Gifford Thomas

Copyright © 2016 by Gifford Thomas

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1

Create a Culture for Persuasion

Chapter 2

Manage with Influence

Chapter 3

Attract More Customers to Your Business

Chapter 4

Seal the Sale

Chapter 5

Communicate with Influence

Conclusion

IntroductionMany, many thanks to all the 20,000 plus people who viewed, liked and commented on my LinkedIn article The 6 Principles of Persuasion Everyone in business should know. These principles have been instrumental towards my continued development and provided a platform for my research area for my DBA. I am very heartened by the responses, and I sincerely appreciate all the feedback.

This book further explores the power of Dr. Cialdini principles of influence and how you can apply it to attract more customers to your business, motivate your team to improve performance and seal the sale. I am very excited about this book simply because it is my first book ever written and second, I have seen the power of the principles first hand.

To understand the science behind what makes people say yes is very, very fascinating. I am now much more aware of my interaction with people and I can share with you what I observed in one of my many interactions where the principles of influence came into play.

I met someone for the first time on a project I was managing and true to form I immediately went into influence mode. Sorry to sound so dramatic. I looked for any similarities between myself and the gentleman, and before you knew it, we were talking like long lost friends.

But what got me intrigued, was the reciprocation. I stopped at a mini mart to buy a couple of bottled water, and I purchase one for the gentleman. While working at the job site, I got into some difficulty and the only person who helped was the same person I met for the first time.

Now, this is the first time I am meeting the guy; I never knew him before, but, from his reaction he felt compelled to help. I must add, the four other people in the room rendered no assistance. Afterward, I said to myself, wow the principles of influence are something else, and as a direct result, I was moved to write this book and share what I have experienced and learned. I believe everyone in business should understand these principles of persuasion and their application since it will help further develop their business, help you to develop your employees and by extension develop you further as a leader.

Principally, the persuasion strategies are commonly associated with marketing and sales, but in this book, I will also demonstrate how one can use the science to manage your team more effectively; attract new customers and how to seal the deal. I have also included a chapter to show that the right environment must be created if you want your persuasion strategies to work.

This is critical, you must create the right atmosphere in your business for your influence to have any impact, and it starts with creating a winning culture within your company. I am talking about trust, motivation, encouragement, teamwork, etc. all the ingredient for creating a winning culture. If you set the right context for your persuasion strategies, it will work wonders

for your employees and your business while in the process improve your profitability and effectiveness.

At some point, you must develop strategies to influence your staff to follow the particular direction of the company. If your communication is not effective, any persuasion strategy utilized will be wasted. The book is anchored in practical real-life examples that seek to explain the science behind persuasion in plain language and to provide a step by step approach the common man and women can apply to their business.

Most leaders do not understand the science and power of influence. When used appropriately and ethically, your business can experience phenomenal growth with your employees and your customers. Let go on this journey together, and I am positive at the end of the book, you will learn many things that can apply to your business and by extension benefit your employees and customers.

Chapter 1Create a Culture for Persuasion All the great companies to work for has a unique culture that allows the company to strive. These organizations understand and value their employees and create the right atmosphere for their employees to excel. Developing a winning culture will allow your team to be receptive to your persuasion strategies and it will provide the foundation for creating a great place to work.

Dr. Cialdini in his new book indicated that “The best persuaders become the best through pre-suasion—the process of arranging for recipients to be receptive to a message before they encounter it.” If your employees do not understand the organization’s purpose, vision, values and strategy, your employees will be confused with the strategic intent of the company.

No leader can succeed without mastering the art of persuasion, but it must be used in the right contexts, and your organization must have the right environment for your persuasion strategies to succeed. So, if you want your persuasion tactics to have any impact, the foundation of the company must be rigid with no major cracks. You can follow the steps below to address your organization culture, and it will put you in a better position to apply the art of persuasion. As a matter of urgency, you must take this seriously; this is the foundation.

How do you develop and create a winning organizational culture?

•       The purpose of the organization must be known to everyone in the company

Every company was established for a particular purpose and to ensure all your employees are working toward that common objective, the purpose of the company MUST set the tone for the entire organization. For example, 3M is one of the largest innovative businesses in the world that makes many things you use every day. At its core, 3M purpose is to solve unsolved problems innovatively and improve the daily life for hundreds of millions of people all over the world.

Everyone at 3M knows what the company was created to do; everyone is operating with one common understanding and destination. To solve unsolved problems innovatively and improve the daily life for hundreds of millions of people all over the world. When you create that awareness at your company, it will automatically set the right environment and allow your employees to share in the vision of the company.

•       The purpose must align to the organizational culture

Walmart has one of the leanest operations in the retailing business, and every aspect of their activities is measured to ensure their cost are kept to a minimum. Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart, had a firm conviction that a retailer can help people save money and live better. Now, to ensure that the company delivers on their purpose, Walmart created a very process driven culture with every aspect of their operation measure to ensure waste is kept to a minimum while in the process continue to provide the lowest price to their customers.

Your core values will reflect the culture you want to create at your company, but it must be in alignment with your purpose. It is very important to get this right because as the leader you do not want to confuse your employees. For example, Walmart focus is waste management, to keep their cost at a minimum, but if Walmart was actually operating like an Apple, Facebook or Google where waste is tolerated because of the innovative nature of these companies, their employees would be confused about the organization’s focus, and it will be very difficult to generate any type of commonality within that company.

