Robert Cialdini is a pioneer in the study of persuasion and has made many breakthrough discoveries. He poses the question “Have you ever purchased a product or service that proved to be of little value, or have you ever voted for an issue which, upon reflection, you’re not truly in favor of?” Of course you have! We all have, but why?“Even then smartest people fall prey to sophisticated persuaders,” says Cialdini. He has identified several ways in which one can tap powerful instincts within others to both influence and persuade them.

Reciprocity

When another person does a favor for you, even a small one, do you feel obligated to offer some favor in return? Cialdini conducted a study where restaurant waiters delivered the bill for the meal along with two free mints for each diner. The results, all things being equal, were that tips increased by 14%.

At work, if you offer to help someone, say in another department, and then in two weeks, a month, or two months later you ask them to help you, their inclination rises markedly. Certainly people are often helpful simply for the sake of being helpful and undoubtedly you have both given and received help under such circumstances. However, when you need the help of others outside of your direct authority, relying on reciprocity will work as well as anything.

More than 70 years ago, Dale Carnegie proclaimed that when a person does a favor for someone else, the person doing the favor tends to have positive feelings towards the person he helps. Doing favors for each other increases the likelihood that both parties will have a more favorable regard for the other. This technique is referred to as reciprocity. Reciprocity is an age old tool of persuasion that the movers and shakers among us have used since the dawn of civilization and will continue to use as a powerful tool in the future.

What about those individuals within your organization, or outside of it for that matter, for whom you’ve already done favors? What about those people who have done favors for you within recent memory? Right now, the people in these two groups represent the universe of individuals who you can most readily influence, even if they are not under your job-related authority.

To increase your circle, do more favors for others and request more favors from others. In each case, proceed with sincerity and a genuine desire to help. Thereafter, don’t be surprised if your ability to get things done in participation and cooperation with others rises significantly.

Consistency

Residents of a neighborhood were asked to sign a petition supporting a charity for the disabled. Two weeks later they were asked for contributions for that charity. Double the funds were collected from that neighborhood than in previous campaigns. “Most residents dug more deeply into their pockets,” says Cialdini, “because they wanted to be consistent with how they responded to the petition.”

Consistency is also known as buy-in. Induce people to commit in small ways to a product or service, a charity or cause, or even an idea, and later it will be easier to get them to commit to a greater degree. In the workplace, and specifically in your career, if you have an idea that you wish to put into action, or simply a project that you wish to complete, rather than trying in one motion to influence people to jump in whole-heartedly, instead, seek their approval on some minor component of what you’re attempting to accomplish.

Thereafter, you’ll have less resistance to their participation at a higher level. You might divide up your appeal into steps, although apparently, inducing one or two small incidences of buy-in will be sufficient. Inducing buy-in, or applying the consistency principle ties into another tool of influence, social validation — the “bandwagon” effect.

Social validation

Social validation means people often make choices by observing the decisions others have made before them. You’ve been exposed to social validation techniques since you were knee-high to a CD player. Every time you watch a television commercial, you see images of happy, smiling, satisfied people whose lives have improved dramatically as a result of using the product being advertised.

When you watch an infomercial and the voice-over says, “our switchboard is jammed, please call back in a few minutes,” this is a not-so-subtle way of conveying that the item for sale is in such demand that other viewers can’t wait to make a purchase.

Yeah, right… Nevertheless, people are notably influenced by what other people are already doing.

Cialdini refers to a study conducted by City University of New York which revealed that when a single person on the street stared up at the sky, only one in twenty-five passers-by looked up. When several people were staring at the sky, nearly 20 of 25 passers-by looked up to see what the group was looking at.

In the workplace, particularly when you are not in authority, if you have already won over others on your project, the act of inducing others can be easier. The small group of advocates you have won over — as a result of exchanging favors, or otherwise inducing them to buy — increase your odds of getting still others to jump on the “bandwagon” to where ever you are leading it. Your converts can serve as missionaries, selling others on your ideas. Actually, this is how all religions started.

Authority

When you visit the doctor’s office for the first time and see a wall full of degrees, licenses, and diplomas, even if you know nothing else about that physician, you have been fairly influenced. Similarly, when someone comes into your office to repair the copier or some large, complex piece of equipment, the fact that he or she is wearing a uniform with the manufacturer logo or insignia increases your readiness to trust that person, even if you have never worked with him or her before.

Whether or not you have position authority, in influencing others in the workplace you can increase your level of perceived authority by displaying appropriate symbols and trappings. What would these include? Certainly, if you have any degrees, licenses, or diplomas, put them on the wall. If you’ve won awards, been cited for any reason, have received plaques and such, display those as well.

Have you ever had your photo taken with a politician or celebrity? If so, a picture with a nice frame, positioned so that others can see when they enter your office, consistently, if not subtly, conveys that you are someone with whom to be reckoned.

The initials after your name, such as Ph.D. or MBA, or a professional certification such as CPA (certified public accountant) or CMC (certified management consultant) work well. Granted, these degrees, awards and designations may take years to earn, unless of course you’re buying them online, but some people who have them, for whatever reason, downplay them. What academic and professional distinctions and kudos have you earned that you are not employing to optimal advantage?