Yesterday the conversation in Brian Kurtz's Titans Xcelerator mastermind drifted to Robert Cialdini.
In case you don't know Robert Cialdini, he's known as a persuasion genius.
He made is mark when he wrote Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion which quickly became the ultimate resource guide for copywriters and marketers.
Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade was his next best-selling book.
I'm currently reading Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to be Persuasive.
Cialdini has dedicated his life to researching influence and persuasion.
His books are not based on his opinion.
They're based on scientific research.
On yesterday's mastermind call, everyone started holding up copies of Cialdini's books.
There were about 45 people on the call and almost everyone owned one of Cialdini's books.
That's influence!
So, is it ethical to intentionally influence or persuade someone?
Years ago, I was at a Dan Kennedy conference and one of the speakers influenced the audience with an NLP-filled presentation.
NLP is Neuro-Linguistic Programming.
Neuro-linguistic programming is a way of changing someone's thoughts and behaviors to help achieve desired outcomes for them. The popularity of neuro-linguistic programming or NLP has become widespread since it started in the 1970s.
There were about 600 people at this Kennedy conference and at least 75% ran to the back of the room to invest in this program.
I've never seen anything like it.
In case you were wondering, I was one of those idiots that ran to the back of the room and dropped two grand on his program.
FULL DISCLOSURE: The course was awful, and I did get my money back.
To be honest, if the course content was good, I would not have requested a refund.
Was it ethical for the speaker to intentionally influence us?
Do you try to intentionally influence people to buy your products and services?
Am I trying to influence you by sharing stories and lessons?
Of course, I want you to invest in my courses and coaching but I'm not going to trick you.
I heard through the grapevine that up to 80% of the people who ran to the back of the room requested a refund.
I also heard this speaker never spoke at another Kennedy event.
When you trick people to buy something they don't want or need, your refund rate will be off the chart.
Your reputation is also on the line.
Is it worth damaging your reputation to make a few sales?
>>> P.S. Tom Ruwitch and I are starting a free book club called the Mastermind Book Club.
Our first book is Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to be Persuasive.
If you want to join us, leave a comment and I'll send you a link when we launch next week.
