Why? Just because.
To begin, I have a hypothetical situation for you to think about. You are at a school library waiting in line to use the copying machine. You are next in line to use the copying machine.
Scenario 1: I come up to you and ask “Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the copying machine because I have to make some copies?” Would you say yes?
Scenario 2: I come up to you and ask “Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the copying machine?” Would you say yes?
Scenario 3: I come up to you and ask “Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the copying machine because I’m in a rush?”
If you would entertain me, please leave your answers in the comment below before continuing on.
The above was an attempt to replicate an experiment conducted by Harvard social psychologist Ellen Langer. If you noticed, in Scenario 1, I gave no real reason, no new information, to justify your compliance. Surprisingly, in her experiment, 93 percent of those asked agreed to let her skip ahead of them in Scenario 1. This result was similar to Scenario 3, where a reasonable reason was given, 94 percent agreed. Only 60 percent agreed in Scenario 2.
In her deduction, it seems that it was not the whole series of words that made people agree to her favor, but it was just the one word ‘because’. According to a well-known principle of human behavior, when we ask someone to do us a favor we will be more successful if we provide a reason. People simply like to have reasons for what they do.
From this finding, it made me curious. Are we innately wired to find justifications for everything, to find structure among chaos or to find certainty among uncertainties. Is it because of our innate construct, we have strong beliefs in science, religion or even superstitions. Can we live in comfort or be at ease without a belief? Maybe we can’t, we are innately wired to and it is our mandate to believe in something.
Why is what I have mentioned relevant to my journey as a Venture Builder? Because this is something that if I am aware about, I may use it to protect myself or use it to my advantage.
This week, we were taught the 6 principles of persuasion and a sales technique, APPCOM. According to our mentor, if we can understand and master the science of persuasion and the sales technique that he has taught, our probability of closing a deal can be significantly increased. We have the ability to direct a sales meeting towards a direction that we desire.
The 6 principles of persuasion:
- Reciprocation
- Scarcity
- Authority
- Consistency
- Consensus
- Friendship/Liking
You may read up on Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion to understand the principles in more detail.
What APPCOM stands for:
A — Gaining Acceptance. Build rapport with the customer in order to proceed.
P — Stating the Purpose. Identify for the customer my intent of the meeting, the benefits to the customer for meeting and the action steps to follow-up immediately after the meeting.
P — Probing. Ask questions to uncover the customer’s implied and explicit needs.
C — Consulting. Match the appropriate features of my solution to meet the explicit needs of the customer.
O — Overcoming Objections. Acknowledge the objection, clarify to ascertain the explicit needs of the customer.
M — Motivation to act. Ask the customer for the business in definite terms.
After learning the theory, it is time to put them to practice. Looking forward to mastering the science of persuasion.
