The Seven Principles of Persuasion for Better Sales Conversions

There is a science to getting a prospect to say yes to your offer. We discussed 16 principles briefly in the post “16 Powerful Principles to Influence a Sale.” However, according to Dr. Robert B. Cialdini, who is widely regarded as the “Godfather of influence” because of his years of scientific research on the psychology of influence, there are seven universal principles of persuasion businesses can use to influence customers. He authored the bestselling book “Influence – The Psychology of Persuasion” where he shares his six principles of persuasion that explain why people say yes and how to apply these principles in business situations. Since Cialdini published his groundbreaking book, he added a seventh principle of persuasion.

Small business owners need to learn the seven universal principles of persuasion and how to use them to become skilled influencers and defend themselves against dishonest attempts of influence.

In summary, the seven principles of persuasion are:

  • Reciprocity: The internal pull to repay what another person has provided us.
  • Commitment and Consistency: Once a person makes a choice or takes a stand, they work to behave consistently with that commitment to justify their decisions.
  • Social Proof: When unsure, people look to other people’s choices to provide them with the correct actions to take. And the more people that undertake that action, the more they consider it correct.
  • Liking: People have the propensity to agree with others they like.
  • Authority: People are likelier to say “yes” to those who are authoritative and have greater knowledge, experience, or expertise.
  • Scarcity: People want more of what is less available or dwindling in availability.
  • Unity: People are more loyal to the members of a social group they identify with than to the truth. 

The seven universal principles of persuasion can be overused, so it is essential that you find a balance. Let’s explore each of these principles of persuasion in a bit more detail. 

Reciprocity

Reciprocity is one of the most potent principles of persuasion. Everyone has a natural tendency to repay in kind what another person has provided them. Even if we don’t know the person, we often feel a need to buy something from them, or at least to return the favor in some way.  

Reciprocity is the practice of exchanging things with others for mutual gain. Cultural anthropologists say that reciprocity is central to human existence. It is responsible for the division of labor and all forms of commerce and constitutes the basis for the organization of society. Test after test has proven that reciprocity is a powerful influencer.

Amway distributors knew this when they provided free samples for homeowners to try at no cost or obligation. After a few days, the salesman would return to pick up the remaining supply and ask how it performed. Having provided the samples in such a generous way, the sense of obligation in the homeowners was so overwhelming that many homeowners ordered products on the spot.

As we discussed in What Ever Happened to the Pitchmen and Direct Selling, the Fuller Brush Man used reciprocity when he would offer the housewife a free gift to gain access to the home so he could pitch his products. And as discussed in “The Gift of Cooperation,” a simple act of kindness can open the door to reciprocity and cooperation.

Restaurant servers have long understood the value of reciprocity too. Concrete evidence of the reciprocity effect came from a test performed by researchers at the Journal of Applied Social Psychology. Simply offering a small gift of a mint with a person’s bill increased server tips by 3%.  However, making it more personal and returning nearly immediately after delivering the bill with the first mint and adding another mint while saying something like “For you nice folks, here is an extra mint” increased tips by as much as 23%.

To make the most of reciprocity as an influencing principle in business, you should be the first to offer something. However, to extract the maximum value, you should not stop there. Make it clear that when they say “Thank you”, you respond with something like “Surely you would do the same” to create the commitment to set up the expectation that you may ask for a favor in the future.

Some people like me tend to be giving by nature and reluctantly accept any form of reciprocity. As a group, we tend to be less successful than people who give first but set up and accept reciprocity down the road.

When a person signs up for a free offer, they realize that the business will most likely solicit them after exchanging their email for something of value. Still, they are willing to do the exchange and hear the pitch because of reciprocity.

At KSI Oil and Gas, I give my oil and gas company prospects a free seven-page report on high-net investors, their profiles, and how to target them for an oil and gas investment. For the oil and gas investors, I give them a free analysis spreadsheet so they can evaluate a deal. Both tactics rely on the reciprocity principle of persuasion.  

There are lots of things that you can give a prospect to build reciprocity. Some ideas include: a free trial, check sheets, a product review, an eBook, access to a training program, and many more.

Commitment and Consistency

There is a tendency for people to behave consistently with what they have previously said, done, or promised. Once a person has said something or taken a stand, they encounter interpersonal pressure to act consistently with what they have committed to.

When I wanted to write my first book, Interactive Video Management and Production, I knew it would be a considerable time commitment. I also knew that it would be easy to get distracted and lose focus. So, as a commitment device, I told a few friends I was writing a book. The simple act of making a public commitment to writing the book created the internal drive to deliver on what I said I would do.

It is an undesirable personality trait if your words and deeds do not match. When we fail to be consistent with our commitments, others tend to view us poorly, creating the desire to follow through on our commitments. 

