I love to collect and learn lists. Yeah, it’s weird. But it gets me excited to memorize lists like the 7 habits of successful people and Ben Franklin’s 13 virtues and Jonah Berger’s 6 “stepps” for viral media.
Similar to my TED notes, I’ll publish a list each week. Each list will be brief and include a learning/memorization aide.
Here’s the first! Robert Cialdini’s 6 principles of persuasion.
The list is curated from his book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion [Kindle], one of my favorite business-psychology books.
My favorite memorization trick is acronyms. Here, the phrase CLASSR (pronounced “classer”) captures this list. Let me know if you come up with a better acronym.
CLASSR: the 6 keys to persuasion
Cialdini’s question: what are the strategies used by the world’s most persuasive people?
1. Consistency and Commitment: you are more likely to do something if you consistently do it, and if you commit to doing it (e.g., by signing a contract, by shaking hands)
2. Liking: you are more likely to do something when you like the person or company making the request
3. Authority: you are more likely to do something when your boss asks you
4. Status and Social proof: you are more likely to do something when you see others doing it, or when its perceived as high status (e.g., apply to Ivy League schools, buying luxury goods)
5. Scarcity: you are more likely to do something when there is perceived scarcity
6. Reciprocity: you are more likely to do something to return a favor or kindness
Remember CLASSR: Consistency & Commitment, Liking, Authority, Status & Social Proof, Scarcity, Reciprocity.
Examples and notes from his book:
- The trigger word “Because” makes people more understanding (e.g., “I would like you to attend my event because I think you’ll meet a lot of great people”)
- The most powerful reciprocation tactic: ask for a big favor, then concede and ask for a smaller one. What is known as “rejection then retreat”
- COMMITMENT: When someone does something small, they will stay consistent and do something larger as a followup request. Car salesmen will use the lowball tactic to get someone to commit to buying a car, and then claim they made a mistake in pricing. A study showed that you can ask someone to put a 3 inch sign on their lawn, then followup 2 weeks later with a request to place a much bigger sign.
- LIKING: Guinness Book of World Records’ most successful salesmen is Joe Girardi. He had a simple trick: every month, he sends a card to his 13K former customers with one phrase: “I Like You”. Plus his contact info. That’s it!
- SOCIAL PROOF: “the Werther effect”. Werther was a character in a Goethe novel who committed suicide, and this led to a rash of suicides in Europe when it was first released). A frontpage news story about suicide can lead to a wave of suicides and fatal accidents in areas where the story was publicized. Strikingly, the original suicide victim is similar in age/race/gender to the fatality victims
- RECIPROCATION: Hare Krisha’s tactic for soliciting donations is to gift a flower or book to a prospect. People are hardwired to reciprocate, even when they dislike you
- RECIPROCATION: Amway representatives will place a bag of free products in a customer’s home. “No obligations, just try it, and I’ll come back and pick up what’s left.” Half the customers would buy the bag because they used a little bit, felt guilty, and wanted to reciprocate.
Thanks for reading! What are your favorite lists that I could add? Here’s my collection :)