The Sales Psychology Influence and Persuasion

It is amazing how the human mind works and how we are predisposed to long ingrained behaviors, habits and beliefs. Part of marketing is introducing a product, service or brand to an individual to foster top of mind experiences while stimulating a call to action.

Marketing is sometimes looked upon as demonic and manipulative although when utilized by a social entrepreneur who is offering value in a win win scenario it can generate positive life saving outcomes for the buyer or consumer e.g. telephone service, fire extinguishers, organic foods, ending wars, cures for fatal diseases, etc. In the wrong hands it ignites a maelstrom of negative images about what marketing is all about.. that should demonstrate how powerful marketing is if people come to fear it.

I'd like to share with you some techniques, six powerful principles of behavioral persuasion, used in marketing that actually work. It has been studied and documented by Dr. Robert Cialdini.



1. Reciprocation 2. Consistency and Commitment 3. Social Proof 4. Authority 5. Liking (the person who is trying to influence us)

6. Scarcity Power Principles of Persuasion 1. Reciprocation When someone gives a person something, the other person will feel the need to comply with that person. That is why companies give out free samples or gifts. Picture walking through an airport and a hare Krishna comes up hands you a flower as a gift. You hesitate for a moment, and then accept it. Then you are asked for a donation to their cause. You want to leave, you don't want to pay, you don't believe in the cause. Yet, what you do? You make a donation and leave. You have just been trapped in the normal human compulsion to reciprocate one kindness with another.

2. Commitment/Consistency People will be more prone to move in a particular direction if they see it as being consistent with their previous commitment. When you have to criticise someone, say at work, how often do you say something like 'I think you're great but this is not good enough' This actually causes the person to lose respect for you, because the compliment followed by the word but, is an obvious manipulation and not sincere or believable, but designed to make the other person accept your criticism.

However, if you do not the use the word but at all, and start with the negative and then say... and yet you have all these great qualities such as....the person will actually be more likely to accept the criticism and like you, and respect you.

3. Authority People are more willing to follow the directions or recommendations of a communicator to whom they attribute relevant authority or expertise. For example, people in business suits and uniforms are seen as more credible than people in causal dress. And people are more willing to comply with an authority figure.

4. Social Validation People have a tendency to take an action if there is evidence that many others are doing it. For example, more people prefer Brand A than the other leading brand.

5. Scarcity People find objects and opportunities more attractive to the degree that they are scarce, rare, or dwindling in availability.

6. Liking/Friendship People prefer to say yes to those they know and like.

Television shows use canned laughter, bar-people "salt" their tip jars at the start of a shift, evangelical preachers have been known to seed their audiences with "ringers" who are programmed to come forward and commit at the right moment, and auctions at fund raisers have "plants" who either start the bidding process or up the ante during the bidding process.

As you see these seem like common sense marketing issues although we fail to recognize people spend all day in auto pilot and don't recognize when there are more subtle marketing techniques of influence being applied. To ensure sustained backend business and loyalty it is important to recognize some of these techniques are antiquated and noticed from miles away.

The techniques used in marketing and persuasion are not ethically bad nor good, that is the domain of the person creating the strategy and how it will be used. The strategies of influence are just what they are. We use these techniques with our kids when we need them to do something, we use them with colleagues when we have something they need to participate in, and they are even used in the dating game. Whatever way you view the use of marketing strategies and techniques it is all about psychology and as long as humans think and have patterns of behavior marketing will be a key mechanism to opening up gateways of communication and influence.

The Sales Psychology Influence and Persuasion - To learn more about this author, visit Carson Tang's Website.

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