THE SECRETS FROM THE SCIENCE OF PERSUASION-3

5) LIKING

Our 5^th universal principle of influence is the principle of LIKING. People prefer to say yes to those whom they like. The Persuasion science tells us that there are 3 important factors.

i)                We like people who are SIMILAR to us

ii)              We like people who pay us COMPLIMENTS

iii)            We like people who CO-OPERATE with us towards mutual goals

As more and more interactions we are having takes place online, it might be worth wondering whether these factors can be employed effectively in online negotiations.

In a series of negotiation studies carried out between MBA students of the well-known business schools, 1^st group were told TIME=MONEY, so get straight down to business. In this group around 55% were able to come to an agreement. A 2^nd group, however, were told before you begin negotiating, exchange some personal information with each other, identify similarities you share in common and then begin negotiating. In this group 90% of them were able to come to a successful and agreeable outcome.

So to harness this powerful principle of liking, be sure to look for every such similarity that you share with others and genuine compliments you can give before you get down to business.

6) CONSENSUS

The 6^th and final principle of persuasion is CONSENSUS. Especially when they aren’t certain, people will look to the actions and behaviors of others to determine their own.

You may have noticed often at hotels that a small card in the bathrooms that attempt to persuade to reuse their towels and linens. Most do this by drawing a guest attention to the benefits that the reuse can have on environmental protection. It turns out to be a pretty effective strategy leading to around 35% compliance but could there be an even more effective way? Well it turns out that about 75% of people who check into a hotel for 4 nights or longer will reuse their towels at some point during their stay. So what would happen if we take a lesson from the principle of consensus and simply include that information on the card and said, “75% of our guests reuse their towels at sometime during their stay. So please do so as well”. It turns out that when we do this, towel use rises by 26%. Now imagine that next time you stay in the hotel you saw one of these signals, you picked it up and read the following message – “75% of people who have stayed in this room have reused their towels”. What would you think? Well you might think, “I hope they are not the same towels” and like most people you probably think that this sign will have no influence on you behavior whatsoever. But it turns out that change in just few words on a sign to honestly point out what comparable previous guests had done was this single most effective message leading to 33% increase in reuse.

 So these are some shortcuts of persuasion which can drastically change your life.

Thank you for your time. You can suggest any thing on which we can discuss upon.

THE SECRETS FROM THE SCIENCE OF PERSUASION-2

Hey folks, let us discuss about the other shortcuts for science of persuasion

3) AUTHORITY

Our 3^rd universal principle of influence is the principle of AUTHORITY. It is the idea that people follow the lead of credible knowledgeable experts.

Physiotherapists, for an instance, are able to persuade more their patients to comply with recommended exercise programs if they display the medical diploma of the wall of their consulting rooms.

People are likely to give more change for a parking meter to a complete stranger if that requester wears uniform rather than casual clothes.

According to science it is important to signal to others what makes you a credible knowledgeable authority before you make your influence attempt. Of course this thing can present many problems. You can hardly go around telling potential customers how brilliant you are. But can certainly arrange someone who can do it for you. And surprisingly the science tells us that it doesn’t seems to matter if the person who introduces you is not any connected to you but also like to prosper from the introduction themselves.

One group of real state agents were able to increase both, the number of property appraisals and the number of subsequent contracts that they wrote by arranging reception staffs who answered customer’s enquiries to first mention their colleagues quotation to the expertise. So customers interested letting properties were told, “Letting? Let me connect you to Mr. White who has experience of about 15 years in this area”. Customers who were interested in information of selling properties were told, “Speak to Mr. Brown, Head of Sales, who has over 20 years experience in selling properties”.

The impact of this expert introduction led to a 20% rise in the number of appointments and a 15% increase in the number of signed contracts. Its not bad for a small change informed from a persuasion science that was both ethical and cost less to implement.

4) CONSISTENCY

The 4^th universal principle of persuasion is CONSISTENCY. People like to be consistent with the things they had previously said or done. Consistency is activated by looking for small initial commitments that can be made.

In one famous set of scientific studies, researchers found, rather unsurprisingly, that very few people would be willing to erect an unsightly wooden board in front of their lawn to support a drive safely campaign in their neighborhood. However, in a similar neighborhood close by 4 times as many home owners indicated that they would be willing to erect this unsightly boar. Why? Because 10 days previously they had agreed to place a small postcard in the front window of their home that signaled their support for drive safely campaign. That small card was the initial commitment that led to 400% increase in a much bigger but still consistent change.

So when seeking to influence using principle of consistency, the detective of influence looks for voluntary, active and public commitments and ideally gets those commitments in writing.

      For an instance, according to one recent scientific study, there were reduced missed appointments       at health centers by 18% simply by asking the patients rather than the staff to write down                     appointment details on the future appointment card.

Thank you for your time.

THE SECRETS FROM THE SCIENCE OF PERSUASION-1

Persuasion Power is the most important tool that you need to carry in your business world. Persuasive Power means convincing power, which is needed every now and then in our life. Don't you think so?

If you have it, you can win the world. But if you lack it, you can gain it back. Here I will try to estimate some Shortcuts fro the Science of Persuasion.

1) RECIPROCITY

The 1^st universal principle of influence is RECIPROCITY. Simply put people oblige to give back to other the foremost behavior, gift or service that they have received first.

If a friend invites you to their party, there’s an obligation that you should invite him/her in the future party that you are hosting. If a colleague does you a favor, then you owe that colleague a favor. So in the context of social obligation people are most likely to say yes to them.

Best demonstration of principle of reciprocity is the series of study that was conducted in the restaurants. So the next time you visit a restaurant, there is a good chance that waiter or waitress will be giving you a gift. Probably at the same time they will bring you a bill with a cookie or perhaps a simple mint. So here is the question. Does the giving of the mint have any influence over how much tip you are going to leave them? Most people will say ‘NO’. But that mint can make a surprising difference. In the scientific study it was found that giving customers 1 mint at the end of the meal can typically increase tip by around 3%. Interestingly if the gift is doubled i.e. if 2 mints are provided, gift don’t double; they quadruple. So around 14% increase in tip was found. Perhaps most interesting is the fact that if the waiter provides 1 mint, walks away from the table, pauses, turns back and says ‘For you nice people here’s an extra mint’; tips goes through the roof  and there was 23% increase in tip influence not by what is given but by how it was given.

So the key to the principle of persuasion is to be the first to give and what you give must be personalized and unexpected.

  

2) SCARCITY

The 2^nd universal principle of persuasion is SCARCITY. People want more of those things they can have less of.

British Airways announced in 2003 that they will be no longer operating twice daily London – New-York flight because it had become uneconomical to run. Sales the very next day took off. Nothing had changed about the flight; it certainly didn’t fly any faster, the services suddenly didn’t get better and the air fair didn’t drop. It had simply become a scare resource and a result people wanted it more.

So when it comes to effectively persuading others using the scarcity principle, the science is clear. Its not enough simply to tell people about the benefits they will gain if they choose your product and services, you will also need to point out what’s unique about your product and what they stand to loose if they fail to consider your proposal.

     

Thank you for your time. We will shortly have a look over other shortcuts too.