If you are going to build and maintain a successful career as a financial planner, then being able to influence people seems essential to me.
I first began to get interested in influence during my career as a financial adviser. Primarily because I wasn’t very good at it!
Many times, I could see my service being of value to someone and yet they did not take action, which did not help them or me.
So, I began to explore the subject and what I have to share in this short piece I found extremely useful.
What is influence?
Influence is the ability to get others to listen to your ideas and, ultimately, take action. What I discovered is that it is not luck or magic, it has science behind it.
Over forty years ago Dr Robert Cialdini published his scientific findings behind what influences us in his book, ‘Influence: Science and practice’. Even though it was not a book about marketing it was hailed as the most important book on the subject of the decade.
Dr Cialdini discovered that although there are thousands of tactics used to influence, there are only six underlying principles of ethical influence. These are situations where we are socially conditioned to respond in a particular way. Dr Cialdini calls these responses fixed action patterns because they trigger a sequence of behaviours.
Two primary reasons to study and explore this material
1. As Dr Cialdini points out, “People’s ability to understand the factors that affect their behaviour is surprisingly poor.”
If you do not know how to positively influence someone then you are leaving things entirely to chance. Why put hundreds of hours of study into your career only to have opportunities to serve clients and build your prosperity go to waste?
2. The principles of ethical influence that Dr Cialdini uncovered are being used on you ALL THE TIME. You either know about them or you don’t. Knowing about them will help you understand why you make decisions and give you more choice.
If you want to know what these six principles are please click here for a short video of Dr Cialdini sharing them.
For the purposes of this article, I want to share three common situations you may find yourself in that show these principles in action:
1. If you have two options to present to a client, which should you present first, the more costly one or the less costly one?
The more costly one because, if rejected, you can retreat to the less costly one. The principle of reciprocation is at play.
2. If your product, service, or idea has both strengths and weaknesses, when should you present the weaknesses, early or late in your presentation?
Early, because it establishes credibility for everything you present later, including the strengths of your case. The principle of authority is at play.
3. If you have new information, when should you mention that it is new – before or after you present the information?
Before, so that your audience have a good reason to listen intently while you are sharing it. The principle of scarcity/exclusivity is at play.
The main point is that these principles exist whether you know about them or not.
Because they are deeply embedded into the way our society works, by knowing about them you can ensure you are using them to create better outcomes for everyone.
PS. We can inadvertently develop habits that work against us and influence people in the wrong way. I invite you to check out this list of 20 bad interpersonal habits by clicking here.
