An easy way to influence others
A lot of success in corporate roles comes from your ability to influence others.
Everyone needs the skills to influence - a CEO has to influence their leadership team to keep striding towards the company vision. A junior employee will need to influence their manager and wider stakeholders to listen to their ideas.
One of the easiest ways to influence someone and get their agreement is to ask for their advice.
People are already bought into their own advice. We all think we've got the right answer ;). So asking someones opinion can help get them to agree to your course of action - here are 3 tactics to support that:
1) Thank them for their previous advice.
You could refer to advice they've given you in the past and why you think that same advice is relevant again in the current situation (so they're effectively agreeing with themselves).
Or if you're having trouble getting hold of them to make a decision, you could explain the positive impact their previous advice has had. This often makes them want to help again - many people are driven by contribution and creating value.
2) Try an assumptive close.
'It would be good to discuss this further, when do you advise we meet?'
Rather than asking 'if' they have time to meet you, assume they do. By asking them when they'd like to meet, you're putting them in charge and they're more likely to say 'next Monday' than 'hang on a second, I don't recall agreeing to a meeting'.
3) Provide options.
Don't get stuck in all or nothing thinking e.g. we go for the expensive option or the cheap option, we release a flawed product early or a complete product late. This gets everyone stuck. Presenting 3-4 options gives people confidence you've considered the extremes (the risk vs. reward) and are making a sensible assessment.
Think of one thing you want agreement to today. Before approaching it head on, consider these points and prep a couple of sentences that will get the Yes you want. Interested to hear your examples.
P.S. Most of what we do in corporate involves convincing someone to do something. Influencing skills are key. Try these ideas and hit reply to share any tips of your own.
