Whether B2B or B2C, every business sells to people.
And to get people to know about your business, love it, and buy from you, you have to be able to persuade them.
More than just persuade them, you have to influence them. Your goal as a business owner is to find the right people and influence them to make the right decision — to buy your product, and do it again and again.
But to influence people we need to understand how they behave and that is what the mini-course on ‘People and psychology’ is about.
In this piece, I will be summarizing my learnings from the “People and Psychology” mini-course.
The human brain is made up of While people claim to be logical and rational in their decision-making, tons of research has shown that the human brain, the seat of decision, is very emotional.
What to expect:
- Robert Cialdini’s 7 principles of persuasion
- Fogg Behaviour model
- A big list of Persuasion techniques
Robert Cialdini’s 7 Principles of Persuasion
Robert Cialdini is the author of a very popular book “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion”. Written in the ’80s this book discusses the various tools of compliance used by professionals such as salesmen, network marketers, politicians, etc. in the book, he discusses how not to get taken advantage of, but the focus here is how to employ the principles in the book to influence people and boost conversions.
Here are the 7 principles
- Reciprocity: Give a little something to get a little something
The principle of reciprocity states that humans hate to feel indebted to. Humans are wired to return favours and pay back debts. So they are obliged to buy from you if you have provided something of value for free for them in the past. The reciprocity principle is used to sell a product later in the buyer’s journey after giving something of value earlier on.
- Commitment: People Want Their Beliefs to Be Consistent With Their Values
Commitment (and consistency) is a deep human desire. Once we have committed to anything, we see it as a part of our self-image and we will want to keep it up. The commitment principle is used in web forms, you can get a better sign-up rate if you break long web forms into sections that come after the other, instead of the whole form presented at once.
- Social Proof: There is nothing like feeling validated based on what others are doing.
There is safety in numbers, so people will do what they observe others doing. We are influenced to buy a particular product if a large number of people who look like us are buying that product. You can employ the social proof principle by showcasing impressive numbers on your website. Show off those testimonials and social media followers. But be careful, if you don’t have a lot of impressive numbers to your business, don’t show them, the social proof principle can backfire at this point.
- Authority: You will obey me!
People generally obey figures of authority. Anything that conveys authority on a person such as a title like Dr. or a uniform automatically presents an opportunity to influence. You can use the authority principle by using experts in your niche to endorse your products. You can also use logos of media coverage, and big clients you have worked with. But the ultimate goal of the authority principle is for you to become an authority. Speak up, lead discussions put out content on your niche regularly — these are all ways you can increase your authority.
- Liking: The more you like someone, the more you’ll be persuaded by them.
The more we like someone or are like them, the more likely it is that we will be influenced by them. A way to execute the ‘Liking’ principle is by showcasing how much your company is similar to your customers. You can show this with a well-designed ‘About us’ page. Also using influencers in your marketing campaigns is a key way to use someone that lots of people like to sell your products.
- Scarcity: When you believe something is in short supply, you want more of it
When people believe that a product will soon finish, they are overcome with the Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO) and normally choose to buy the last product, no matter what.
How to Execute: Use time and quantity scarcity to get your customers to purchase your products. A Note of Warning — Don’t use fake scarcity, it can backfire. When you say an item is finished, mean it.