As a salesperson, you can use a person’s desire to be consistent to your advantage. However, it can be challenging to get them to make a large commitment, such as buying a high-ticket item from you. To combat that, you should ask them to make a series of micro-commitments to warm them up.

That is one reason why many websites, including this one, often start by simply asking for an email address in exchange for something the person sees as valuable, at no cost, to get to that first micro-commitment.

Perhaps the next micro-commitment might involve asking them to complete a short survey that requires a little more effort on their part.  Then, ask the prospect to sign up for a free webinar which is a much larger time commitment. With each micro-commitment, you raise the chances of the prospect seeing themselves as a customer, making them more likely to purchase from you later.

Social Proof

Our brains are psychologically wired to look for shortcuts. Therefore, there is an innate tendency for people to follow the actions of other people when making decisions vs. expending the mental energy to weigh the pros and cons. Moreover, many of us feel that others may have more knowledge than we do. Therefore, most people take social clues from people around them.

I recall an experiment where a group of people were asked to choose the longest of 3 lines on a piece of paper. Unbeknownst to the test subjects was that the rest of the subjects were actors who were instructed to select one of the incorrect answers. The test subjects often abandoned their answer and went instead with the wrong answer provided by the group.

As we discussed in “How to Harness Peer Pressure for Effective Marketing,” no one likes to be wrong, but it is far more acceptable to be wrong with a crowd than be wrong on your own.

This is the essence of social proof. We are often lazy in our decision-making and figure that if many other people choose something, perhaps they may have knowledge that we do not, and we decide just to follow the crowd instead.

You can take advantage of a prospective client’s laziness as a salesperson by providing social proof. You can use testimonials, display star ratings, and real-time stats. If you have a brick-and-mortar retail location, leave gaps in the products displayed on shelves to imply that products are flying off the shelves faster than you have a chance to restock them. This was what drove the toilet paper shortage during the pandemic. When normally full displays of toilet paper appeared bare, consumers assumed they were unaware of an impending shortage and felt the need to stock up before it ran out. Of course, there was never a toilet paper shortage or even a reason to buy more, but empty shelves caused buyers to hoard toilet paper. 

But what if you are a startup doing something new and you don’t have a preponderance of evidence to show social proof? Show the trend. People will project the function of the trend into the future. If you had one customer last month and two this month, social proof would be that you are doubling your customers each month.

Liking

People tend to consent to a request from someone they like. This is why brands pay dearly for celebrity endorsements. People who like a celebrity are influenced when the celebrity tells them to buy a product or service. 

We all want to be liked, especially if it comes from a source that can be considered superior to us. This explains why many entrepreneurs and Hollywood stars have huge followings.

As John Jantsch discussed in his book Duct Tape Marketing, for a prospect to buy from you, they must know, like, and trust you. Today, earning a prospect’s trust is often the hardest element for a business to achieve, and it starts with them liking you.

It is hard enough to get someone to like you as an individual, but it is even more challenging for a business brand that is not human. Therefore, when it comes to your brand, it is all about making your business come across as more human so that the prospect can relate to it. That is why so many companies invest in their “About” page.

This is why, as a brand, I took the time to develop and update my own about page. I wanted to share my credentials and some personal stories in hopes of finding common ground and connecting with my readers so we can become friends.

So, what makes people like someone? One of the characteristics of likability is the physical attractiveness of a person. When I owned Horizon Interactive, we hired the number one sales guy from Adolph Coors Company, Jim Gifford, as our salesperson. While he knew his stuff and got us on track using a CRM system and formalizing our sales process, he was not the most attractive guy. Sorry, Jim. Sometime later, we hired a former colleague from DEC named Hermine Stearman. She was a tall, slender, attractive-looking woman with more marketing than sales experience, yet she prospered in sales. Since most of our clients were male, I think her physical attractiveness added to her success.

Studies have shown that attractive political candidates earn more votes simply based on their looks.

When you want to make an impression on a prospect, take pride in your appearance. Nobody likes a slob. Be authentic, and do not try to look like someone you are not.

Another characteristic of likability is based on how similar they are to you. We tend to like people that are interested in the same things as us and have the same values and beliefs. Before you meet a prospect, be sure to do some research on them using a tool such as Data Axle’s Lifestyle Database and point out the similarities that you share in a natural conversation. Just don’t come across as the creepy stalker.    

The third characteristic of likability involves the use of compliments. People love people that compliment them. Look for anything that you genuinely like about the prospect. It might be as simple as an article of clothing they are wearing. Just make sure you don’t come across as making fake compliments.    

The fourth characteristic of likability is familiarity. As we discussed in How To Use The Friendship Formula To Improve Sales, proximity, frequency, duration, and intensity are four ways to increase your level of familiarity and make you more likable.

Authority

People have a deep-seated tendency to comply with a leading authority. Growing up, we learned that obedience to authority is right and disobedience to authority is wrong. You listened to your parents and teachers and learned to follow established authority figures.

