Influence at Work Blog
What Simple Change Can Affect Your Negotiations, Creativity and Even Dating Success?
By: Steve Martin, CMCT In 1979, noted psychiatrist Dr. Alexander Schauss conducted a series of studies designed to measure the mental and physical strength of one hundred and fifty young men. Arriving at the laboratory, each man was invited into a small room where one of two cardboard signs was held up in front of […]
When will making the first offer help your negotiations, and when will it hurt?
By: Steve Martin, CMCT Recognizing the Chicago Bulls managing partner’s reputation as a ruthless negotiator, in 1996 Michael Jordan’s agent made a decision to ‘take the Bulls by the horns’ and table an audacious $52 million salary request. The parties settled at $33.14 million, a record that remains the single highest annual salary in NBA […]
Should I tell you now, or should I tell you later?
By: Steve Martin, CMCT In the introduction of Influence, Robert Cialdini recounts the story of a friend who, in an attempt to sell off a consignment of slow moving turquoise jewelry, left a hand-written note for one of her sales staff to mark down the stock at “x ½” price before leaving for an […]
Something for Nothing: Doing Nothing Can be a Potent Persuasion Tool
By Steve Martin For nearly seventy years scientists who study the persuasion process have consistently revealed a simple, yet remarkable truth; when it comes to effectively influencing others, small changes can make a big difference. Examples abound, from the subtle adjustments made to a meeting room environment that lead to improved business outcomes to the […]
To be honest this isn’t our best ever blog post but, God bless it, it could still increase your online likeability and credibility. And your business too!
by Steve Martin Recent research has found that around 7 in 10 Americans will consult the online reviews of other consumers before making a purchase. I have to admit to being surprised by this. I would have guessed it would have been more. Numbers aside though, when making a decision, word-of-mouth communications are valuable […]
Three Reasons Why You Should Probably Ask!
By Steve Martin, CMCT Benjamin Franklin famously once attempted to win favor with a political adversary by writing him a letter requesting to borrow a rare and valuable book that he owned. A short time afterwards, Franklin reported that this usually stubborn, often hostile gentleman sought him out in the House and spoke to […]
Free Webinar Jan. 23rd, 2014: Interview with Dr. Robert Cialdini
Two Ways of Setting Goals…Which is More Likely to Lead to Success?
By: Steve Martin Are you one of the many people who start the New Year off with a list of resolutions? Does this list look remarkably similar to last year’s? Are you also one of the many people likely to break these resolutions before the end of January? Then I have some good news from […]
Tipping Points – Five Lessons in Persuasion From Food Servers.
By Steve Martin, CMCT The humble restaurant has a number of features that make it a great place to better understand human decision making and study persuasion. Crowds of diners ensure that large numbers of homogeneous transactions take place. The menus, wine lists and daily specials board serve up endless opportunities for choice architecture. And […]
Two, Four or Six? When Persuading, What Numbers of Claims is Most Effective?
By Steve Martin, CMCT When it comes to influencing others, delivering the right number of messages to support your proposal or proposition is going to be crucial. Too few, and your attempt might come across as halfhearted, indifferent or plain weak. But too many messages can hurt you too. Like adding too much spice to […]
