Did you know that the principles of persuasion are trying to influence you in some way, all the time? You may not even realize it, but it’s happening.
Before we start talking about how to persuade and influence we should probably mention the godfather of the 6 principles of persuasion, Robert Cialdini. Cialdini compiled these principles of persuasion through his own research, and that of others, but if you start paying attention, you’ll notice them in your everyday life, as well.
I know each of you have businesses you want to grow, and one of the best ways to grow your revenue is with the first of the principles of persuasion, so let’s start there!
Principle #1: Reciprocation
As humans we naturally believe in the give and take. When we do someone a favor, we don’t always expect an immediate return, but we hope we’ll be repaid in some way some day.
There’s some real magic that happens when you do something for someone and instead of thinking “What are they going to do for me,” you say “I know you would do the same for me.”
One tiny tweak like that can change everything!
Your friends, your neighbors, colleagues, customers, and clients are more likely to help you because they understand how you’ve helped them and how you’ve expected nothing in return.
The natural inclination is to then WANT to help you, even if it happens somewhere down the road.
I use this in my regular life on a daily basis. I love to help others and one of the ways that I’ve done this is helping with referrals.
I won’t do it all the time, but if someone comes to me and asks for a specific referral and I trust both individuals, I’ll connect the two people.
Recently, I had a friend come to me and ask who was taking my photos because they’re amazing!
Since I love my photographer and she does an incredible job, I was all willing and happy to introduce my friend to my photographer. I ended my introduction saying, “I know you would do the same for me,” and I know my friend would! If there comes a time that she has a referral or recommendation that I’d like to connect with, she will happily return that favor.
Just remember that most people love to help one another, and principle #1 can be one of the easiest ways to grow your business.
Principle #2: Scarcity
My guess is that you’re probably familiar with this principle. If you’re not, you’ll start to see it EVERYWHERE after I explain!
Opportunities seem more valuable when they’re not openly available. This could be saying something as simple as “I have exclusive information,” or “This product is a limited edition.” All of those phrases make people pay attention and want to get in on the action as soon as they can.
You have all heard me talk about my friend Sean. He uses this method very effectively.
Sean runs Money Mind Academy, an online money mindset course. He makes the course more enticing by limiting the course size to 100 people ONLY. When people hear that, they know that they must act FAST and they want to attend even more!
Then, Sean adds an additional layer of scarcity by saying that enrollment closes on a specific date. If people wait because they don’t think 100 seats will fill quickly, the enrollment timeframe will end and leave them without Sean’s incredible course.
People want what they can’t have. It’s OUR job to really help people make the decisions that are going to help their business the most.
Principle #3: Authority
Authority is SO important for any of you who are in a service based business, especially my CPAs and accountants.
People follow, lead, and buy from those that are knowledgeable and credible.
Let’s go back to Sean…
Sean sells his course and adds scarcity to it, but the only reason he’s able to do this and still have success is because he has authority in the personal development field.
Sean has studied this topic for years. He’s read hundreds of books (I’ve seen them all over his house), he’s done research, and he’s compiled some of the best content from other educators, that are no longer alive at this time.
He took ALL of that information and compiled it into his course.
Who wouldn’t want to learn from an expert like Sean?? Sean has also created financial wealth for himself and has seen this success in his own life by following what he teaches.
If you want to use me as an example, I’ve been involved with sales in some way for OVER 20 years. I have a degree in finance. I have interviewed some of the most successful entrepreneurs of our time, and I use this information to keep fueling myself and my business forward.
When I hold my sales classes, people walk away with REAL and VALUABLE information. I’ve walked the talk first! I’ve been in your shoes and I teach what will get you real results like it has for me. My students GET results, and then are happy to provide me with testimonials that I can then use to prove my authority to someone who just “met” me.
Authority may just be THE most important principle, in my opinion!
Principle #4: Consistency and Commitment
How do you get someone to actually fully commit to working with you? How do you differentiate yourself from others in your field?
The first thing you want to do is take the time to get to know someone, whether it’s at a coopportunity event, or maybe someone you met standing in line at Starbucks.
Give them your best Brand Shake, a.k.a. your elevator pitch.
Let’s say you’re an accountant and you have a new prospect you’re trying to work with. You know you’ve done your best possible presentation and you’ve proven your authority in this field. But, you still can’t get the prospect to fully commit to choosing to work with you.
You can’t just stop pursuing individual prospects. You MUST really follow-up. If you follow-up in a professional way, people are more likely to give you more of their time because they know that you’re serious and want to work with them.
Be consistent! Share your best work, share testimonials, and then when your prospects decide not to commit right away, follow-up again. Don’t let a prospect fall through the cracks.
You can almost always turn a NO or a “not right now” into a YES, with the right consistent and committed follow up process.
Principle #5: Consensus
Many people look to others to determine what actions they’ll take. People aren’t always comfortable being the leader. Sometimes they’d rather follow others.
A great example of creating a feeling of consensus (and this was actually tested) is when you are watching a TV commercial or an infomercial and you hear the phrase, “If operators are busy, please call again.” It shows people that others are interested in the product, and that they MUST ACT FAST in order to purchase it, too.
When I am talking to accountants about my course, How To Sell Without Selling, I’m often asked if they could speak to past students of mine to hear if they found value.
They want others to tell them the course was valuable, and helped them make a decision to take the course.
People look at the actions of others to determine what they will do.
Principle #6: Liking
Are you familiar with the term, “Know, Like and Trust?”
If not, it’s time to get familiar!
People buy from people they know, like and trust.
How many times have you bought a few things from a little shop, simply because you adore the person who’s running it? Or, maybe you’ve built a relationship with your accountant. Since you’re going to need someone to handle your bookkeeping, you just stick with the same person since you know them, and you know they do good work. Even if they increase their fees, you stick with them because you know them, you like them, and you trust them.
I’d highly recommend you go back into my video archives on Facebook and watch all of the videos about building relationships and rapport – the foundational keys to the liking principle.
When FITzee Foods was still open, I built up relationships and great rapport with several buyers at bigger retail stores, one of them being The Vitamin Shoppe.
The Vitamin Shoppe could have worked with ANY other prepared foods company at the time when we were in the midst of pitching our products and ideas to this massive retailer. They were actually talking with another company, My Fit Foods, which had 50 retail stores and was a multi-million dollar company. We were only a one million dollar company at the time.
But because people buy from people the know, like and trust, they knew they could trust my team and that we’d get the work done since I had built up a solid relationship with them. They ended up choosing us over the others!
When I say it’s all about know, like, and trust… I’m not kidding!
Now that you have the 6 principles of persuasion, I know they can lead to some incredible sales growth with your company, if you put them all to work correctly.
I encourage you to take at least 3 of these principles of persuasion and put them to work in your business this week!
