I am often asked for the names of books I read or would recommend. One that is always near my desktop is Dr. Cialdini’s Influence: Science and Practice. It is a quick read but will give you years of education on how to ethically influence people.

There are 6 basic principles of ethical influence; Reciprocation, Scarcity, Authority, Consistency, Liking and Consensus. The success of any marketing or sales system can be accurately predicted based on how closely it adheres to these principles.

First, the 6 Principles of Influence

1. Reciprocation – You, then me, then you, then me…
2. Scarcity – The rule of the rare or time limitations
3. Authority – Showing Knowing
4. Consistency – Start small and build
5. Liking – Making friends and influencing people
6. Consensus – If it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for me

You will be able to capitalize on all 6 of these principles if you utilize this handwritten note system as I have set it up for you.

Reciprocation – you then me, then you, then me… Be the first to give. Question for you-do you know anybody who determines their Christmas card list based on the cards they have received?

Funny story-a system user sent out Thanksgiving cards using my system and didn’t think anymore of it. Christmas came along and he starting getting all these Christmas cards from people he never received them from before… hundreds of them. He couldn’t figure it out, and then it came to him. These were the same people he sent Thanksgiving Cards to. The power of reciprocity.

Scarcity – the rule of the rare. If your message is crafted properly, you can leverage this into a landslide of appointments to fill next week’s calendar.

For example, an advisor wrote me to tell me “We recently sent out the Sherlock Holmes card which talked about uncovering some jewels. We’ve had numerous phone calls from existing clients. We had several clients calling asking about uncovering jewels for them. Two (different) existing clients called within a day of each other and wanted to know what we could do with some of their idle money. So far, this has resulted in about $30,000 in premiums and we are in the process of uncovering some additional funds that we are able to secure. We also received a phone call and an appointment from someone on our marketing list as soon as they received the Sherlock Holmes card…they even had the Sherlock Holmes card in their hand when they came in to see me. The rewards from these positive responses will more than pay for our whole years mailing cost! Everyone really enjoys receiving the monthly cards. THANK YOU!!!!”

Authority – Establish position through industry knowledge and professionalism. This system allows you to share facts and tidbits about your knowledge. The information is topical, interesting, and more importantly, shareable. And what do I mean by shareable? People like to share interesting, funny, or unusual information.

Let me give you an example. We have a card comparing movie star lifestyle vs. an average person i.e. a $275,000 home to an average person is the same as $330 for the actress Julia Roberts. We have had advisors call us and ask us how Robert Redford or Paul Newman would compare because their clients and prospects are asking them.

Consistency – Start small and build. Trust comes from consistency. Your monthly fun fact postcards, holiday greeting cards, and articles containing personalized handwritten notes are all about consistency.

Here’s another example. I know an advisor who kept sending cards to this couple and the wife kept every one. When they did have some funds and a CD maturing mature they went to the advisor to invest it because he was consistent in staying in contact with them. Here’s what he told us: “I got a call from someone who had been at one of my seminars in the first half of last year. They had a couple of annuities and a CD maturing. The husband wanted to meet with me but the wife wasn’t feeling well. We met and they came back a week later to transfer a little over $50,000 of annuities to me. The wife said to me that she had never had anyone stay in contact with them the way I have with the postcards I send them and that she keeps every one. I am sure that your system helped me secure the sale.”

Liking – Making friends to influence people. Think about it. In today’s fast pace, overscheduled, soccer mom world, we are lucky to get a generic Christmas letter from our close friends. To imagine somebody taking the time to find a postcard, find a pen, sit down, write it and think about nothing but you when they write it, find an envelope, stuff it, put a stamp on it and mail it. In today’s world that rarely happens… sad but true. It doesn’t happen anymore. What did you think when you got our handwritten card?

I received an inquiry from one of the largest broker dealers in the industry. They seemed really interested, ordered the system, but then we didn’t hear from them for 3 weeks. We then received a call from their head marketing person very excited and wanting to get started right now. At the end of the phone call she asks, “Don’t you want to know why we decided to move forward? I sent out over 100 cards to my workmates at the company, and I cannot tell you how many people came up to my desk and gave me candy and gushed about how I could find time in this busy season to send out a handwritten Christmas Card.”

Consensus – people proof, people power. By utilizing the correct messages, you will get people to share your messages with friends and relatives. They will begin to form a consensus on the type of caring advisor you are. Power in numbers!

And finally, a story about Consensus: “Your company just got me a client (married couple) that attended my workshop a year ago, met with me and agreed to go forward, but never did. Some illness created a delay but they called me up two weeks ago and apologized for the delay. We just met and they are moving their money to me which will generate $6-7k in commission to start. They remarked about the many cards I sent and said they appreciated very much how I kept in touch. They also had 2 referrals for me, their son and a neighbor who remarked about the card on the fridge! Thank you – I had mentally written these folks off and I had to do almost nothing to get them as clients, just kept in touch in a non-threatening way.”

Author Bio: Mike Kaselnak is considered one of the top marketing and sales experts in the financial services industry. He has personally mentored over 300 financial advisors in the past 10 years. These financial advisors saw their average production increase by 62%. Many saw increases of over 300 percent. He writes articles that have appeared in many mainstream magazines and has written the popular report 300 Financial Headlines that sell. MikeKaselnak.com

Category: Marketing
Keywords: business,marketing,financial,advisor,client,influence