Get Anyone to Take Immediate Action

[harshthakkar3]

13 _______________
Get Anyone to Take Immediate Action
in Any Situation
You are about to see that by f ollowing a simple formula
that uses six different psychological tactics, you can
motivate anyone to take action anytime. This powerful
strategy as outlined below virtually guarantee s
cooperation from anyone in just about any situation.
1. LIMIT OPTIONS
The first thing you want to do is narrow someone's
options before you present them to him. Conventional
wisdom suggests that with more options he is sure to
find something that he likes and that this will motivate
him to take action. The opposite is true! If what you
want him to do has numerous alternatives he will be
less likely to choose any of them. Nobody e njoys being
wrong and we don't like to second-guess ourselves.
Fewer choices mean that he will make a decision faster
and be less likely to dwell on it afterward.
There is a well-known f urniture chain that holds on to
every customer order for seventy-two hours before
pu tting it through to the home office. Why? Because it
found that over 60 percent of  people, within three days
of a major purchase, will come back to change their
mind about the colour, a fabric, or the design. With too
many choices most people freeze and take forever to
decide, and once they do make a decision, their brain
often churns  with Did I make the right  choice? Unless
you're in a retail situation where competition mandates
selection, offer no more than three options, with two
being ideal. No choices can lead to a persons feeling
his freedom is restricted and cause him to back off. Any
option, even one, gives him a sense of empowerment
and you want him to believe that he's in control.

2. GIVE A DEADLINE
Giving a deadline for action fulfils three separate and
very important psychological m otivations for fostering
action.
A task will expand or contract depending upon how
m uch time you allow for it. The world operates on
deadlines and expiration dates because if there is
no immediate need to move forward most people
will not. It is human nature to wait until conditions
become more favourable,  or until we have more
information, or until we are in a better mood before
taking an action. It's important to give a clear-cut
deadline and let the person know that the
action must be taken now  because he may not
have a chance to act later.
This also invokes another psychological motivation
in that we don't like our freedom to be restricted.
Whenever we are told that we cannot have or do
something we end up desiring it more. So by
letting  an individual know that he may not get the
opportunity to act in the future, you create a
larger incentive toward moving now. There is
another well-known though less
scrupulous retail store that puts "sold" tags on
items that it wants to get rid of. They do it for this
very reason. When we see a "sold" tag on
something we are unconsciously driven to desire it
more. Then when we find out that another "just
like it" may be for sale we jump on the opportunity
to purchase it.
Consistent with this law are numerous studies
that show that human beings respond to that
which is scarce and becoming scarcer. I'm sure
you find this to be true in your own life. When
something is the latest or hottest and everyone
wants one, it becomes that much more desirable.
And when the window of opportunity to  a ct
continues to shrink, we are driven to desire it that
much more. We place value on that which is
scarce. Diamonds, gold, and oil are not essential to
our well-being yet they are highly valued—but only
because of the perception that theyare scarce.
Think about it. Platinum is worth more than gold
and gold more than silver and silver more than
copper.  All because of how much of it is available
to us.

3. USE  THE  LAW  O F  IN E RT IA
Sir Isaac Newton first informed us that objects in motion
tend to stay in motion, and objects at rest tend to stay at
rest. He might well have added that people  in motion
tend to stay in motion and people at rest t end to sta y a t
rest. If you are able to get the person moving in the
right direction, either physically or mentally—starting
with something easy and/or fun—he will likely continue
to follow through. Why is this so?
Human beings have a strong need for consistency
with their actions. Several studies in this area clearly
illustrate how effective this psychological factor can be
when applied to motivating a person. They show us
that when someone is presented with  a sma ll request
and subsequently does it, he is infinitely more likely to
agree to a larger request—the thing that we wanted
him to do in the first place—what we really  wanted him
to do. However, if  he is not first prese nted with,  and
subsequently doesn't complete, the smaller request,
then he has no unconscious motivation for consistency.
Called the "foot-in-the-door technique," the following
study demonstrates the tendency for people who
have first agreed to a small request to comply later
with a larger request. Freedman and Fraser (1966)
asked home owners if they would let them place a
huge DRIVE CAREFULLY  sign in their front yards. Onl y 17
percent gave permissi on. Ot her residents, however,
were first approached with a smaller request. They
were asked to put up a three-inch BE A SAFE DRIVER
window sign. Nearly all immediately agreed. When ap-
proached a few weeks later the home owners were
asked to place the gigantic sign on their front lawn. This
same group overwhelmingly agreed—76 percent
consented—to having the unsightly sig n in their front
yards.
When we take a small step in one direction we are
driven to maintain  a sense of consistency by agreeing
to  larger reque sts.  Simply, those who had agreed to
the smaller request had reshaped their self -concept to
include the definition that they were serious about
driver safety. Therefore, agreeing to the larger request
was just doing  something for a cause that they already
and firmly "believed" in. Effective fund-raisers know the
number-one rule for raising money. The easiest person
to get a donation from is someone who has given
money before.

