Persuasive business writing: Commitment and consistency

To influence, get ’em committed.

How do you go with  New Year’s resolutions? This ‘influence’ tip holds the key to you achieving them, and to changing your readers’ minds.

Cialdini tells of a psychologist – Steven Sherman – who rang residents of Bloomington, Indiana, for what sounded like a routine survey. He asked them to predict what they’d say if someone asked them to spend three hours collecting for the American Cancer Society.

Many said they would. But they didn’t know that a few days later the Cancer Society would knock, asking for their help. The result was a 700 per cent increase in volunteers, compared to control groups.

Why? Because those ‘surveyed’ made a personal commitment – something we’re driven to remain consistent with. Also, in the gap between visits, their self-image changed – they started seeing themselves as more community-minded.

Apply this to your persuasive business writing:

• Offer something small for a low price to get them thinking of themselves as your customer instead of your prospect. A bigger sale may be easier later.
  
  
• Before sending a report or (internal) proposal, explain your key points to audience members verbally, and try to get them agreeing in principle in advance.
  
  
• Affirm behaviour you want. For example, if you want someone to keep sending you reports on time, write, ‘Thanks for sending the KPI report on time last week. We need more people like you around here! Do you think you could also have the sales figures to me by COB Friday?’
  
  
• Ask for a testimonial. This is a powerful mind-changer, forcing people to think of your positive attributes, then commit to them in writing. It’s also public, which greatly enhances the effect.
  
  
• Encourage customers to leave reviews – Google, LinkedIn, your industry’s software or member directory, wherever your buyers actually look. And don’t fear the negative ones. A calm, specific reply to a bad review persuades more people than the review itself damaged.
  
  
• Survey people as in the Cancer Society example above. (Third-party surveyors may be best!)
  
  
• Remind them what great customers they are and how much business they’ve done with you. At the very least, write to thank them.

Nail your New-Year resolutions
So how can this principle help you achieve your New Year’s resolutions? The trick is to make your resolutions public to those who know you, and who’ll know if you don’t follow through (Facebook-only friends probably won’t cut it).

Having made that commitment, you’ll be driven to remain consistent with it, and be more likely to achieve it.

This is part six of a six-part series on influence and persuasion, loosely based on Dr Robert Cialdini’s work.

• Part 1: Liking – Should leaders be feared or loved? 
• Part 2: Scarcity – Using scarcity in persuasive writing 
• Part 3: Social Proof – How to leverage social proof (concensus)
• Part 4: Authority – Write like a boss
• Part 5: Reciprocity – The power of give and take
• Part 6: Commitment & Consistency – Persuasive business writing