Seeing the 6 weapons of influence used at a seminar I'm currently reading the book, Influence: Science and Practice by Dr. Robert Cialdini, in which he describes his 6 weapons of influence. The book is a very good read, giving scores of examples and research on influence. It wasn't until I recently attended a "free" stock seminar from Rich Dad Education that I saw all of these weapons pointed at me. I was as interested in learning about how to do technical analysis of stock charts as I was in watching them fire off these weapons into the crowd. The premise of the "free" seminar was to tease us with information and get us to pay for the $500 3-day seminar. So below is a list of the six weapons of influence, and how Rich Dad Education used them: Reciprocity - People feel an obligation to repay favors. I was greeted with a free USB drive (a paltry 128mb) loaded with useful Rich Dad info (or propaganda). And of course the free seminar which covered just a couple topics. In theory, I'd feel an obligation to sign up for the seminar to reciprocate all that they've given me. Commitment and Consistency - When people commit to an idea or goal, they are more likely to honor that commitment. After pounding into our heads that education is an invaluable asset, we must've done at least 20 audience fill-in-the-blanks where the answer was education. They had us verbally commit to our education, and write down our financial and personal goals. Of course for $500, they would provide us the tools to meet those goals. So by not paying for the course, we're then being inconsistent with our commitment to education and to achieving our goals. Social Proof - People often decide what to believe or how to act in a situation by looking at what other people are believing or doing. We did a show of hands toward the end of who was seriously interested in buying into the seminar (about 1/3). They were excused to the back of the ballroom to sign-up, leaving all us non-committal free-loaders to look at all the believers. Liking - People tend to say yes to people they know and like. The speaker tried his best to be likable. He talked about how he helps his dad with his retirement account, how his goals are to spend time with his family, travel, and play golf - which is why he does these seminars 20 weeks of the year and spends the rest of the time doing what he loves. How can you not like that.We also got to see a few video testimonials of different types of people we could develop an affinity with to follow their success - the engineer, the salesman, the stay-at-home mom. Authority - People tend to obey authority figures. Robert Kiyosaki, the face of Rich Dad Education and the author of severalRich Dad financial education booksis branded as an authority figure and expert. Scarcity - People assign more value to opportunities when they are less available. Sign up today, at this "free" seminar, it will only be $495. If you wait, and register over the phone, it'll be $995! Think of the value this is mentally creating; you get a $1000 course for only $500. I can't wait or else I'll pay double. But wait there's more... you'll also get this stock analysis software for free! (except you have to pay $40/mo to get the stock data feed or else its useless). The speaker claims its worth at least $2000. So I'm getting $3000 of value for only $500. Score! But wait there's more!... Act now, and you can bring a guest for free! Now its $4000 of value for $500, and I can split it with a friend. Seats are limited on a first-come-first-serve basis. We're only doing 2 workshops scheduled in the area. Fortunately, Dr. Cialdini's book, Influence: Science and Practice, makes you more aware of these weapons for you to use as a marketer, but also gives some advice on how to defend, resist, and see through them. For me, the free seminar was enlightening and cost-effective; I got to see the principles of influence in action while getting a little bit of general financial knowledge. Not a bad way to spend two hours. ========= References: Cialdini, Robert B. Influence: Science and Practice. 5th ed. Boston: Pearson Education, 2009. For more marketing blogs, visit: http://www.wingmancommunications.com/blog/ ...read more
By Wingman Marketing Communications March 18, 2010
To continue our conversation (this is part 2 of 3), I previously wrote about the need for market research along with some informal information gathering, which is a start, but may not provide the insight you might need. Formal marketing research makes the process more orderly and more concrete. Marketing research falls into two categories: qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative research is best when you want to get a subjective feel for something. It can help evaluate how key customers think about your product and what motivates them to make a purchase. An easy way to conduct qualitative research on customers is through a feedback form. You can gain valuable insight by asking your customers how you are doing, asking for suggestions, and asking for their opinions. You can provide the form in your store, attached to the receipt, or on your website. Another qualitative method is through conducting focus groups – essentially a moderated discussion with groups of target customers. If you are planning to start carrying a new product group in your store for example, your focus groups may be composed of local adults or computer enthusiasts, whatever your primary target is. Small business owners and manager have an advantage of being much closer to the customers than bigger companies that usually hire agencies to recruit and conduct the group. Offer your best customers special offers or free products or services in exchange for an hour or so of their time. For a small investment, the information you receive can be priceless. Some limitations of qualitative research, is that you may gather some soft data on your customers, and give you a direction or trend to follow. However they are not statistically reliable, meaning that you can't make quality inferences to a larger population. Next time I'll elaborate more on the quantitative side of market research. For more insightful blogs, visit: http://www.wingmancommunications.com ...read more
By Wingman Marketing Communications January 14, 2010
Regardless of the size of your company, successful business owners must know their industry, competitors, and customer needs in order to stay competitive. Marketing research can be one of the more important functions in getting key information about your potential customers' preferences so as to market your products or services more effectively. Do you know what U.S. company spends the most money on research and development? You're probably thinking its Boeing, G.E., or one of the pharmaceutical companies. Well these guys certainly spend a lot. But the company that regularly spends the most on R&D; is McDonalds. I'm not saying its necessary to spend $13 billion on market research, in fact, a separate marketing research department is usually beyond the budget of most small businesses, but you can still gather facts and opinions about your customers in an objective way. Knowledge is power, and having objective information can help focus your business on what people want to buy, not simply what you have to sell to them. A good place to start your research is to look at the information you already have. Sales records can give you insight to buying trends or cycles if you've been in business for a few years. Receipts or other records that can show where customers live or work can give you insight where to focus your advertising and on what products. Employees also can be a good source of information about customer preferences and trends. Be sure to keep open lines of communications with your employees so they can report back to you on customer complaints and attitudes about the business, product, or service. I'll touch a bit more on qualitative and quantitative methods of market research next time. For more insightful blogs, visit: http://www.wingmancommunications.com ...read more
By Wingman Marketing Communications November 15, 2009
Various laws on job advertising have been established to ensure that all people in a society have equal access to jobs. Employers must abide by specific laws during the hiring process. For example, announcing in an employment ad that only certain age groups, cultures or races may apply is deemed illegal. ...read more
Google AdSense is a way for frequent bloggers to make some extra money. Bloggers are able to select and display ads which fit the topic of their blog, and, when followers of the blog click on the displayed ads, the blogger gains a small profit. Installing Google AdSense into a blog can be done easily ... ...read more