The Influence Academy

The concept of Free (not freedom)
As I sit on yet another flight, moderately bored, slightly frustrated and eagerly anticipating my arrival, my thoughts and observations turn to what is around me. I have always been rather amused by passengers on planes. Trying to appear like old hats, experts at the art, whilst not giving up the age old traveller trait of being completely reliant on the people moving them from place to place. I have witnessed capable people, indeed sometimes captains of industry, appear childlike in requests for food, extra blankets and assorted favours normally reserved for the less abled and powerful. I agree that some of the power is ceded to flight attendants, taxi drivers and hotel clerks but we are speaking of humans who are normally able to earn salaries and feed themselves successfully, reduced doe eyed and asking “could I have some more”
This is not though, what has caught my attention today. Today I am musing on the concept of “free”. Yes stuff you get, or appear to get, for nothing and how that messes with our minds. The fact that nothing may be really without cost, either financial or the opportunity version of cost, I would like to ignore for now. I’m speaking of really free, someone offering you a product or service, without asking or implying that you have to pay a financial penalty for that good or service at the time. What has focussed my attention to this today is my flight. By all accounts a great flight, Dubai to Johannesburg leaving at 10am is the most civilised if flights. Being a workday it’s a great excuse to think, catch up, watch a movie and generally goof off with no associated bad feelings. It is really one of my guilty pleasures and today it’s exacerbated by an unexpected bump up to business class.
It’s 11:30am and the attendant smartly addresses me by name and asks me if I prefer red or white wine with my three course meal… Wine, a meal!! I was asleep four hours before, and breakfasting barely three hours earlier. So after indicating that I am to be the cheap date today I cast my eyes around me at fellow normal thinking passengers doing the most insane thing I have seen, eating a meal, reserved normally for 8pm in the evening and quaffing champagne and wine by the glass with supercilious grins on their collective faces. Now I’ve seen this madness at all times, being a frequent flyer to and from Johannesburg I am used to the late night trips back from Europe. They normally leave around midnight meaning, you know I’m going to say it, dinner is served at 2am, and again I sit in awe of people who under normal circumstances would never stay up until that ungodly hour to eat a meal, never mind an aircraft one.
And this I can only conclude must be related to “free”. Look at, for example, at another airline scenario. Hop on a full cost airline flying shorthall and you will probably be presented with a small sandwich, prepacked days earlier, as a snack. If you were served this morsel in a restaurant you would not hesitate to send it back. Watch what people do, they accept it and eat it with relish and the same supercilious look I mentioned earlier. Now, fly a low cost airliner where the same prepacked monstrosity is being sold for a couple of dollars. This will not break any bank in any way and what happens. Well with a quick anecdotal survey, you will notice around 80% of passengers are now far more discerning. The acceptance rate of the product drops from 80% on a full service airline to 20% on the paid version… Same sandwich, same passengers and a 160% swing in acceptance, again this can only be related to the concept of free. It’s not affordability, if you can pay hundreds of dollars for the flight you can pay for the snack. It’s not taste, the acceptance rate of the cost bearing airliner is substantially higher, no, it’s how we relate to free and perhaps to a lesser extent to the fact that something is offered or given by someone, and our predisposed response to that.
This becomes an interesting thought when presenting products to market. We all know that we are paying for the “free” airline meal when we pay more for the ticket. We are also prepared to do unusual things to benefit from the free aspect of the offer like staying awake until 2am to benefit from it. And this is for a benefit that we don’t really need or want (think of the grim prepacked $2 sandwich) and refuse when presented a price for it. It’s also not the saving offered by the two different packages, we know we can make saving by going low cost, so if we summarise:
• We will pay more for certain goods with free or extra services bundled.
• We will go out of our way to benefit from a free offer. i.e it does not need to be a good offer so long as it is presented as free.
• We will delude ourselves that we want unnecessary extras with an offering, which we would exclude if we had to pay for separately.
So think about this when you present your product to the market. Add some extra value, not too much though which I will discuss at a later time. Present the offer in a personal way. Don’t make your “free” stuff to easy to exercise or even good, as customers don’t really think that’s that important and try to show the value of your free stuff now and again.

As I have not posted a lot in a while, in my defense its been very busy in the IT industry of late, what with "digital disruption and the Internet of Things" , I've been a touch preoccupied, I have decided to ease back in with a basic tenet of influence.. the spoken word. Although persuasion and influence are anchored in all human interaction, including examples, actions, language and writing, I would hesitate to put any before the power of the "humble word"

Here are fifteen of the most persuasive words that, if integrated into your day to day language, will increase your personal influence immediately.

Please note, this list is not mine, you may have seen this before, but I attest to this as a comprehensive, powerful list of daily spoken words that will improve your interaction with anyone.

