Use These 6 Principles To Become More Influential And Persuasive

Life

4.Liking

This principle is pretty much basic, we prefer to say yes to the requests of someone we know and like. It has been often said that the main work of a trial attorney is to make a jury like his client, not to establish his innocence.

This principle of liking or the obligations of friendship is something that is craftily exploited with pyramid schemes and peer to peer sales promoted by corporations like Amway and Herbalife. Cialdini says, " no surprise that people prefer to say yes to a request to the degree that they know and like the requester. A simple way to make things happen in your direction is to uncover genuine similarities or parallels that exist between you and the person you want to influence, and then raise them to the surface. That increases rapport."

5.Authority

When we hear the term authority, we tend to associate power with it. However, as per Cialdini's words "it is not about being in authority and using that lever to move people in your direction, rather about being an authority on something. Someone who is perceived as a credible source of information that people can use to make good choices. This is exactly why you see experts appearing in advertisements. If you want to persuade someone to invest in your startup, then being the authority in the field of business will increase the chances of your request being granted by ten times.

6.Scarcity

Scarcity is the single principle used by the leading smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi to persuade thousands and thousands of people to buy their phones. The marketing technique they use is called 'flash sales', where the customer is given a limited window of time to buy the device from a limited stock.

Cialdini writes, opportunities seem more valuable to us when their availability is limited. The idea of potential loss plays a large role in human decision making. In fact, people seem to be more motivated by the thought of losing something than by the thought of gaining something of equal value. This phenomenon is called loss aversion.

In the interview, Cialdini says, "people will try to seize those opportunities that you offer them that are rare or scarce, dwindling in availability. That's an important reminder that we need to differentiate what we have to offer that is different from our rivals or competitors. That way we can tell people honestly, "You can only get this aspect, or this feature, or this combination of advantages by moving in the direction that I'm recommending."