Today’s blog post is from: Yes!  50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive
By Goldstein, Martin, and Cialdini

 Small little changes to your message can have drastic improvements in results.
Persuasion is science, not art.  And Cialdini is the master of studying and teaching that. 

When we do a favor/gift for someone we create a social obligation in the recipient.  But, are favors like Bread that gets stale, or like Wine that gets better over time.

Immediately after receiving the favor, the receiver will place more value on the favor than the favor doer.  However as time passes, the value decreases in the recipient’s eyes and increased in the doer.

What can be done to maximize the value of the favors we give?   You can say (remember this one!) that “you were happy to help because you are sure that, if the situation was reversed, you know that they would do the same for you.”

Or maybe “how useful did you find the report I helped you with?”

How can 1 Small step help your Influence take a Giant Leap?

The “Foot in the Door” Technique.

When researchers asked residents of posh community to put large ugly billboard in lawn saw much better results when they first had them put a small “please drive safely” sign in window.  Once we agree to be part of worthy cause, we are more agreeable to take next bigger step.

This is because we need to act consistently with how previously acted.

You can pave the way for full-line distribution of a product by conducting a small transaction first.  Now they are a customer, and not a prospect.

Potential clients who are nervous about taking the big step of your product, may be inclined to first take the small initial step like a 10 minute appointment first.    Or you can ask someone to conduct a small survey before asking real favor.

One study asked people to allow 6 people to come into house for 4 hours to catalog all household products.  22% said yes.  But, if they called 3 days earlier to do a small survey for a couple of minutes – then 3 days later 55% agreed to larger one.  A big increase!

This is particularly useful with children.  Ask them to put 1 toy back first before asking to do a bunch of other stuff.   Or, for fitness, set a task so small that it would be dumb to not do- then step it up.

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