So here goes and use with care..

Discover -This generates Interest, evokes a feeling of opportunity and suggests a better life.

Good -This is not a high Powered word, which is the secret of its success: it evokes stability and security. If something is good for clients they will want to buy it. If it’s good it’s not bad. Everyone wants to be associated with good things.

Money - Few people feel they have enough and everyone wants more

Easy - Everyone wants more simplicity and the ability to do things more easily. If your product makes something easier for potential purchasers, they will be more likely to buy it.

Guaranteed - Most people fear taking a risk and they want to know if they have a problem that their backs are covered.

Health - I have my health, I have everything. If a product offers financial, emotional or physical health it is a huge advantage. To some this is more important than money

Love - Said to make the world go around, it’s a prime selling enticement

New - If it’s new it must be better improved and cutting edge. Unless a product is made specifically to evoke nostalgia the presumption is that new is great. Old is not good.

Proven - Although we like new things we want reliability as well. The product must be known to work and the best way is over a period of time – i.e. proven

Results - We want to know exactly what we are getting for our money. Also our product must get results i e perform.
Safe We all put value on safety and would like the products we are buying to reflect that

Save - We all have the desire to save money as well as to make it. It is very important that if a product we buy does not make us money that it will save it.

Own - Humans have a large desire to own things. The word owning is better than the word buying as it implies possession rather than spending. Rather talk owning than buying

Free - We often say you can’t get something for nothing but we are reluctant to believe it. Free is an eye catcher, you have to look or listen further. Gifts also activate reciprocity… use them wisely
Best - Best is any proven way is very good for a customer, especially if the best is close to home. Number one in RSA rather than in USA.

Until the next one....

A rather well documented psychological study done in the restaurant trade is well worth a mention as a follow up to practical reciprocity. It really shows what had already been supposed, the reciprocal gift received is normally far greater that the initial gift given.

The test examined waitrons at a restaurant and specifically the practice of giving away sweets to accompany the bill. This is done to elicit a tip from the patron, reminding them that the salaries of the servers are supplemented by extra money paid directly to them based on the levels of service, friendliness and efficiency.

There is generally no obligation to pay anything, however the general scope of tips received varies between 3% and 12%.

It was found that by not giving a gift at the time of presenting the bill generally elicited a tip of around 6% of the value of the total amount for the meal. A simple addition of one piece of candy per patron boosted the average tip to 10%, is a whopping 40% improvement with the addition of a gift costing cents.

The best return however happened when the waitron gave the bill with the treats and then turned to leave. The server would then pause, turn back to the table and say "you were such a great group to serve, please take another sweet from me with my pleasure" This, dear friends, increased the tips to an average of 14%, another massive 40% return on the one sweet approach.

A simple experiment showing that there is no correlation between the value of the gifts given between the parties, the only things that matter are:

Make sure that you initiate the transaction - Give the first gift
Make the gift personal and sincere.

Till next time.....

In this post I discuss the act of giving and its place in the science of influence and persuasion. This is indeed one of the most powerful and least understood aspects of our makeup, due in part to the fact that it sparked some early acceleration of humanity in us and that it is so pervasive in our lives.

“We are human because our ancestors learned to share food and skill in an honoured network of obligation”

Richard Leakey Anthropologist

Its interesting to suppose the "network of obligation" that Dr Leakey refers to is one of the most powerful cornerstones of influence. Reciprocity, or the act of giving something to someone without having something defined expected in return, probably was one of the sparks which accelerated the "humanising" of Homo Sapiens during the "cognitive revolution" around 70 000 years ago. At some point during this dim and distant time one member of a tribe recognised that they were a better hunter and gave part of their haul to someone they knew was a better shoemaker in the hope that they would offer up a pair of boots in return.

This momentous single act initiated the specialisation in humans that has accelerated all progress that we see today. The time the shoemaker saved in abortive hunting expeditions would allow for improvements in tools, skills and materials resulting in a superior product, as well as cementing the profession of shoemaker in the tribal hierarchy.

This act has become entrenched in our psychology almost to the point where the response to the giving and receiving of gifts or assistance might be called "instinct." The inherent trigger remains ever powerful in us today. When given a gift, especially if its unexpected, thoughtful and intriguing, the response is programmed to the point that it would be very difficult for any human not to respond in kind.

Just imagine if you had assisted someone at work on a project and they refused to reciprocate when offered the opportunity to do so. They would be considered a "loner, selfish and not a team player" among many other epithets. A persons non repayment of a reciprocal debt or favour is considered one of the most repugnant of acts. (Imagine I had helped you move last weekend and you refused to help me move this weekend).

