marketing Archives – Business Graduates Association

September 14, 2022September 22, 2023

Why influencing is more important than selling

Whether you are in sales or management, you need to influence at all levels to succeed, say authors Jeremy Cassell and Tom Bird. Discover the attributes of those who influence effectively and three foundational elements that you can develop

Who are we to say that selling is not important? Selling, however, is a subset of influencing. And it does not have a good reputation. When you ask which words or phrases people in organisations associate with selling, responses often include ‘manipulation’, ‘self-interest’ and ‘pushy’ – in other words, almost always negative words or phrases.

So, the key skill to focus on, if you want to get ahead in any career, is that of influencing, up and down in an organisation and with key external stakeholders.

Influence more people, more of the time

Influencing is about producing an effect on an individual or group by imperceptible or intangible means. It is about shaping and determining a response, which will be linked to your outcome. There are few things more fundamental to success in today’s work environment than an ability to influence effectively. It’s strange how so many people have limiting beliefs about their own ability to influence. Anyone in business can improve their ability to influence if they are self-aware and willing to learn what it takes to influence more people, more of the time.

It was not many years ago that personal success had much more to do with positional authority and power. In recent years, however, the world has changed significantly. Daniel Priestley’s book, Become a Key Person of Influence, describes how in many areas of commerce and work there are KPIs: Key People of Influence. These are people who exert a greater influence on the system than those around them or, indeed, their positional authority would suggest. What will it take for you to become a KPI?

Whether you are in sales, management or some other business role, you increasingly need to influence people at all levels to succeed. Over many years now, we have been fascinated by the subject of influencing, first as salespeople, then as managers in a variety of organisations and now as consultants and trainers working with people at all levels in business. We also know that a lot has been written about the theory of effective influencing by Robert Cialdini [Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Marketing at Arizona State University], Noah Goldstein [Professor of Management and Organizations at UCLA Anderson School of Management] and many others. Our focus, however, is on the practical ‘how to’ of influencing – what does it take for someone to be able to influence effectively in any situation, on an everyday basis.

Attributes of those who influence effectively

Typically, businesspeople who are exceptional at influencing share a common set of attitudes and behaviours that consistently get great results through:

Listening attentively.
Uncovering needs and wants because they appreciate that everyone is unique.
Empathising continuously.
Identifying benefits of solutions.
Neutralising resistance, often through ‘pre-suasion’ (a term coined by Cialdini: influencing in advance).
Finding alternative ways to influence others and demonstrating high levels of flexibility.
Improving sensory awareness. This means that their senses are finetuned to notice the smallest details, including non-verbal signals that are sometimes different from what a person is saying.
Creating a high degree of rapport.
Base the success of their communication on the response it produces in others.

Just consider this for a moment – think of a time in the last six months when you wanted to buy something. You did not need to be persuaded about a product, the price was acceptable, and you walked into a retail store but left without buying the product. If this has ever happened to you, there is a good chance that the person serving influenced you not to buy! The salesperson may have done one (or more) of the following:

Confused you with feature overload.
Did not listen to what you wanted.
Ignored you.
Did not ask you any questions.
Asked you what you perceived as being an annoying question.
Did not have the exact information you wanted.
Seemed to lack confidence.

Evidence suggests that, when confronted with these sorts of scenarios, many people are prepared to pay more for the same service or product from another supplier or, more likely nowadays, online.

Confidence, credibility and connection

Maybe you have also had the experience where you bought something from someone you really liked and then suffered from buyer’s remorse at some stage after the sale had taken place, as you realised you did not really need what you had bought.

What is going on here? How is it that even sophisticated people are influenced in this way? It seems, on the face of it, entirely irrational. What is happening is that you are being affected by the foundations of influencing – confidence, credibility and connection. What we call the ‘C3 Model of Influencing’.

In most influencing situations, it is unlikely that anyone will buy an idea, product or service off anyone unless they have demonstrated confidence, established credibility and built a connection with the other parties.

It is ‘C3’ because its strength comes from when you have all three elements in place – it’s exponentially more powerful. If you only have two elements working, you will be far less influential. These three components are the foundation of effective influencing. If you focus on developing these, you will be able to utilise the skill of influencing in any situation.

Anyone can influence effectively – you only need to pay attention to three key elements to develop your influencing skills and/or your mindset.

Jeremy Cassell and Tom Bird are coaches, trainers, keynote speakers and co-authors of Brilliant Selling (Pearson).

Download the latest edition of the Business Impact magazine

Cover Story

A World of Difference

An annual summer school offered to executive MBA (EMBA) students studying at multiple locations around the world allows participants to come together and transform their differences into assets that drive personal growth. Director of EMBA programmes at the School of Management Sciences at the University of Quebec in Montreal (ESG-Uqam) Kamal Bouzinab offers an in-depth guide to an intensive week of experiential learning, cross-continental dialogue and networking.

Want your business school to feature in
Business Impact?

