Influence Insider – Blogtalkradio – Brian Ahearn – Cialdini Influence Principles

That’s a lot to put in a headline.  But that’s what happens when you try to cram 5 lbs. of information into a 1 hour show (link to show here.)

On Wednesday April 7 we had the pleasure of talking with Brian Ahearn.   Brian is a Senior Sales Consultant who specializes in sales and customer service training, with an emphasis on applying influence and persuasion in everyday situations. He is one of only two dozen individuals in the world who currently hold the CMCT designation. This specialization in the psychology of persuasion was earned directly from Dr. Robert B. Cialdini – the recognized authority on the science of ethical persuasion. 

Dr. Cialdini says of Brian: 

"When Brian Ahearn speaks, people listen. That is so because he knows his material thoroughly, and he knows how to present it superbly. The upshot is that the genuine insights he provides are not just immediately understandable, they are also immediately actionable and profitable."

To his credit, Brian carried the hour almost by himself with examples and ideas on how to use proven principles of influence in an ethical way to drive behaviors.

We touched on employee wellness programs, 401K enrollments, sales calls, positioning attendance at webinars – you name it we found a way to get a discussion on influence going.

Brian blogs at Influence People and you can follow him on twitter at @BrianAhearn

The Principles of Influence

Click play above to listen to this show.

You really need to listen to the full show to get the most out of our discussion but in a nutshell we talked about the difference between ethical influence and manipulation.  Brian walked through the 6 principles of influence as outlined by Dr. Cialdini, that when applied in the appropriate setting and at the appropriate time, can have impressive impact on the likelihood someone will comply with your requests.  The principles include:

Reciprocity - People feel obligated to give back the same form of behavior they first received.

Liking - People prefer to say “Yes” to those they know and like.

Consensus - We look to others to see how we should respond in certain situations.

Authority - We typically look to those with superior knowledge or expertise when making decisions.

Consistency - People feel internal psychological pressure to be consistent in word and deed.

Scarcity - We value things more when we perceive they’re rare or diminishing.

My favorite - especially with all the hype surrounding social media is the Consensus principle.  We truly like to be part of the crowd and want to follow their lead.  In fact one of the most intriguing things I heard from Brian was that our brain actually processes exclusion from a social group as "pain."  Here's a link to Dr. Cialdini talking about this phenomenon.  

 

For more information on Influence I suggest you get and read, re-read, and then re-re-read the book Influence-Science and Practice. 

Stay tuned for our next show - May 5th at Noon EDT - I'll be updating you on our guest soon.