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For Part 4 of my series on influence and persuasion, I will share my interpretation of another 2 components from Robert Cialdini’s powerful book, Influence.
Today, I will be talking about 2 of the strongest and most impactful components in the book. They relate to people being similar to you and social proof.
What I am about to share is grim yet powerful.
People have a very strong tendency to emulate others. That tendency is so strong that when the media publishes a story about suicide, approximately 58 more individuals who view themselves as similar and would not normally commit suicide also commit suicide.
People will kill themselves if someone else does it in a situation that appears normal to them. There is even an aspect to that called the Werther Effect, named after an 18th-century book that sparked a wave of suicides across Europe because people wanted to emulate the main character.
If, for example, a young person learns that another young person committed suicide, they are more likely to do the same thing. Older people might take their own lives if they hear about another older person doing it.
I am sharing this to show you how powerful it is to identify people you have helped who are just like those you are selling to. I am also sharing this is so that you can protect yourself in situations where other founders, revenue leaders, marketing leaders, or sales reps at the same stage as you, are doing better than you.
Investigate the social proof you look at to make sure that it is real and not counterfeit.
If you are working with someone in a specific vertical, get hyper-specific about your solution so that others in the same vertical can also leverage your solution to accomplish their goal.
Uncertainty makes people want social proof.
People are now starting to take mental shortcuts. Currently, 84% of all business transactions start with a conversation with someone else. Because people think that they can avoid going through a sizeable review process by talking to someone they trust about how to do it. That is why it is vital to set up a referral system.
Setting up a referral system will provide you with opportunities from mid-market up to companies worth $80,000,000,000.
My mentor, Myron Golden, says that people always want to do what everyone is doing and they do not want to do what no one is doing. When he presents on stage, he calls people up to participate in his program. When people see others walking up, they want to do the same, so more and more people keep on walking up. That aligns with social proof.
Leverage social proof and integrate it through all the different parts of your sales process. Especially if it is a longer sales process and you are selling SaaS or a high-ticket solution.
Reassuring people with milestone testimonials can help them if they feel unsure about moving forward during a deep dive. Milestone testimonials can also help you convert from one stage of the sales process to the next.
Even though most people leverage social proof at the close of a sales process, you also have the opportunity to leverage it along the way. That will validate your prospect’s future experience based on what their peers are saying. It will also help speed up your sales process.
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