Will I love Influence?

By now, you might have noticed a theme: if I don’t enjoy reading a book, I don’t trudge through it for the deep insights or how-to information. The storytelling needs to be as strong as the concepts are useful.

Just like The Copy Workshop Workbook, I read an earlier edition of this book when I was just starting out – and it formed the basis for some of my thinking around how to influence – i.e., persuade – consumers and the role psychology and behavioral economics play in crafting effective marketing and brand development programs.

I also recommend this… show more.

Robert Cialdini is the original expert in the fields of influence and persuasion. A true thought leader himself, Cialdini has distilled his 35 years of research into a set of Universal Principles of Influence that can guide each of us in how to win others over to our side and actually get people to say yes and make changes personally.

I appreciate that his book is highly readable, and he brings himself into the story right from the get-go. Why did he start researching compliance? Because he thought of himself as a ‘patsy,’ someone who was always being persuaded to… show more.

Why do people say yes? How can we influence our customers effectively and ethically? The answers, or at least some of them, lie within the pages of this book. I was impressed with the depth of research behind this book and was enthralled by the stories and relatable examples it contained as I discovered the six principles of influence.

I have been able to successfully apply many of the principles in this book to my own marketing activity and sales approach with positive results. Despite the scientific rigor behind this book, I found it easy to read, understand, and, most… show more.

No list on behavior, sales, and brand messaging would be complete without including Robert Cialdini on the list. Concepts like social proof, scarcity, and reciprocity are key for getting customers to buy in on your product or service before they even get to the buying moment.

If you are one of the millions of people who has already read Influence, his other book Pre-Suasion is amazing as well and so helpful for brands!

If you are going to read one book about how to be a better salesperson, read this one. Cialdini is a master, and most modern sales psychology books are built off of his work in this book. I have used all six of the principles that he lays out in this book to grow the real estate business, but I especially love the principle of reciprocity.

In a nutshell, this is the power of giving gifts to build relationships, and it is one of the main things I learned from reading to grow my business. When I show a property,… show more.

Cialdini is a social psychologist who set out to explore what makes us comply with requests from strangers.

He did this from the inside by taking jobs where he was trained by various organisations to sell their wares. What makes this book so valuable is that Cialdini not only identifies six key methods of persuasion that are routinely deployed but also offers guidance on how to defend yourself against them. This has huge relevance for personal finance.

As banks and other financial institutions increase their fraud detection systems, criminals increasingly see you, the individual, as the weak link they can… show more.

We can’t have a list about influence without including the godfather of the space, Robert Cialdini.

The original version of this book featured six principles of persuasion when it came out in 1984 and has sold over 5 million copies around the world. In 2021, Dr. Cialdini released a new and expanded version with a 7th principle of influence. The full set now includes: reciprocity, commitment/consistency, consensus / social proof, authority, liking, scarcity, and (now) unity.

If you have not yet read this book and want to increase your influence at work (and anywhere in your life) Influence is an… show more.

Robert Cialdini’s work on influence changed the course of my career and life. When I read Influence decades ago, I immediately understood his research on influence was a catalyst to hearing yes.

Whether you’re is in sales, management, or leadership, hearing yes is critical for your success. I was so intrigued with Cialdini’s work that I eventually became certified to teach his methodology and I now do that full time.

But Cialdini’s influence wasn’t limited to my career. It profoundly changed how I interact with my spouse, daughter, and everyone else. If you want to learn how to ethically influence… show more.

My students have often thanked me for assigning this book.

After reading the chapter on “Commitment,” one remarked excitedly: “I finally understand my mother!” Bob Cialdini is a social psychologist whose principles of social influence have helped generations of readers learn how to move people in their direction. 

The task of leadership is to create a better future; it is a social influence process that engages hearts and minds. 

This book isn’t standard in any disaster risk management curriculum, but it should be.

Risk communication is perhaps the most challenging part of what we do as disaster risk managers, and this book offers several unique gems. This book was written for advertisers, but we have to remember that risk communication is, at its core, a ‘marketing’ effort focused on influencing human behavior.

This book explains how people process the information they receive in unexpected ways and provides several methods (and tricks) that risk communication professionals can use to make their risk communication more effective.