If we want someone to like us, we could try to appear more like the kinds of people that they tend to like. We can notice other’s interests (golf, NASCAR, woodworking, music) and if we have common interests talk to them about them OR express interest in things they seem to have developed some acumen in that you would like to know more about. In other words, without risking credibility or being insincere, express an interest in who they are as a person and indicate that you, LIKE THEM, have an interest in building ships in a bottle (or whatever).
As with reciprocation, there are things you can do to make LIKING, in either sense, stand out as more memorable to the other person. First, be genuine…there is almost NO ONE I can think of with whom I don’t have SOME shared interest. I don’t need to “invent” a mutual interest; there already is a genuine one. Also, showing your like for someone with an overt act of kindness is a great way to demonstrate your liking them AND to leverage reciprocation. The act should be genuine, appropriate, and aimed directly to them as something between you and not as if it is for show. You shouldn’t tell other people that you have done the person the kindness unless it is alright with them – THEY may tell others, but YOU shouldn’t.
ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS remember that being sincere is more important than being persuasive in the long run.
Next time, we will talk a little more about tools of persuasion.
Insist on great business results! Go to Pathfinder Communication
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Persuasion Boot Camp
This week, we’ll start a series on Persuasion. The purpose will be to help you become more persuasive at those times you need to be. There are lots of different ideas about what it means to “be persuasive”, so we’ll start with what it is and what it isn’t.
Let’s start with a definition that says to persuade is to "induce to believe by appealing to reason or understanding”. This definition indicates that if I persuade you, I am somehow using reason to do so. That’s good to remember, but not always the case. The same definition allows me to appeal to your understanding of something and use that to induce you. This needn’t be a purely logical appeal, so that means that we can use emotion as well.
Some of my clients have said that they don’t think they can be persuasive because those with authority can veto their ideas, which can make them feel powerless, and even angry or humiliated. What I can attest to is that there are different kinds of power that are used in business. There is the authoritative power about which they are talking, and there is also the power that comes from expertise. I know that many times, the power of expertise can cause someone with a great deal of authority to change their mind about something. There is also the power of charisma. We see this from informal leaders that may not have direct authority over us, and may not be experts, but they can inspire us and cause us to do things we normally wouldn’t believe that we could do. That is certainly persuasion at work!
The power to persuade combines these and can often "level the playing field" in so far as getting your ideas in play. Done right, your persuasion will create the support that you need to implement the idea ("buy-in") as you go.
Many of my clients have felt at one time or another that logic was the main force at work in business persuasion (usually early in their careers). As time goes on, they witness idea after idea, backed by impeccable logic, failing to persuade those at which the ideas are aimed. This causes great disappointment and confusion in many business people, as it did with me, but now I am glad for it because it supplies me with such a wealth of clients!
The answer is that logic is quite important in persuasion, but it isn’t enough. In fact, it is just a little more than the bare necessity. The emotional element is richer and bigger than most of us ever imagine. For our first lesson, I will cover that aspect of persuasion.
A logical argument (about which I have just finished a series of newsletters) is at its best a series of statements well-supported by sound evidence. Logic, when delivered well, is persuasive because the statements and evidence are consistent with a conclusion that we can accept. They may not, however, cause someone to change their mind about some long held belief. Nor will logic alone cause someone to act. Nor will it cause them to respond if they don't know they should care about the issue. That is where the emotional component comes in.
When I describe the “emotional” components of persuasion the first time, almost everyone gets a little distracted by the word. They start to think about someone being hysterical, or crying, or angry, storming and fuming to get their way. That is generally NOT persuasive, especially in a business setting and certainly not what I mean.
Think of these elements of persuasion that are NOT strictly “logical”:
The persuasiveness of credibility. Someone you feel is credible is more likely to be persuasive than someone you feel is not credible.
An argument that aligns with one’s values. We have all heard that we need to consider the “what’s in it for me (WIIFM)” factor when we are trying to persuade someone. That is because most people value their self-interest pretty highly. We will learn to connect with other beliefs and values as well, and get the same kind of persuasive result over the next few weeks.
An argument that is imaginatively and emotionally appealing. That is, an argument that we make to persuade someone in which we create something they can picture in their minds and anticipate the enjoyment of experiencing it.
An argument that uses language that someone finds particularly appealing and is persuaded by it based on the choice of words and the feelings they inspire.
An argument made at the right moment in time to have maximum persuasive effect.
An argument that creates in another person the desire to act in a timely manner.
