Influence is important regardless of your position in the workplace. It doesn’t matter if you’re a manager, CEO or entrepreneur; it’s time to learn about how to persuade people to say “Yes!” Think about it; in order to accomplish anything in life that involves other people, you need to influence them to take action. It’s near impossible to complete major projects at work and hit deadlines without this aggressive action. Today, I’m going to expose a few of the big ideas in Robert Cialdini’s new book “Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive.”
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What common mistake causes messages to self-destruct?
Political groups condemn the rise in voter apathy and then watch their communication backfire as more and more voters fail to show up at the polls. Health centers place posters in the waiting room walls decrying the number of patients who don’t show up for their appointment. As a result, they don’t show up! By using negative social proof as part of a rallying cry, they might be inadvertently focusing the audience on the Prevalence, rather than the undesirability of that behavior.
How can a new superior product mean more sales than an interior one?
Williams-Sonoma, the kitchen retail store, offered a bread-making machine that was far superior to the best-selling bread maker that they stocked. When it was added, sales from the existing product doubled! This happens because when consumers consider a particular set of choices for a product, they tend to favor alternatives that are “compromise choices.” Compromise choices fall between what they need, at a minimum, and what they could possibly spend, at a maximum.
Which office item can make your influence stick?
If you guessed a pen or a paperweight, you are wrong. A survey was conducted by social scientist, Randy Garner, to see if Post-it Notes might have the power to enhance compliance with a written request made to another person. More than 75% of the people who received the survey with a sticky note request filled it out and returned it!
How can you become a Jedia master of persuasion?
In the Return of the Jedi, Luke Skywalker persuaded Darth Vader to turn against the evil emperor, saving his own life and restoring hope and peace to the galaxy. When Luke kept telling Darth that he knew there was still good in him, it convinced him to take action. This strategy is called the “Labeling technique,” which involves assigning a trait, attitude or belief to a person and then making a request of that person consistent with the label.
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Robert B. Cialdini is a social psychologist who is currently a Regents’ Professor of Psychology and a W.P. Carey Distinguished Professor of Marketing at Arizona State University. His books Influence: Science and Practice and Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion are the result of years of study into the reasons that people comply with requests in business and other settings. Together, they have sold over a million copies and have been translated into twenty languages and consistently ranks within the top one half of one percent of books sold on Amazon.com. Dr. Cialdini is President of Influence At Work, an international consulting, strategic planning and training organization based on the Six Principles of Influence.
