Strengthen Your Business With One Word
This article appeared in Bob Cialdini’s monthly newsletter Inside Influence and I thought you might find it interesting. It was written by: Noah Goldstein
Imagine that you are in line to use the photocopier. As you start to use the copier, a stranger approaches and asks, "May I use the Xerox machine?" What is the likelihood that you would comply? Ellen Langer and colleagues conducted a study using this procedure, and found that roughly 60 percent of those approached in this way agreed to allow the stranger to use the copier. However, when the stranger added a single word, more than 90 percent of those approached responded in the affirmative. What was this one word, and what can it do for you business?
The simple word was because. When the stranger followed her question with a reason (e.g., “May I use the Xerox machine, because I’m in a rush”), 94 percent complied. This kind of boost may not seem very surprising. After all, providing a solid reason for the request justifies her asking to jump ahead. Yet, the stranger attained the same elevated compliance rate even when the reason was completely meaningless and tautological in nature (e.g., “May I use the Xerox machine, because I have to make copies?”)
The Langer study demonstrates the unique motivational power of the word because. But what can the word because do for you business? Long-term customers of yours may have gotten used to working with your firm over the years, and with each passing year, the actual reasons for sticking with your company may have become less salient, or even worse, entirely forgotten. Consequently, your business can be left vulnerable to competitors.
How can you strengthen your business ties and your clients’ confidence in your company? One effective way to do it is to have the decision makers at your clients’ firm generate reasons for using your business. This could be accomplished through formal or informal feedback surveys, in which the clients are asked to describe the reasons why they like doing business with your company. Research by Gregory Maio and colleagues suggests that this procedure will strengthen your clients’ commitment to your firm by making it salient to the clients that the continued business relationship is rational rather than simply habitual.
As a final example of the power of because, consider the kind of reputation the Wizard of Oz garnered with songs like this:
We’re off to see the Wizard
The wonderful Wizard of Oz
Because because because because!
Because of the wonderful things he does.
The lesson? Get your clients to say because, and in no time, they’ll be singing your praises, too.
This article appeared in Bob Cialdini’s monthly newsletter Inside Influence and I thought you might find it interesting. It was written by: Noah Goldstein
Imagine that you are in line to use the photocopier. As you start to use the copier, a stranger approaches and asks, "May I use the Xerox machine?" What is the likelihood that you would comply? Ellen Langer and colleagues conducted a study using this procedure, and found that roughly 60 percent of those approached in this way agreed to allow the stranger to use the copier. However, when the stranger added a single word, more than 90 percent of those approached responded in the affirmative. What was this one word, and what can it do for you business?
The simple word was because. When the stranger followed her question with a reason (e.g., “May I use the Xerox machine, because I’m in a rush”), 94 percent complied. This kind of boost may not seem very surprising. After all, providing a solid reason for the request justifies her asking to jump ahead. Yet, the stranger attained the same elevated compliance rate even when the reason was completely meaningless and tautological in nature (e.g., “May I use the Xerox machine, because I have to make copies?”)
The Langer study demonstrates the unique motivational power of the word because. But what can the word because do for you business? Long-term customers of yours may have gotten used to working with your firm over the years, and with each passing year, the actual reasons for sticking with your company may have become less salient, or even worse, entirely forgotten. Consequently, your business can be left vulnerable to competitors.
How can you strengthen your business ties and your clients’ confidence in your company? One effective way to do it is to have the decision makers at your clients’ firm generate reasons for using your business. This could be accomplished through formal or informal feedback surveys, in which the clients are asked to describe the reasons why they like doing business with your company. Research by Gregory Maio and colleagues suggests that this procedure will strengthen your clients’ commitment to your firm by making it salient to the clients that the continued business relationship is rational rather than simply habitual.
As a final example of the power of because, consider the kind of reputation the Wizard of Oz garnered with songs like this:
We’re off to see the Wizard
The wonderful Wizard of Oz
Because because because because!
Because of the wonderful things he does.
The lesson? Get your clients to say because, and in no time, they’ll be singing your praises, too.
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