There are three master keys that, when properly leveraged, can enable almost anyone to do almost anything.
These are the same three keys that cause wealthy, educated people to join cults.
They are the same three keys that cause people to vote for political parties.
They are the same three keys that create brand loyalty.
And they are the same three keys that cause people to buy.
When you can decode and leverage all three keys for an individual, you will maximize your ability to influence their decisions and actions.
So here they are:
Emotional Drivers
People make decisions emotionally. This happens in the limbic region of the brain and is a social survival mechanism learned in early childhood.
Everyone is seeking some form of emotional validation from the people around them, whether they admit it or not. You can see it in the way they dress, behave, and speak. Their brains are constantly seeking social input, and when they receive it, they experience a surge of dopamine.
These emotional drivers are the reason people, as individuals, make most of their decisions. It’s why they like what they like and choose what they choose. Align your messaging with the right drivers, and you create influence. Align with the wrong ones, and you will be outsold.
When we can discern someone’s emotional drivers, it becomes much easier to align our offerings—and the actions we want them to take—with those drivers. This is what gives them a good “gut feeling” about a decision. When they say they need to “think about it,” they are often testing the persistence of this feeling.
Logical Justifications
Although decisions are made emotionally in the limbic system, our neocortex—the rational mind—likes to take credit by constructing logical justifications for those emotional decisions.
These justifications are what we tell our friends, coworkers, bosses, and shareholders to explain why our decision is sound.
These are the logical constructs people use to justify continuing to smoke, voting for their political party, loving “their” brand, or joining a cult.
Just like emotional drivers, people tend to have specific types of logical justifications that resonate with them—typically learned in early childhood.
By fulfilling a person’s emotional drivers to influence their decision and then arming them with logical justifications, we allow them to feel fully validated in their choice.
Greater Values
This third key gives influence a more lasting effect. It is the final key that throws the door to influence wide open.
People generally align their lives with one of six greater values. When their actions align with these values, they feel fulfilled. They feel happy. They feel satisfied.
If you have ever laid down at the end of a long day feeling content and fulfilled, it’s likely because you spent your time doing things that aligned with your greater values.
When we can identify an individual’s greater values and align our messaging and offering with them, we create enduring influence. We build loyalty. We create champions.
This is how we maximize our influence within organizations—by creating loyal champions who multiply our efforts exponentially.
Levelling Up
With proper training, most people can decode and leverage all three of these keys within a few minutes of regular conversation.
It is the difference between making “small talk” and eliciting strategic information.
It is the difference between active listening and strategically collecting data.
Like any skill, mastering this takes time and practice. But if you want to wield true influence, it is well worth the effort. We can help.
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