Why Are Some People Extremely Persuasive While You Keep Falling for It? How to make yourself extremely persuasive is a skill that marketers, especially salespeople, need to think about and practice. Based on my practical experience, case analysis, and referencing Cialdini's "Influence," I have distilled the following seven methods to enhance persuasiveness.
1. Contrast Principle Why do things that no one wants sell out after the price is multiplied by 2? I have a friend who sells women's clothing. She had a style that wasn't selling well. It was during Double 12, and the store was packed with customers. She had already discounted the clothes to the point where she was making almost no profit, but they still wouldn't sell. To get rid of them, my friend tried several standard sales techniques: putting them in a more prominent display area to attract attention—it didn't work; she even had the salespeople push hard—but that didn't work either.
On the night before Christmas Eve, she went on a business trip. She hastily wrote a promotional price list for the sales staff for Christmas Eve, where the hard-to-sell clothes were listed at "original price multiplied by 1/2," intending to clear them out even at a loss. A few days later, she returned and found that the clothes had indeed been cleared out, but the salesperson had mistaken "1/2" for "2," and the clothes were sold at twice the original price! She was completely astonished.
In this case, we can see that the hard-to-sell clothes became twice the original price due to a pricing error. Compared to other promotional items, this item was much more expensive, and the subconscious notion of "you get what you pay for" led customers to make the purchase.
The contrast principle means: When faced with choices A and B, if A and B are evenly matched in pros and cons, people find it hard to decide and feel anxious. If people can clearly see that A's advantages outweigh B's, they will easily choose A. Therefore, in marketing, we must make it easy for customers to make a purchase decision and not let them agonize between two products. For example, display two products with similar functions together, positioning A as the main product and B as the supporting product. With B as a contrast, it becomes easy to sell A.
Similarly, when persuading others, we can compare two things to make it very easy for the other party to decide. In 1983, to persuade John Sculley, then president of Pepsi, to become CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs said, "Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want to come with me and change the world?" Sculley's answer was, "Change the world."
If we pay attention to life, we can see the contrast principle everywhere: Experienced melon seed sellers don't initially grab a full measure; they weigh it, find it short, then add a handful, giving customers a sense of value through comparison. Smart toy store owners price identical toys the same, making the larger toy sell well, but in reality, they deliberately inflate the price of the small toy to match the large one, using the small toy as a contrast so customers don't hesitate. During promotions, merchants always display the original price next to the discounted one for comparison. Perhaps someone will ask you, "Do you want to work as a soy sauce maker for the rest of your life, or come with me and change the world?"
2. Reciprocity Principle (Give, Take, Take Again) As the saying goes: "One who eats short, takes short." Why is that? A long time ago, I had a part-time job promoting Nanshan fresh milk at a residential area. The process was mainly like this: a large number of disposable cups, five or six bottles of different Nanshan fresh milk, and one or two cups already filled with milk to attract children to come and taste for free. I noticed that if a child accompanied by a parent tasted our milk, then 70-80% of the parents would agree to order a month's supply of milk to try, and only about 20% refused. The conversion rate was quite high.
From the above small case, we can see that it was the free tasting that worked, making the parents feel indebted, and they repaid us by ordering our milk.
The reciprocity principle means: We should respond to others' actions with similar actions. If someone does you a favor, you should repay it with kindness, not ignore it or repay kindness with enmity. In human society, those who accept favors without trying to reciprocate are not welcomed by social groups. For marketers, before closing a sale, we can find ways to give potential customers small benefits to trigger their sense of indebtedness, which greatly helps close the deal. For example, give small discounts to potential target customers, like free samples in supermarkets; give small surprises to regular customers, like follow-up visits; "fight" for price concessions from superiors for customers, etc. The purpose is to achieve "give, take, take again" through the reciprocity principle.
