021 Influence
021 Influence. ⭐⭐⭐⭐½
By Robert B. Cialdini (320 Pages, 10 hrs 6 mins Audiobook)
“The Psychology of Persuasion.”
Summary
Have you ever dreamed of having the power to influence others? Or perhaps you are afraid that someone plays a Jedi mind trick and influence you? Many of us some times have these thoughts, probably wished we could have these powers.
On “Influence” The Psychology of Persuasion, Dr. Robert Cialdini, an expert of more than 35 years of experience as a behavioral scientist, and professor at Arizona State University, and Stanford University among others, presents this excellent book about persuasion, and the reason of why people say yes.
Teaching us not only the six universal rules for persuasion but also how to use them and how to defend ourselves against them. Perfect for people in all walks of life, the principles of influence will move you toward profound personal change and act as a driving force for your success.
Now you can use the expertise of one of Barack Obama’s and Hillary Clinton’s Presidential campaigns behavioral scientists. Every time you need him, at the palm of your hands.
So, get ready to understand why and how to influence people.
Ten Lessons Learned
1.- Weapons of Influence.
Our brain is a lazy little child, it doesn’t like to take hard decisions, so it relies on shortcuts learned before like: “Costly equals better;” “If an expert recommends something it most is good,” “If My friend recommends someone, he must be trustworthy.” It is how Compliance Professionals take advantage to manipulate the customers.
2.- Reciprocation.
As social entities, we try to make others like us, and so if we receive a gift, we feel obligated to return the favor. It is called the Rule of Reciprocation.
3.- Commitment.
When bargaining for something, be sure to start with a ridiculously low price, then bid more until the seller is satisfied with your price, if your client doesn’t accept your estimate, you can tell their not interested. Hence, the customer concedes and agrees with the final biding. This technique is known as the Rejection-Retreat strategy. You can also show some articles under the client’s expectations, and after, the product you want to sell. By comparison, the second option looks far better; this technique is called the “Contrast-Principal.” In both cases, close the deal with a handshake, contract, or agreement, so the customer feels committed to his decision.
Another way how to make a commitment work; is that when you have a goal, write it down and show it to people you respect; this will make you commit more.
4.- Consistency.
Our desire to keep or promises comes from the fact that we want others to see our actions to be consistent with what we say with what we do. And sometimes even at our own risk. If some stranger asks us to look for his thing while he is away and we accept, then we are more willing to protect their stuff.
5.- Social Proof.
When confronted with a discomforting situation, we look for others to validate our options, and if we are in a movie and other people laugh, we tend to laugh longer. If we see a crime on the street and no one says anything, we might ignore it, but if someone takes action, we are prone to follow. This behavior is due to the “Social Proof “and the “Bystander Inaction” principals.
6.- Liking the Liking Thief.
We make many of our decision by the way we perceive people; that is why, under similar parameters, we tend to vote the candidate we like the more appealing; this is called the Halo Effect. But this tendency can also lead us to bad examples; after a highly publicized suicide, the rate for people taking their lives increases, known as the Werther effect.
7.- Authority.
We often see famous people on TV sponsoring products, and we end buying them just because we see someone, we consider an “Expert,” talking about it. It is engraved in our brains since we were a little child; we learned to respect our parents, teachers, doctors, Etc. Therefore, we tend to obey what the authority tells us to do.
8.- Scarcity; Less Quantity Increases Value
We tend to value more something that we find It’s scarcer, and challenging to buy, that’s why we look for the “Sale, for limited time offers” or the “Going out of business” signs, to shop something we might not even need.
9.- Scarcity; Banning X is More Desirable
When we encounter something that is forbidden, we tend to want more; this is why the alcohol prohibition law, instead of reducing alcohol consumption, only made people look for underground suppliers. Another example is when the authorities ban a movie from the cinemas, sales, or rents of the DVD or streaming movies increase.
10.- Conclusion.
By learning to use these points, we can influence others to do something we want to do or stop using them against us. Combining them, we can tilt the balance to our favor. But we have to use them for good. If the other person discovers our efforts to manipulate him, we will not only lose the sale but the trust of our client.
This summary is intended for educational purposes, not as an alternative to the book.
If you are interested in a copy for yourself, click https://bit.ly/My100BooksProject021 👈
If you want to know more about the author, go to https://www.robertcialdinibf.com/