As we can see, the elements of persuasion that are NOT logic based are rich and essential (and many). Yet, when we fail to be persuasive we seem to go back to examine our logic, as if a little more evidence is the only thing that would “induce someone” to accept that which we wanted them to accept. It is as if when the car fails to start, we start our diagnosis by checking the tire pressure. Maybe that’s because the only tool we have is a tire gauge!
Over the next few weeks, I will share with you those things that we find most persuasive in an effort to help you begin to help percolate better ideas thorough your company and even get others to act on them. For now, just recognize that while the facts are important, they are only a fraction of the elements important to good persuasion and be open to learning more about the emotional elements.
Insist on great business results! Go to Pathfinder Communication
Let’s start with a definition that says to persuade is to "induce to believe by appealing to reason or understanding”. This definition indicates that if I persuade you, I am somehow using reason to do so. That’s good to remember, but not always the case. The same definition allows me to appeal to your understanding of something and use that to induce you. This needn’t be a purely logical appeal, so that means that we can use emotion as well.
Some of my clients have said that they don’t think they can be persuasive because those with authority can veto their ideas, which can make them feel powerless, and even angry or humiliated. What I can attest to is that there are different kinds of power that are used in business. There is the authoritative power about which they are talking, and there is also the power that comes from expertise. I know that many times, the power of expertise can cause someone with a great deal of authority to change their mind about something. There is also the power of charisma. We see this from informal leaders that may not have direct authority over us, and may not be experts, but they can inspire us and cause us to do things we normally wouldn’t believe that we could do. That is certainly persuasion at work!
The power to persuade combines these and can often "level the playing field" in so far as getting your ideas in play. Done right, your persuasion will create the support that you need to implement the idea ("buy-in") as you go.
Many of my clients have felt at one time or another that logic was the main force at work in business persuasion (usually early in their careers). As time goes on, they witness idea after idea, backed by impeccable logic, failing to persuade those at which the ideas are aimed. This causes great disappointment and confusion in many business people, as it did with me, but now I am glad for it because it supplies me with such a wealth of clients!
The answer is that logic is quite important in persuasion, but it isn’t enough. In fact, it is just a little more than the bare necessity. The emotional element is richer and bigger than most of us ever imagine. For our first lesson, I will cover that aspect of persuasion.
A logical argument (about which I have just finished a series of newsletters) is at its best a series of statements well-supported by sound evidence. Logic, when delivered well, is persuasive because the statements and evidence are consistent with a conclusion that we can accept. They may not, however, cause someone to change their mind about some long held belief. Nor will logic alone cause someone to act. Nor will it cause them to respond if they don't know they should care about the issue. That is where the emotional component comes in.
When I describe the “emotional” components of persuasion the first time, almost everyone gets a little distracted by the word. They start to think about someone being hysterical, or crying, or angry, storming and fuming to get their way. That is generally NOT persuasive, especially in a business setting and certainly not what I mean.
Think of these elements of persuasion that are NOT strictly “logical”:
The persuasiveness of credibility. Someone you feel is credible is more likely to be persuasive than someone you feel is not credible.
An argument that aligns with one’s values. We have all heard that we need to consider the “what’s in it for me (WIIFM)” factor when we are trying to persuade someone. That is because most people value their self-interest pretty highly. We will learn to connect with other beliefs and values as well, and get the same kind of persuasive result over the next few weeks.
An argument that is imaginatively and emotionally appealing. That is, an argument that we make to persuade someone in which we create something they can picture in their minds and anticipate the enjoyment of experiencing it.
An argument that uses language that someone finds particularly appealing and is persuaded by it based on the choice of words and the feelings they inspire.
An argument made at the right moment in time to have maximum persuasive effect.
An argument that creates in another person the desire to act in a timely manner.
As we can see, the elements of persuasion that are NOT logic based are rich and essential (and many). Yet, when we fail to be persuasive we seem to go back to examine our logic, as if a little more evidence is the only thing that would “induce someone” to accept that which we wanted them to accept. It is as if when the car fails to start, we start our diagnosis by checking the tire pressure. Maybe that’s because the only tool we have is a tire gauge!
Over the next few weeks, I will share with you those things that we find most persuasive in an effort to help you begin to help percolate better ideas thorough your company and even get others to act on them. For now, just recognize that while the facts are important, they are only a fraction of the elements important to good persuasion and be open to learning more about the emotional elements.
Insist on great business results! Go to Pathfinder Communication
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