For questions about editorial opportunities, please contact:

Tim Banerjee Dhoul

Content Editor
Business Impact

Share this page with your colleagues

July 1, 2022May 2, 2023

The business of storytelling

From selling success to truth, transparency and trust, Rob Wozny, author of Storytelling for Business, offers guidance on the power of effective storytelling

Nothing sells and tells a story quite like the story of success. If your customers are benefiting from your products, services, or information, share the stories of how your customers’ lives have become better as a result of your business.

Selling success

When working in the agriculture industry, we’d profile producers who used certain products from my clients that yielded greater results or how the products solved a longstanding and time-consuming problem. New customers who could relate were ‘sold’ because they saw themselves in their peers and wanted the same results.

Online entrepreneur, Stu McLaren, has built an impressive online business that teaches entrepreneurs how to build their own membership sites by helping people transform what they know and love into recurring revenue. At the core of what McLaren markets is impactful and meaningful storytelling by consistently and relentlessly showcasing the success of his clients.

For example, in his marketing emails, he’ll copy and paste social media posts from customers who sing his company’s praises. Additionally, he’ll interview successful clients who’ve done well from his programmes. In a recent webinar, McLaren said this about the power of storytelling: ‘The stories of people experiencing your progress in your business are the most powerful marketing asset you can have – hands down.’

Jeff Walker, who pioneered the way millions of people sell their products and services online with his Product Launch Formula, extols the value of storytelling in his bestselling book, Launch, stating, ‘if you want to make your business and marketing memorable, then your marketing needs to tell a story’.

Business continuity (now and in the future)

If storytelling for business supports the growth of your business with new and repeat customers, business continuity is what will keep them coming back. Internally, consistent storytelling keeps your employees engaged with company narratives and cultural showcases. Even on a more functional level, for example, training videos for employees require a narrative (a ‘why’), and with it, you strengthen your engagement, which in turn keeps the business running behind the scenes.

Grow your story organically

No matter where you are on the storytelling continuum, the buy-in you get, literally and figuratively, will often come from how organically your stories are developed and delivered. You can’t fake authenticity, and that’s underscored with storytelling. Your stakeholders, many that know your business as well as or better than you do, can spot manufactured or disingenuous stories. If you’re going to invest in telling your story, keep it real, showcasing a problem or opportunity that really exists, and where possible, including the real stakeholders involved.

Truth, transparency and trust

Tell the truth, be transparent, and your business will be trustworthy. I’m not suggesting you have to open your financial records to the media but consider opening up more on the personal side of your business.

Admittedly, there is a fair bit of risk with admitting vulnerability, and if you’re in crisis mode that will become even harder to consider. If you attempt any level of subterfuge in your storytelling for your business, you will run a greater risk of having your story exposed as inaccurate or embellished to make an exaggerated point or deflect away from an inconvenient problem you may be working through.

Truth, transparency, and trust also matter when you’re telling a success story for your business. However, state your intentions – even as a call to action – so your customers understand why they’re investing their time to consume your content. Otherwise, you run the risk of exploiting the goodwill of your content, and in the process, losing trust.

Narrowing your narrative

Depending on the size and scope of your business, you may have more options and storytellers at your disposal to tell your story. Resist the urge to include multiple messages and meanings within your story. Choosing a story structure can guide you in keeping the story of your business focused. For example, if the objective of your story is to solve a problem, examine if you really need to get into explaining the symptoms of that problem as that may make the solution harder to understand. If your customers have found the story about why you’re trying to solve a problem, it’s because they’re most likely currently experiencing the symptom, and don’t necessarily need to revisit their frustration. Narrow your narrative, set the scene, and solve the problem simply.

When to tell your story (and when not to)

I once worked with an organisation that would tell its story when tragedy struck someone in the community, in most cases, fatally. You might think it’s insensitive to do so during such grief, but for this organisation, its primary reason for existing is to prevent additional tragedies and further grief. And as hard as it is to engage stakeholders during such a difficult time, it’s also the most opportune time to tell stories that emphasise prevention, as people that are normally distracted with so much other ‘noise’ are listening and watching intently with others in their community. Again, be transparent and truthful in your storytelling intentions, and your stakeholders will understand why you’re inserting your organisation into the public discourse of a sensitive subject.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, not only did some companies choose not to produce any stories about their businesses, but many also shut down their operations completely as it was the right thing to do at the time to stop the spread of the virus in their communities.

However, some remained ‘tone deaf’ to the circumstances. By way of example, I remember one sport and leisure company located in a community hit hard by Covid, including significant deaths, producing content about how their products would be an ideal

distraction. As you can imagine, the insensitivity of ‘enjoying’ leisure equipment while others were fighting for their lives, was not well received. No one could fault this business for trying to survive during tough times, but the timing of telling their story could have been better, saving their stories of customers experiencing relief for when the threat of Covid wasn’t as severe.

This is an edited excerpt from Storytelling for Business by Rob Wozny, published by Practical Inspiration Publishing.
For more than 25 years, storytelling has been at the core of everything Rob Wozny has accomplished as a senior journalist, content strategist, and proven business communicator.
BGA members can benefit from a 20% discount on a copy of Storytelling for Business. Please visit the BGA Book Club for details.