Invisible Influence: The Power to Persuade Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere

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Use a Post-It® Note

Post-it notes are goofy and they don’t blend into the environment in any way. They get in your face.

But a Post-it note gets attention and it gets priority.

The Post-it note influences.

Randy Garner of Sam Houston State University (Huntsville) did a brilliant series of studies on Post-it notes and just how influential they are.

Garner knows that marketers and salespeople need people to act. You need people to do stuff you want them to do now. Getting people to comply with anything that requires effort is extremely valuable to you and me.

Thanks to him, we can find out whether a simple Post-it note … with nothing written on it … influences.

Study 1: Does the Post-It Note Really Influence?

In one study, he sent surveys by mail to a group of 150 professors. They would receive the following:

Group 1: A survey, with a Post-it note attached, asking for the return of the completed survey.

Group 2: A survey, with the same handwritten message added to a standard cover letter, instead of an attached Post-it note.

Group 3: A survey, with a cover letter, but no handwritten message.

What happened?

Group 1 recipients returned the completed survey in 76 percent of cases.

Group 2 recipients returned the completed survey in 48 percent of cases.

Group 3 recipients returned the completed survey in 36 percent of cases.

For a number of reasons, the Post-it note is almost magic. Garner nailed it before anyone else.

Please understand exactly why the Post-it note works so well. ...