When it comes to the reciprocity principle, another must-mention is "reciprocal concession," commonly known as the "rejection-then-retreat" technique. Suppose you want me to agree to a request. To increase your chances, you can first make a larger request—one I'm sure to refuse. After I refuse, you make a smaller request, which is your real goal.
US President Trump, when he was a real estate tycoon, often used this trick. He revealed that when negotiating projects, he would quote prices far above cost, firmly claiming his price was already below cost. He knew the other party likely wouldn't agree, then he would pretend to be in pain and lower the price a bit, firmly claiming he was losing money, but in reality he was still making a lot. At that point, the other party would often close the deal.
3. Commitment and Consistency Principle How powerful is the commitment and consistency principle? Friends in car sales should know this trick: They offer certain customers a very favorable price, say 3,000 yuan lower than competitors for a certain model, but the deal isn't real; it's just to get the potential customer to decide to buy from their store. Once the customer decides, the dealer takes a series of actions to cultivate the customer's sense of personal commitment, like filling out a pile of purchase forms, arranging loan conditions, encouraging a full-day test drive, etc., making the customer feel the car is already theirs. Then the salesperson finds various reasons or makes up the 3,000 yuan from accessories. In the end, the price isn't actually 3,000 yuan cheaper, but the customer still buys 9 times out of 10.
Generally, due to human social nature, inconsistency between commitment and behavior creates immense social pressure. Subconsciously, people's internal moral system needs to stay consistent, so even if a commitment leads to a loss, they comfort themselves: "My choice was correct."
The commitment and consistency principle means: Once we make a choice or take a stance, we immediately face internal and external pressures to make our words and actions consistent with it. Under such pressure, we will try to prove our previous decision was right. In marketing, we need to find ways to get target consumers to make favorable commitments or take stances that benefit us.
Salespeople know this well: Small deals aren't about profit but about building commitment and trust. Once commitment and trust are established, business naturally follows. Small orders pave the way for full-scale selling. Once someone signs an order and buys your product, even if the profit is too thin to cover the time and effort of the call, they are no longer a potential customer—they become a real customer.
4. Social Proof Principle Why do people care so much about reviews when shopping on Taobao? There's a well-known trick in Taobao: buying credibility. When shopping on Taobao, we often choose crown stores, top-selling items, and products with rave reviews. The main reasons are: decision pressure is too high, and for ordinary products, there isn't enough time for decision analysis; decision cost is high, comparing stores on Taobao is time-consuming and laborious. If we use social proof and choose stores and products that most people have chosen, the risk is relatively lower.
The social proof principle means: When judging what is correct, we act based on others' opinions, especially when we have insufficient information, the situation is ambiguous, or it's urgent. If we see others doing something in a certain situation, we conclude it's reasonable.
Social proof has shown a bright landscape in marketing. In recent years, many people around me were "grabbing Xiaomi" phones; some stores hire people to line up, attracting potential consumers to join the queue; promotional activities use gimmicks to attract enough consumers, causing everyone to blindly follow and buy; JDB's slogan: "Ten bottles of herbal tea, seven are JDB"; Youlemei milk tea's slogan: "Connected, it can circle the earth twice"; what the advertising law prohibits: "××× sales are far ahead"; common sales tricks: "This is our best seller this year; we've sold ×× units today," etc.
5. Liking Principle As the saying goes: "Love me, love my dog." How can marketers use the "liking" influence? Many years ago, when I read "The Biography of Li Ka-shing," I came across a very touching sales story.
When Li Ka-shing was selling galvanized iron buckets at a hardware factory, a newly completed hotel was about to open. Several of Li's colleagues rushed to talk to the hotel owner but were all turned away. The reason was that the owner intended to deal with another hardware factory. Li didn't rush to see the owner; instead, he first learned about the owner from the hotel staff, discovering that the owner had a son who loved horse racing, and the owner doted on him. But with the hotel opening, the owner couldn't spare time to accompany his son. So Li asked the staff to introduce him, and he paid out of his own pocket to take the owner's son to watch horse racing. The son had a great time. The owner was deeply moved by Li's gesture, and in the end, Li successfully sold 380 iron buckets.
