Psychological tricks to persuade & influence new customers
Taken from the book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini, PhD, an award-winning behavioral scientist and author.
Giving something to receive something: Reciprocity
People naturally feel a desire to return value when they receive something first. In business, this can mean offering a useful sample, piece of advice, consultation, resource, or small gift before asking for a purchase or commitment.
The key is that what you give should demonstrate your best qualities. It should give the prospect a small experience of the expertise, quality, or benefit they can expect from working with you.
Restaurants use this principle when they provide a complimentary appetizer, dessert, yogurt, mint, or small gift. The financial value may be small, but the gesture creates goodwill and can increase the customer's desire to reciprocate through a purchase, tip, return visit, or recommendation.
Commitment and consistency
People generally prefer to behave consistently with decisions and commitments they have already expressed. Instead of trying to convince a prospect that your offer is better, first identify what they already believe is important and allow your offer to become the logical continuation of that belief.
The right questions can help prospects recognize that connection themselves. For example, rather than asking a prospect, “Would you pay more for our premium service?” ask, “When choosing a company for something important, do you normally prioritize getting the lowest possible price, or do you prefer paying for quality and knowing the job will be done correctly?”
If the prospect identifies quality or excellence as their priority, the conversation changes. You are no longer trying to convince them to spend more money. You are showing them which option is most consistent with the standard they have already said they value.
The objective is not to trap someone into agreeing with you. It is to uncover a genuine existing preference and demonstrate how the decision in front of them either aligns or conflicts with that preference.
Social proof
When people are uncertain about what decision to make, they often look at what other people are doing. The behavior of others becomes evidence that a particular choice is trusted or popular.
This is why testimonials, recognizable clients, case studies, media appearances, reviews, partnerships, and examples of previous work are important to reduce uncertainty before the prospect has to take your word for the quality of your own business.
Businesses can also make popular choices easier to identify. Think about a car dealership: instead of presenting every package or financing option as equally important, the salesperson can point out which models or configurations are chosen most often by buyers with similar needs.
For example, a customer shopping for a family SUV may feel more confident hearing,
“Most families who come in looking for safety, space, and long-term reliability choose this trim because it includes the features they care about most.” The popularity of that choice becomes reassurance that other people in a similar situation have already evaluated the options and reached the same conclusion.
Social proof becomes even stronger when the people making the choice resemble the buyer. A first-time parent may be more influenced by what other families are choosing, while a contractor may care more about what other business owners or tradespeople prefer.
Therefore, ask: Who is buying this vehicle? Which model or package do similar buyers choose most often? What features are most popular among people with the same priorities? Those answers can become powerful persuasion tools.
Likeability
People are generally more receptive to people they know and like. Two particularly useful ways to increase genuine likeability are discovering similarities and offering sincere praise.
Similarities create familiarity.
Shared industries, neighborhoods, interests, experiences, goals, backgrounds, or challenges can create an immediate sense that both sides understand one another.
Compliments can also strengthen relationships, but they need to be genuine.
Research the prospect and recognize something they are legitimately proud of, particularly qualities they want customers or peers to notice.
Instead of saying, “Your business is amazing,” say something more thoughtful: “I noticed how consistently your company has invested in the presentation of the brand. Most businesses at your stage don't pay that much attention to those details.”
Specific praise demonstrates attention and sincerity.
Authority
People are more willing to follow recommendations from individuals or organizations they perceive as knowledgeable and credible. Authority does not necessarily mean having power over someone. It means giving the prospect legitimate reasons to trust your judgment.
Credentials should therefore be visible early rather than hidden. Years of experience, certifications, major projects, industries served, recognizable clients, professional associations, results, and relevant expertise all provide evidence of competence.
For example, instead of beginning a proposal with several paragraphs explaining your services, you might first establish that your company has worked in the market for ten years, served a certain number of clients, completed specific projects, or maintains relevant professional certifications.
Testimonials can reinforce authority as well, particularly when respected organizations or professionals validate the expertise being presented. Authority works best when the credentials are genuine and directly related to the decision the prospect is considering.
Scarcity
Opportunities that seem scarce, uncommon, exclusive, or challenging to attain are valued more by people. Scarcity is effective because people are frequently more driven by what they might lose if they do nothing than by what they might gain.
Scarcity is not limited to products that are physically rare or offers that expire. In competitive markets, opportunities themselves can become scarce.
A business may lose more than an immediate sale by waiting too long to act. It can lose visibility, market share, customer attention, or the opportunity to establish itself as the preferred choice before a competitor does.
For example, imagine two businesses offering nearly the same service. One consistently invests in stronger branding, better customer experience, and greater visibility, while the other delays those improvements because there is no immediate crisis.
Over time, customers may begin to associate the first company with higher quality or stronger credibility. The scarce resource in this situation is position in the customer's mind.
Once a competitor occupies that position, replacing them can require considerably more effort and investment than establishing the position earlier would have required.
Scarcity can therefore be communicated as the cost of a missed opportunity: “The question is not only what you could gain by improving this now, but what position your competitors may gain while you wait.”
A similar principle applies to missed profit. A company that delays improving its sales process, advertising, customer retention, or visibility may not simply postpone revenue. It may lose customers who develop relationships with competitors and become increasingly difficult to win back.
The strongest form of scarcity is still based on a genuine limitation. Instead of creating a sense of urgency, the goal is to help the client in realizing that, as the market develops, some chances become more costly or nonexistent.
Unity
Unity involves creating the feeling that both sides belong to the same group: not merely “you and I,” but “we.”
Shared geography, culture, profession, industry, mission, community, organization, or identity can all create unity. A local company might emphasize, for example, that it was built in the same region and works specifically to help businesses within that region grow.
Words such as "we," "our," "us," "together," "community," and "locally" reinforce the perception of shared identity. Instead of saying, “We help restaurant owners attract customers,” consider language such as, “As businesses operating in this community, we understand how competitive the local market has become.”
The second statement positions the company as part of the same environment rather than as an outsider trying to sell into it.
Co-Creation
Participation increases psychological ownership. When customers help shape a product, service, campaign, or experience, they are more likely to feel connected to the final result.
Instead of telling customers, “This is the service we created for you,” invite them into the process: “We are developing the next version of this service, and we want our clients to help determine what it should include.”
Surveys, advisory groups, client feedback sessions, polls, and collaborative planning meetings can all create this effect. Once someone contributes ideas to something, they are no longer merely observing the project. They have helped build it.
The relationship changes from the company and the customer to what we are building together.
The Power of Influence
Used together, these principles create an environment where the prospect can more easily understand why taking action makes sense to them.
For any business, understanding these principles can help refine the sales process, strengthen the attractiveness of a product or service, and communicate value more effectively to the people already most likely to be interested.
The goal is not simply to persuade more aggressively but to present the right message in a way that feels relevant and easier for the customer to act on.
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