If this is happening at your business, there will be a lot of silos and mistrust between management and employees. These are the basics you should get right first to become an influential leader in your company.

•       The strategy should be aligned with your purpose and your culture

When Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, the core purpose of the company was the catalysts for a change. The company rediscovered its purpose, and Jobs did a fantastic job, no pun intended, to align that core purpose to the strategy and culture of the organization.

Believe or not in 1997, Apple was a bureaucratic mess filled with competing departments and managers. Steve Jobs ended these feuds and took a keen interest in the details of product development and that upper management involvement still exists at Apple today. As a matter of fact, it is now part of the company's DNA; Steve Jobs made Apple culture more agile by giving it that flexibility comparable to that of a start-up.

You see Steve Jobs, hate him or love him, understood Apple purpose and knew that an innovative company needs a flexible culture, that will allow the company to respond to changes quickly as it relates to technology, markets, user, etc. When Apple’s core purpose was aligned to the culture and strategy, the entire company sang from the same hymnbook, found their pulse for existence and produced insanely great products that continue to influence their industry and the entire world.

When you get this right, it provides the right environment for your persuasion strategies to succeed. All the great companies incorporate some aspect of influence into their business, however, if that commonality is missing from the organization in term of the triangle of alignment purpose, culture, and strategy. Your organization will sputter along with no end in sight.

Chapter 2

Managing with Influence So, your company has the foundation well entrenched. The purpose of the organization is driving the organizational values and strategy. The core values are embedded and lived by all employees in the company, and everyone is singing together to ensure the company is developing and growing. Excellent.

If you are having a problem winning the trust of your employees and creating that unique culture, don’t fear, the principles of influence can help. If your team is motivated and building on the company success, use the principles to keep that momentum going. According to Dr. Cialdini in any work environment, persuasion skills exert far greater influence over others’ behavior than formal power structures do and your persuasion skills may be more necessary than ever.

I found an article from the Harvard Business Review; Harnessing the Science of Persuasion and in the article Dr. Cialdini illustrates how anyone managing people can apply the principles of influence to motivating their staff and in the process make your organization a great place to work. According to Dr. Cialdini, “for the past five decades, behavioral scientists have conducted experiments that shed considerable light on the way certain interactions lead people to concede, comply, or change.”

This research shows that persuasion works by appealing to a limited set of deeply rooted human drives and needs, and it does so in predictable ways. The research is very intriguing, and I want to share with you some practical application you can apply towards motivating your staff and creating a very enjoyable place for your employees to work.

Likability

The best companies to work for has some common traits, one of the more prominent ones is their organizational culture and their employees liking for one another. I can remember watching an interview with Zappos CEO Tony Shai talking about recruiting people whom he can hang out with outside of work and in the process, build a relationship. The important thing is, how do you make that relationship last.

I am not talking about boyfriend and girlfriend thing here but work relationship. If you are a manager or a CEO your company performance is determined by individuals. To ensure that your employees continue to work together and trust each other, you can achieve that by managing with influence and building an organization your employees will love coming to every day. Dr. Cialdini identifies two things a supervisor, team lead, manager or CEO can do:

•       Look for Similarity

According to Dr. Cialdini similarity help creates bonds, and as the manager, you can have informal conversations during the workday that creates an ideal opportunity to discover at least one common area of enjoyment. It can be sports, politics, family life or a favorite TV show. Some similarity can create a natural bond between two persons.

If your company is changing their strategic focus or working on a new project, your employees will be more inclined to support you simply because that bond creates the presumption of goodwill and trustworthiness. But remember you must be genuine in your actions, you cannot build a relationship with someone if you have no real interest in that person.

•       Praise

According to the Harvard Business review, research has shown that people feel great when they are praised for their work. Although insincere flattery is not recommended, any positive remarks about another person traits increase the willingness to comply with a request made by the person offering the praise. Dr. Cialdini gave an example, “Imagine you are the manager of a good sized unit within your organization. Your work frequently brings you into contact with another manager – call him Dan – whom you have come to dislike. No matter how much you do for him, it’s not enough.

Worse, he never seems to believe that you’re doing the best you can for him. Resenting his attitude and his obvious lack of trust in your abilities and your good faith, you don’t spend as much time with him as you know you should; in consequence, the performance of both his unit and yours is deteriorating. The research on praise points toward a strategy for fixing the relationship. It may be hard to find, but there has to be something about Dan you can sincerely admire at least, you value what he values. I predict that Dan will relax his relentless negativity and give you an opening to convince him of your competence and good intentions".

Different things motivate different people; some people like that their manager complements their work. For some people just asking how you are going will be enough. By understanding your employee’s internal motivations, you will be in a better position to generate that liking among your staff and encourage them to do their best work.

Sometimes as a manager, you need to remove that ego and take the first step towards building a relationship with your employees. By uncovering real similarities and offering genuine praise, your employees will be far more appreciative of you as their manager.

Follow the link below to complete the book, secure your copy today.

www.amazon.com/dp/B01MXH3PPV