Our psychological makeup and our societal organisation uses reciprocity as one of the cornerstones of our personal interaction, so the very act that has created scientists or electrical engineers is also the key anchor which can assist one person to influence another.

More on practical examples of reciprocity in the next post...

The very words "Influence and Persuasion" often and in many societies and cultures can have negative perceptions. You would have heard statements like "he was under the influence" normally of liquor, or she is a "bad influence," and how often are scam artists accused of being persuasive. This really leaves the average person with a very poor view of the words and consequences of the outcomes of such.

Whilst I cant disagree that the mastery of persuasion and influence can make people do things they may not have done without being subjected to its wiles, I must mention an number of things in mitigation:

People will not be persuaded if it against their will. If someone does not want to be persuaded of something it is near impossible to change their minds.

Professional and experienced Influencers will act ethically at all times. Yes as you become more influential and persuasive you will realise that there is a line that you should protect, and that crossing that line would breach moral boundaries.

And finally that influence and persuasion is a part of our daily lives whether we know that or not. In fact the very first thing you probably did as a newborn was to crudely persuade your mother that you were hungry and cold and in need of love. All I do is unravel this art and place it at your disposal.

So finally for this post I leave you with a simple definition of both influence and persuasion and as you will see, they are not such bad things at all.

Influence
The capacity to have an effect on the character, development or behavior of someone or something, or the effect itself.

Persuade
Induce (someone) to do something through reasoning or argument

Till next time...

As a follow up to anchors I wanted to share an example of how important they can be in daily activities as influential tools. Anchors are not only people perceptive ideas of what a product represents or what its value is but also serve as reminders to us of, well anything in fact. So the smell of coconuts reminds me of the beach holidays of my youth, not because we holidayed on tropical isles, but my mother only used a brand of sunscreen that smelled of the fruit. That still today, 40 years later, is a powerful anchor for me to the point I can feel the sun and the wind on my skin and hear my brothers laughter as we build sand castles together.

The wonderful thing about anchors is that they are totally configurable, like the Lego of the mind. Anyone has the ability to create these associations using a number of techniques in other people. A simple example is saying "clever girl" to your daughter every time she completes her Math homework correctly. This association, especially if made in the presence of other siblings will create a desire for the recognition. Even if the next recognition goes to your son "clever boy" it will reinforce and bring back memories of the good feelings your daughter experienced when she experienced this. As you will soon see the anchor is set and a simple, " be a clever girl and go and do your homework" will become a powerful persuasive tool in your newfound armory.

Interesting note on setting anchors. A very simple example is after the discovery of black pearls in the oceans off of the South American coast, the problem was where to position them in the market versus their white counterparts. I mean, what is the value of a white pearl, it has a rarity, desirability and perceptive value that sets a retail price. This price is accepted worldwide and all advertising and industry positioning supports this price. So now the conundrum, you have discovered a sustainable supply of their black cousins, where do you position them. Well the discoverers decided to sell them in high street jewelers, prominently displayed next to diamond and ruby pieces at super high prices. The anchor was set and now black pearls, a simple colour variation from a white pearl, commands up to 40% more in high street stores. No good reason except that buyers expect the price to be nearly double. Remember anchors in your dealings with people, they are most powerful.

Its interesting to suppose that one of the cornerstones of influence, reciprocity, or the act of giving something to someone without having something defined given in return, probably was one of the sparks which accelerated the "humanising" of Homo Sapiens during the "cognitive revolution" around 70 000 years ago. The fact that one member of a tribe would recognise that they were a better hunter and would "gift" part of their haul to someone they recognised as a better shoemaker in the hope that they would offer up a pair of boots, initiated the specialisation that accelerated all progress that we see today. So the very act that has created scientists or electrical engineers has also awakened the anchor to allow one person to influence another.

I am very pleased to announce that I am embarking on a number of "Pro Bono" talks aimed at high schools, charitable organisations, associations and higher learning institutions. I am starting in July 2016 and would like to concentrate on the Gauteng region.

These presentations are free of charge and I invite any of the aforementioned parties to get into contact with me to book for your event. The talks will be the Psychology of Influence, Personal Influence and Influencing Groups. Please share this with as many groups as you know.

The talks are funny, fast paced and unlock the keys to a more persuasive you.

Please get in contact with me either on the page or Paul at 082 857 7036.

Quote of the week

"Power lasts ten years; influence not more than a hundred."
Korean Proverb

A CFO asks a CEO "What happens if we invest in our people and then they leave?"

"To which the CEO replies "Whats happens if we don't and they stay?"

As from next week we will have a "Quote of the week" instead of a "Quote of the day" This is the last daily version. Enjoy!!

"To listen well is as powerful a means of communication and influence as to talk well."
John Marshall