What You Don’t Know About Influence

At first, the buyer’s purchasing-making process may seem mysterious. Why do people make purchases? It is easy to oversimplify the drive behind buying habits as meeting the basic wants and needs of the buyer. But their motivation lies in profoundly rooted human wants and needs.

Understanding this premise is vital to making the most of the buyer’s purchasing process.

According to Robert Cialdini, professor emeritus of psychology and marketing at Arizona State University, influence is no longer just an art; it is an out-and-out science.”

Cialdini pulled together years of research on social influence into six universal principles for understanding attempts to influence human behavior. Sales professionals and entrepreneurs can use these principles to understand buyers’ purchasing behaviors better and determine which strategies are most likely to succeed.

1. Commitment:?Once someone is engaged, they are more likely to stick with something. Remember, being committed is very different from being interested in something.
2. Reciprocity:?Research has shown that if you do something for someone first, they are more likely to reciprocate. And despite the lack of conscious awareness of reciprocity being triggered, the effect is significant.
3. Authority:?People are likelier to engage with an expert than anyone off the street.
4. Consensus:?If more people do something, others will likely do it. When we are uncertain, we look for a second opinion, and those opinions often impact our decisions and preferences.
5. Liking:?People like the target buyer are likelier to influence the buyer to purchase from them. However, if sellers don’t build rapport, credibility, and trust with prospective buyers, they will be less likely to engage with the seller.
6. Scarcity:?People tend to want what they perceive they cannot have. The rarer or more difficult (not more complex) it is to obtain something, the more valuable it becomes. For example: “Only a few seats are left at a certain price.”

With these six principles of influence, salespeople and entrepreneurs can more adeptly navigate their potential buyer's purchasing process and convert more opportunities into sales. However, Cialdini warned against crossing the line between influence and manipulation, as the latter could spell disaster in the long run.

Happy Wednesday! Have a beautiful day.

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