how great people find great projects (part-1)

Continuing from my last article "Finding Great People for Great Projects", I'm moving to finding those great people those great projects, spread over two articles. This deals with the principles of influence / persuasion and how when you've found the perfect job for you, how you apply some proven and subconsciously based persuasion techniques to.....

kill what you've hunted down

As I was reminded the other day, much of what we do is an “art form” perfected through focus, experience and learning. Project Management, Design, Implementation and frankly when applying for jobs: Salesmanship (the Art of Persuasion) is an Art Form

the art of persuasion 

The Art of Persuasion makes the science of success a reality. The art of getting others to see things as you see them (persuasion) is a key skill for any job seeker. It’s of course very important to understand you are not persuading someone to “buy” something they don’t want or need, but merely using your persuasive skills to cut through the noise and inevitable misunderstandings along the way, in order to show them that you’re 100% the right person to solve their challenges and help them meet their goals. 

you don’t have to believe it, just do it

Back to the Persuasive skills. There are six great and proven persuaders that do not necessarily need belief, but do need adherence as they all subconsciously lead toward your successful placement. the bottom-line is that persuasion operates at a subconscious level predominantly as it is this level of the brain that controls us and our decisions:

rapport

A critical part of any transaction between two people, is the creation and maintaining of rapport. It’s no easy task as for any agreement to ever be reached, means the two parties need to be in that state. defining rapport is simply to understand rapport is a subconscious communication and is defined as people like to do business with people who are like them.

reciprocity

A study was undertaken sometime back in a US Restaurant. A waiter was asked to undertake three different types of giving gate check to their customers over a period of time. 

The first was when asked to bring over the check for payment, to place it on the table and walk away. Typically, when returning the waiter was given around 10% tip. 

The second time, the waiter was asked to bring the check and to leave two candies along with the check. This time typically, she was given around 15% tip.

The third time, as per the second, however this time when walking away from the table to turn back, smile and tell the customer they were such a good customer and give them two further candies. This time, the tip rose to an average of 20%.

The moral of the story is simple, give first and the receiving party’s subconscious brain processes a debt due. When entering a meeting, always always give first for the “buying” party to process they owe you something, be that a cup of coffee, an extra few minutes, some courtesy otherwise not usually given. The power of the subconscious brain.

scarcity

This, along with Rapport is arguably the most critical to avoid a human’s inability to make a decision, We are more driven by the “fear of loss” (pain) than we are to gain pleasure (we’d all be millionaires if not!). 

We see pending loss selling all over, on every transactional website. Equally so, any hiring manager needs to know the window before them for a candidate they like, in case they should lose the chance to hire you.

consistency

We as humans feel the need to be consistent in any given situation. Once we have verbalized our commitment to a belief, value to view, we tend to follow-through in that situation. It therefore follows that a little bit of commitment goes a long, long way. Micro agreements early on establish beliefs, values and viewpoints that assuming you as a consultant can be delivered agains place you in the strongest position for the role.

consensus

This is evident everyday in life - followers, believing “strength in numbers” is happening all around us. 

An experiment was done several years ago when “re-use your towels” in hotels was introduced under the presence of sustainability. Initial hotels would place the usual “please re-use, we’re green” card on the front desk, only to find it was ignored. Then they stepped it up and placed it in the bedroom and saw increased re-use. However, it was when they placed the card with a note stating “90% of people who use this room, re-use their towels, sheets etc” saw a huge uplift in re-use. 

From a recruitment perspective, the better the branded company association and or recognizable/credible references a candidate has, the easier to hire!

authority

Ever wonder why people in general have a tendency to obey figures of authority, even if those figures of authority are objectionable and ask others to commit objectionable acts? It’s simply the essential nature of the human animal!

Communicating Authority as with anything in life, comes in three forms: Words only 7%, Tonality five times more important at 35% and Body-language at a whopping 48%. How you look, in terms of clothing, carrying yourself, and the main facial and body movements define your authority. Know your subject passionately and your authority will come through.

Next-up, we look at searching out the right job, preparing your personal marketing collaterals and "nailing" that interview slot......

If in the meantime, I can help you locating that perfect project or perfect candidate, would love to hear from you. Drop me a line (www.dhirubhai.net/in/andrew-sparrow-b5bb78146)