Robert Cialdini

author, Influence (Marketing) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Cialdini

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influence:_Science_and_Practice

Interview/summary: http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/06/robert-cialdini-influence/

Six tools

• Reciprocity - Whatever it is that you would like to get from a situation, you can increase the likelihood that it will be forthcoming if you provide it first.
• Consistency - ask people to state their priorities, their commitments, the features of the situation that they think are most important, and then align your requests or proposals with those things. The rule for consistency will cause them to want to say yes to what they’ve already told you that they will do or what they do value.
• Social Proof - People will be likely to say yes to your request if you give them evidence that people just like them have been saying yes to it, too.
• Liking - people prefer to say yes to a request to the degree that they know and like the requester. A simple way to make things happen in your direction is to uncover genuine similarities or parallels that exist between you and the person you want to influence, and then raise them to the surface.
• Authority - I’m talking about being an authority. Someone who is perceived as a credible source of information that people can use to make good choices... What’s interesting is how many people fail to properly inform their audience of their genuine credentials before launching into an influence attempt.
• Scarcity - we need to differentiate what we have to offer that is different from our rivals or competitors. That way we can tell people honestly, “You can only get this aspect, or this feature, or this combination of advantages by moving in the direction that I’m recommending.”

Meta - don't just use the tool you're most comfortable with. We have to assess every situation in terms of what’s truly available for us there.