Brilliant Influence

CHAPTER 7

Focus on the

question:

“What’s in it

for me?”

T

he easiest way to influence somebody to do something

is to ask them to do something that they already want to

do. If this sounds obvious, it is. Self-interest is the most

import ant motivator we have, so to ignore it as a source of influ-

ence would be foolish.

Your challenge as an influencer is to discover what is in my

interest; to ask, “What’s in it for me?” When you can find a way

to link your objectives with mine and offer me an opportunity

to satisfy my self-interest, then you have my support at your dis-

posal. This chapter examines what makes up self-interest, how

you can discover it, and what is the role of altruism – our desire

to put other people’s interests ahead of our own.

brilliant

example

FAB: Features – Advantages – Benefits

For sales people, understanding self-interest is a vital part of the sales

process. Having found out what the customer needs, your next step

is to demonstrate the capability of the product or service you want to

sell. There are three levels of capabilities: features, advantages and

benefits.

 Features are the facts and figures about the product or service.

 Advantages make the product or service better than alternatives.

136 brilliant influence

What is self-interest?

What’s in it for me? Self-interest is about getting what I want,

whilst offering the minimum in return. On the surface, this is

about things like better goods for lower prices, an easier work-

load for higher pay, or my choice of holiday, when I want it.

A wide range of psychologists and thinkers have analysed self-

interest to find out what motivates us. It is worth surveying their

thinking, to understand the different levels of self-interest, and

how to appeal to them.

We will look at four levels of self-interest: desires, needs, beliefs

and values; and see how you can appeal to each in different ways.

Desires

Desires are the most superficial level of self-interest. They are the

things that I want. They tend to be transient and, if you can fulfil

my desires, then I will place huge value on this.

Influencers need to be aware of the boundary between needs

and desires. You may perceive my needs as desires, but I may feel

them as needs. The more of our needs that we fulfil, the greater

priority we place on our desires, until they too become needs.

It takes a very great spirit to say “I have enough” – most of us

start to need things we never needed before, as we acquire more.

Needs

Needs are things that we perceive that we cannot do without.

Abraham Maslow studied needs and concluded that they sit

in a hierarchy of levels and once we meet one need, we feel

 Benefits meet the customer’s needs, solve their problems and satisfy

their self-interest.

Demonstrating benefits is the route to sales success.

Focus on the question: “What’s in it for me?” 137

a stronger need for other needs at the level above. Whilst his

analysis is simplistic and we can feel different needs at the same

time, the general observation matches our experience that some

needs, like warmth, shelter and food, are more fundamental than

others, such as status and fulfilment.

The important thing about needs is that meeting my needs is a

shortcut to influence. So here is a list of human needs, collated

from the work of a great many thinkers:

 need for survival (survival today);

 need for security (survival tomorrow);

 need for stimulation;

 need for social relationships and community;

 need for understanding of what is required from me;

 need for respect and authority;

 need for a sense of achievement;

 need for leisure;

 need for freedom to do what I want;

 need for growth;

 need to make a contribution.

If you can discover which of these needs dominate my attention

and how I express those needs, then you can influence me by

addressing those needs.

brilliant

example

You want volunteers to run in a charity sports event.

 Francis feels frustrated, because he never seems to get everything done,

which leads to him working at weekends. He is not able to meet his

need for achievement, so in trying to do so, he is compromising his

need for leisure.