The Six Rules for Successful Persuasion

I hear this all the time from successful folks in all walks of life — teachers, managers, computer coders, restaurateurs and more. People who are selling naturally try to persuade others to do what they prefer them to do, such as study, complete the tasks assigned, get your coding finished on time, come dine with me and so on.

I thought once and for all it would be fun to show the Six Main Sales Rules. These come from the godfather of sales, Robert Cialdini, author of “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.”

Reciprocity: If you do something for someone, they will feel compelled to return the favor — often to a greater degree.

My college asked for money several times a year for many years. I was busy and my money was busy flowing somewhere else, so I ignored the requests. One day, I got a basketball shirt in the mail from The Citadel, along with a handwritten note asking for any support I could give to the athletic fund. I whipped out the checkbook that day and still wear the T-shirt. This one works: give before getting. I knew what they were doing, and it worked anyway.

Commitment: Getting someone to say “yes” to a small request can lead to them agreeing to larger ones later. “Can I buy you a drink,” for example. Use the foot-in-the-door technique. Many sales teams find that once they meet in-person, the odds of closing go up by a large factor.

Social proof: People look to the actions and behaviors of others to determine their own.

We had a steel company as a client and our contact was Earl Jackson. Earl loved our software and was a great reference account. Our prospects enjoyed seeing how a steel plant worked and by the end of the tour were convinced that if the software worked for a place that poured molten steel into steel beams, then it would certainly work for them. Earl also was a natural salesman and between his endorsement and the plant tour it was hard for the prospect to say no.

Liking: People are more easily persuaded by those they like. This can be due to physical attractiveness, similarity, compliments or just having a good rapport. Salespeople often try to find common ground with customers to build rapport. Be genuinely interested in your prospects. If you are liked, you have a chance. Not liked, no chance.

Authority: People tend to obey authority figures. Position yourself as an authority on what you do. These days, to be an authority you can speak at industry events or host a podcast about your chosen field or be a social media warrior or maybe even write an article in the local business magazine.

Scarcity: Perceived scarcity generates demand. When something is rare or difficult to obtain, it becomes more desirable. This works, and you need to have some honest method to deliver the message consistently. “I would like to help you, but you need to know that we can only handle ‘X’ per month.” This works to get them to take the conversation seriously and more quickly get to the real discussion.

Cialdini’s work is the best description of the main drivers of sales. Anyone can use any or all these techniques to increase sales. I personally like reciprocity the best, as by helping others first we always get more than we gave in the first place.

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This article was originally posted on Upstate Business Journal.