Power Point
Music has an impact on the speed of our actions. Consider
the study done by Milliman (1982), which showed that slow-
paced music played in grocery stores increases sales because
shoppers walk more slowly down the aisles. The flip side of
this is also true. Fast-paced music furnishes an unconscious
motivation for acting quickly. Roballey et al. (1985) found that
if fast music is played while people eat, they respond with more
bites per minute. If possible, have fast-tempo music playing in the
background to increase the feeling and urgency for taking
action. To increase the benefits of this law try speaking faster.
You will notice that if you ask someone a question slowly, he
will respond the same way, and vice versa. Others will be
guided by your sense of urgency and speaking fast increases
this feeling of necessity.
4. EX P E CT AT IO N
The law of expectation states that people will do what
you expect them to do. Speak and act directly, clearly,
an d conf idently. Also, take the appropriate
corresponding physical action. Whether it's moving
toward the door, picking up a pen, or dialling the
phone, people will respond to your assuredness and
act accordingly.  In other words, you can use more than
just words—use your actions  as well—to spark action.
If, for example, you want someone to follow you—
literally—begin walking without looking back "to make
sure he's coming." Your words and actions must convey
confidence and expectation that the person will comply.

5. PROCESSING INFORMATION
It is crucial to this process to know how people process
information. The good news is that we all do it in the
same way. In my book Never Be Lied to Again I talked
about this concept and how it gives us a dramatic
insight into human behaviour. Remember above when
we spoke about starting with something easy and
simple to enact the law of inertia? Let's take a look at
another application of this process. When it comes to
doing something that we like, we do what's called
single-tasking.  When we think about things we don't
want to do, we do what's called multitasking. What does
this all mean? Well, if you have to pay your bills but
never feel like doing it, what are the thought processes
you might go through? You think, I've got to get all of the
bills together and organize them into different piles;
get out my check book, stamps, and envelopes;
address each letter; write out the check; balance the
check book; and so on. When it comes to doing
something you enjoy doing, you internalize the steps in
larger groups. For example, if you enjoy cooking, the
steps might be, go to the  store and come home and
make dinner.
If you hated to cook, everything from waiting on line
at the supermarket to cleaning the dishes afterward
would enter into the equation. Fine, but what's the
practical use of this? Well, if you want someone to take
immediate action, you're going to show him that it's
simple  and  easy.  If you want to discourage a behaviour,
you need only stretch out the number of steps into a
long, boring, and arduous process. It's the same
event, but depending upon how it's internalized, you'll
generate a completely different attitude toward it.
6. ADDITIONAL INCENTIVE
But wait. . . that's not all! How many times have you
heard this familiar phrase at the  end of a commercial or
late night infomercial? The "add-on" is a highly effective
tool for generating action whether on TV,  in person , or
on the phone. So use it. It's estimated that the use of
this technique increases the response rate from these
programs by as much as 35 percent. It gives the person
an extra benefit f or acting, and th e most fascinating
th ing is th at it almost do esn't matter what it is.  Once
you've presented your request by employing the tactics
above, use an "add-on." It can be any small additional
benefit that the person gets for taking action now (i.e.,
"We can get ice cream"; "I'll have a loaner car for you";
"We'll go to dinner afterward," etc.). You'll be amazed at
how efficient this psychological tool can be.

Power Point
The language that you use can also invoke the law of inertia.
Seemingly innocuous words such as: as, while, and  during are
such powerful motivators that they are often used in hypnosis.
Remember that when a person is already in motion—either in
thought or physically—-it's easier for him to continue. For
example if you want compliance, you're better off saying
something such as, “While  we're out let's go by Jim's house,
okay?" instead of, “When we go out, do you want to stop in
and see Jim?" Do you see how easily the first sentence flows
with the idea of seeing Jim?