Six Principles of Influence

Knowing how to influence people opens the doors to new opportunities and helps to generate better sales.

Otherwise, not everybody has the natural talents to generate an influence on others. The following principles can serve you to take solid steps towards this goal.

The following are six principles of influencing and persuading and are mentioned by Robert Cialdini and Steve Martin, researchers in the areas of psychology and marketing. They have written books and essays regarding this topic.

The principles mentioned are the following:

1. Principle of Reciprocity.

People feel compelled to give when someone else has given previously, that is, returning the favor.

Maybe this is one reason why when someone gives you a gift or something you value and did not expect, you need to take action back.

2. Principle of Scarcity.

In general, something that is rare or difficult to acquire is overestimated. This is a good reason why offers have worked well in which the quantity or the time to purchase it is limited.

3. Principle of Authority.

One way to facilitate influence is when a figure considered an authority on a certain matter speaks or promotes someone or a company, a product, or a service.

Examples of this are seen a lot in advertising, it can be an athlete talking about some sports shoes or a renowned technology blog reviewing a new phone.

Many times it doesn’t even have to be someone famous, it can be a relative or the leader of a church, to mention a couple of examples.

4. Principle of Consistency.

A part of our interior seeks to maintain and improve our self-esteem, and we behave according to our beliefs and values. We feel great pressure internally to be coherent with our own words and actions.

5. Principle of Liking.

It’s simple, we prefer to say “yes” to what we like. And the tendency is that we like what is similar to us. So being empathetic with your audience works very well to have influence.

6. Principle of Consensus.

This principle suggests that when we are not sure of making the right decision, we see what others are doing around us and we will make a similar decision.

With these six points, we can take action to improve our influence skills.

From my point of view, the one that works best for an entrepreneur is to become an authority in the field. Work on improving your knowledge and experience and become recognized as the expert you are.

Develop your personal brand and apply these principles that can be beneficial to you and your personal growth.

Leave your comments and tell me what do you think about these six principles, Do you know any other way of influence? Share it with us.

I don’t want to finish without inviting you to contact me. As a designer, I can work next to you to improve your influence on your audience with your web page and the design of your business image.