Recently, I listened a psychology related book called “Influence”. There are principles of persuasion revealed in this book allow us to re-understand the relationship between people.

Automatic Triggers

Mechanical reaction and fixed thinking mode: When we ask others for help, if we can give a reason, then we are more likely to get help from others.

Reciprocity

Do favor for others, and they will also help you. Many people in society will unknowingly do things that they don’t want to do because of morality and integrity. But in business, we can utilize it to build friendship with customers.

Consistency

Once we make a decision or choose a certain position, we will respond to personal and external pressure to force our words and deeds to be consistent with it. That’s the source of the binding force of the contract. When people make a promise which is written on the paper, they will increase their self-restraint, and the behavior will continue to be consistent to execute it.

Social proof　　

We like to follow the action of others. For example, we always check the reviews to see which restaurant/ hotel is more liked by others. We believe that what is well accepted by the majorities is good.

Liking

People like to buy from people who we like. In sales, it’ll be good at understanding and discovering the common ground of customers’ preferences and build close relationship with customers to satisfy their needs.

Authority

People subconsciously obey authority, and its degree is far beyond people’s imagination. It’s easy to understand why many big-brand products are always invite authority figures to endorse or promote.

Scarcity

The less common, the more valuable it appears. Merchants always make customers feel that the goods or services are a rare opportunity, you won’t get it once it’s over.

This is a very interesting book. The principles permeate all aspects of social life. In dealing with some problems, several principles will be manifested. The author uses simple stories and experiments to prove to us that these principles that we ignore or are not aware of are in life. In business, we can also think about how to properly use these principles to promote our sales.