By: Katya Andresen
What will make you
more persuasive in 2014? Thinking less about what you want and more about what
you deliver for others. Work with the principle of benefit exchange to win over
your colleagues.
A benefit exchange is the heart of
persuasion. It answers the question, "What's in it for me?" for the
person you are seeking to influence. In other words, it's a benefit you promise
in exchange for someone taking your desired action.
I used to be a marketing executive and also taught marketing as
an adjunct professor, and in my experience, this is the single most powerful
yet neglected concept in communicating in the workplace. Benefit exchanges are
useful for all kinds of situations, such as getting someone at work to agree to
your proposal, inspiring people to change their habits or compelling someone to
buy your product.
But we so often get the benefit exchange wrong. The number one
error is we talk about attributes vs. benefits. We get lost in the qualities of
an idea or a product rather than translating those attributes into the benefits
they deliver for a colleague or customer. Telling me that a proposal addresses
a problem in workflow is citing an attribute; demonstrating how it saves money
or increases efficiency is showing a benefit. Rack and pinion steering is an
attribute of a car; responsiveness that makes you feel safer on the road is a
benefit.
Good benefit exchanges focus on what your audience wants – not
what you want. That's the second common error we make. Don't fall into the trap
of communicating based on the benefits you desire. Think from the perspective
of those you want to influence and speak to that world view.
Those are ways we go wrong. So how do we do it right? If you
want to be more persuasive this year, here are five ways to build a strong
benefit exchange and win hearts and minds in the process.
Make
the Benefit Immediate: Few of us take action based on a
benefit that we expect to receive in the far future. It is human nature to seek
instant satisfaction over distant gratification. How can you make your case
that if someone does what you want, they will reap immediate rewards? Answer
the question: what will be better tomorrow?
Make
It Personal: A compelling benefit needs to make people feel their lives
will be better as individuals or within their tight circles of friends, family,
community or work. At the end of the day, the personal connection, not the
grand concept, grabs our attention. Make sure you're focused on why your agenda
is specifically relevant to the person you wish to persuade.
Speak
to Your Audience's Values: We
can’t easily change what other people believe, but by plugging into their
existing mind-set, we unleash great power behind our message. Make sure the
benefit you are communicating is something others seek – not just what you
want. Those two things are rarely the same, but we often imagine they are.
Know
What You're Up Against: Think competitively about your
benefit. Is it better than what people get for doing nothing – or something
else instead? Don’t forget there’s a reason people aren’t taking the action you
seek. They may be deriving benefits from those alternate behaviors. How can you
shape a benefit better than sticking to the status quo?
Be
Real: Last,
you need to make sure your benefit exchange is credible and honest. People need
to believe in what you communicate. Ask someone who is respected to back you
up. Or show other people gaining the promised benefit. Or tell a good story
that is a true example of the benefit in action. You want to persuade by
keeping your promises.
If people aren’t doing what you want, you may find out why by
reviewing this list. Is it time to better focus on what you deliver? It may
well be, because a great benefit exchange makes it far easier (and faster) to
get to yes.