Complying with authority is another shortcut to making decisions. The Milgram Experiment conducted at Yale University measured the willingness of study participants to obey an authority figure who instructed them to perform acts conflicting with their conscience. The experiment was designed to explain the psychology of genocide. Participants in the Milgram experiment were led to believe they were assisting an unrelated experiment in which they had to administer electric shocks to a “learner.” These fake electric shocks gradually increased to levels that would have been fatal had they been real. The experiment showed that a very high proportion of the subjects obeyed the instructions fully.

According to Cialdini, prospects are equally susceptible to the symbols of authority as the substance of authority. Here are some ways to provide the symbols or proxies for actual authority.

  • Give yourself a title that demonstrates an aura of status and authority. Add a certificate or education attained to your name, such as “CISSP” if you are a Cyber person or Ph.D. if you earned a doctorate.
  • Look like an authority. If you dress in an expensive Armani suit and wear a shirt with cufflinks, you look more authoritative than if you show up in shorts and a tee shirt. The prospect assumes you must be successful if you can afford nice clothes. Other trappings, such as fine jewelry and driving an expensive car, give the impression that you are successful and therefore must be an authority in your industry.
  • Another proxy for authority is the number of followers you have. A prospect will assume that if you have a lot of followers, you must be some sort of authority.

People follow the lead of credible and knowledgeable experts. Have you ever wondered why doctors display those medical diplomas on the walls of their exam rooms? It is because patients are much more likely to comply with their recommendations when they view the doctor as an expert. If Oprah makes a book recommendation to her book club, books fly off the shelves because many people see Oprah as an expert in her field of expertise.

What is the single most important factor that you need from your company’s website to get results? Here is a clue – it is not SEO, nor your social media strategy, lead generation, or even your advertising strategy. Your website’s number one purpose is to present your business as an authority in your industry.

When clients seek marketing advice from me, I ask them, “Why should the consumer buy from you?” or “What makes you special?” What I’m looking for is how they demonstrate authority to the prospective client. When they have no clear response, I often recommend writing a book or volunteering to be a speaker to establish themselves as an authority in their field.

To make the most of authority as a persuasion principle in business, be sure to prominently display all the elements that show you are an authority in your field. If you wrote a book, make sure the prospect knows it. If you have a certification or other credentials, be sure to flaunt it. If you are making a presentation, be sure to mention your credentials up-front or, better yet, have someone else, like the person introducing you, do it for you before you attempt to influence the other party.

Scarcity

People have an innate resistance to anything that constrains their free choice. Marketers call it scarcity, but psychologists call it the psychological reactance theory. People hate to lose their freedom. Missing out feels like they lost something, which is why the scarcity principle is so powerful.

The following quote sums up the concept of scarcity:

“The way to love anything is to realize that it might be lost.”

G.K Chesterton

Consumers want more when they think that supply is limited. As we discussed in “Harness the Power of Keeping Options Open and Fear of Loss,” science shows pretty clearly that consumers never want to lose their options. If they think an offer has an expiration date, their irrational fear of loss kicks in and causes them to act and buy while they still have the option.

It is no surprise that on the last day of a sale, product sales increase, or when an online auction is nearing the end, bidding goes crazy.

To make the most of scarcity as a salesperson, be sure to time-band all offers and make sure to send at least one last-day email or a “time is running out” message to awaken any procrastinators. Websites should list the number of items remaining or display a deadline counter. Emails should make it clear to order now before the inventory is depleted or the time runs out on a sale. If you offer services, only provide a few appointment windows for your service.

Unity

When you are considered one of the group, others are more inclined to want to cooperate with you. When the group sees you as “one of them,” the associated barriers to cooperation are removed. 

Tribalism is on the rise. Religious, political, racial, and gender identity are all forms of tribalism. As a rule, people in these “We Groups,” as Cialdini defined them, are more loyal to the members than the truth. The new color of a lie modifies what we once thought of as a white lie. Blue lies have entered our lexicon and are lies that promote the standing of the group and undermine the people outside the group. For example, politicians are more likely to lie to protect a member of their party or the reputation of their political affiliations than a member of the opposite party. It is considered more ethically superior to lie when it is to support your own group.

To take advantage of the unity principle of persuasion, you want to ensure that during your discussion with a prospect, you share a social group that they identify with. Once you come across as one of them, the shields designed to resist your influence come down. Research has shown that there is greater trust for social group members. They tend to like the members more and are more willing to cooperate with them and ultimately say yes more often.

When I talk to a group of veterans, I share that I was in the Coast Guard to be associated with the military service social group. When I speak to someone with dyslexia, I share that I’m a flaming dyslexic to show that we are both members of this “We Group.”

How can you use the seven universal principles of persuasion to improve your conversions?

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