Li Ka-shing succeeded by building the owner's "liking" for him.
The liking principle means: Most of us are more likely to agree to requests from people we know and like. The main reasons for liking are the following four points:
- Physical attractiveness (everyone loves beauty)
- Similarity (birds of a feather flock together)
- Compliments (even if we know it's flattery, we still like it)
- Contact and cooperation (building a united front for a common goal)
Using the liking principle to complete marketing work is an essential skill for marketers. Inviting celebrities that target consumers like to endorse products is to make consumers love the product by association. In business negotiations, the good cop/bad cop routine often appears; the good cop often gains the other party's favor, and the other party is more likely to accept the good cop's requests. In B2B large deals, understanding the sales target's lifestyle, preferences, important holidays, etc., can greatly increase the probability of closing. In negotiations between regional managers and distributors, repeatedly emphasizing that you are there to build a united front for the same goal makes distributors more likely to make concessions.
6. Authority Principle (Respect Under Indoctrination) How to make yourself (appear) authoritative? Whether you admit it or not, the world is becoming more diverse, communities are rising, and opinion leaders have authority in small circles.
Online celebrity Taobao stores are a typical example of using authority to do business. Take women's clothing internet celebrities on Taobao: They often have millions of followers on Taobao and Weibo. They are opinion leaders in women's clothing and styling. They often share what to wear at different times, and they look great in what they wear, gradually establishing authority in women's fashion. This authority attracts a lot of business traffic.
The authority principle means: The powerful influence of authority can affect our behavior. Even adults with independent thinking can do completely irrational things to obey authority's commands.
For marketers, if you don't have a bit of authority relative to consumers in your industry, it means you're not doing well. But more importantly, learn to use other authorities to assist marketing. Many brands that have aired ads on CCTV never miss the chance to mention CCTV as the highest media authority. In the ad for Doctor Tooth toothpaste, a "dentist" in a white coat introduces the product and lists a series of institutional certifications, aiming to use the "dentist" and various certifications as authority for the product. The "green food" certification mark on some foods is a very authoritative quality guarantee. The "CCC" certification mark, "China Famous Brand," "2016 Olympics" sponsorship mark, professional celebrity endorsements, industry leaders, etc., are all good examples of applying authority in marketing.
7. Scarcity Principle Why do fish swallow bare metal hooks without bait? There's a fishing phenomenon: Fishermen first scatter a lot of bait at the fish school. Soon, the water is full of flapping fins and mouths grabbing food. When they are in a frenzy and even swallow bare metal hooks, the fishermen cast the bare hooks into the water and catch fish smoothly, saving time and money.
Desiring something that everyone is fighting for is almost an instinctive physical reaction. The scarcity principle that "the rarer the opportunity, the higher the value" affects all aspects of our behavior. The fear of losing something seems to motivate people more than the desire to gain the same thing.
For marketers, knowing how to create scarcity is the most basic skill. Two methods can be distilled:
- Create scarcity in quantity (limited edition)
- Create scarcity in time (limited time)
Store promotions often resemble the fishing phenomenon above: Using a few very attractive gimmicks to draw customers into the store, with fiery promotional price tags, banners, flyers, limited-time and limited-quantity items, plus a full store, often suppresses customers' rational buying thinking. In the face of scarcity, people easily make impulse purchases even for things they didn't plan to buy. Isn't that the case for Double 11 shopaholics? "A diamond is forever" is a scarcity slogan. Various limited-time sales and limited editions are all like this.
Summary How to improve your persuasiveness in marketing? The full text can be summarized into the following seven points:
- Contrast Principle
- Reciprocity Principle (Give, Take, Take Again)
- Commitment and Consistency Principle
- Social Proof Principle
- Liking Principle
- Authority Principle (Respect Under Indoctrination)
- Scarcity Principle
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