BUSINESS MATTERS Secrets of commitment


to live up to their commitments. It’s a positive human trait that people want to behave consistently with their previous actions and choices. As a result, when people make an initial commitment or choice to a particular cause they are more likely to behave consistently with that initial commitment, especially when that commitment is written down.


In fact, people can sometimes be persuaded to move in new directions simply by asking them to imagine and then describe what it would be like if they did. In one study, the people who were asked to think about and describe what it would be like to own a new state of the art satellite television were 37 per cent more likely to purchase one than those that were simply told about the product.


Steve Martin


Steve Martin, co- author of the New York Times best seller ‘Yes! 50 Secrets from the Science of Persuasion’, explains how to improve your chances of getting greater commitment from colleagues and customers.


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n a series of studies carried out at a racecourse researchers found that people were much more confident of their horse’s chances of winning a race immediately after they had placed their bet compared to immediately before. In reality, placing a bet does nothing to influence the outcome of a race. The horse doesn’t suddenly become more motivated to win the race simply because someone has invested their hard earned cash on a belief that the equine world will contribute an additional income source.


But placing the bet does seem to have a motivating factor on the person that actually places the bet. It has a direct influence on that person’s commitment and confidence that their chosen horse will win. In this study confidence rose by 32 per cent. Persuasion scientists have known for many years that people generally prefer


In our busy information overloaded world where everyone is exposed to an ever increasing amount of information that attempts to influence and persuade us, one challenge we will invariably face is not just getting others to say ‘Yes’ to our proposals and recommendations, but in actually persuading them to follow through and take action after they have said ‘Yes’.


Key factors So what are the factors that persuasion researchers have found that do increase a person’s likelihood to follow through on their commitments? It turns out that one of the most important factors is how public it is. In another study householders were asked if they were willing to make energy efficiencies in their home and to help them they were given a list of energy saving tips. Unfortunately, good intentions coupled with good advice weren’t enough to change habits. However, when the researchers asked another group of householders if they were willing to make energy efficiencies, gave them the same energy saving advice and also promised to publish their names in a local newspaper as energy-efficient households the effect was immediate. Every household registered a decrease in energy


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use. Proof perhaps that when it comes to persuading others public commitments can be a powerful ally.


So, when seeking commitments from others it seems that getting them to say ‘Yes’ is just one part of the challenge. Another is to arrange for these commitments to be active and to be made known to others. It is in these circumstances that your chances of persuasion success are raised.


Find out how persuasive you are by taking the free test at: www.influenceatwork.com


ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Steve Martin is the New York Times best selling author, business columnist, speaker and Managing Director of Influence at Work UK. He is co-author of the international best seller ‘Yes! 50 Secrets From the Science of Persuasion’, a New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Business Week best seller. Yes! was nominated for the 2008 Royal Society annual prize for science writing and in 2009 the Harvard Business Review listed the book on its prestigious ‘Breakthrough Ideas for Business’ list. To date Yes! has sold almost 400,000 copies and has been translated into 25 languages.


Steve regularly features in the media and the national press. His popular business columns appear in magazines and online all over the world. As well as his monthly ‘Persuasion’ column in the British Airways in flight magazine he is a regular columnist for the Harvard Business Review blog and a staff writer for Inside Influence and the Institute of Leadership & Management. His columns are read by over 1.8 million people every month, and he will be providing Comms Dealer readers with information and advice on the science of influence and persuasion and its application.


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