Dear Consultant,I have what I’m told is a great idea to improve some software that our company sells to a number of very large clients. My colleagues and I believe that by making some fairly extensive changes, we will make our product most marketable and usable and thereby more profitable. I’m the only champion of this change, and I’m not sure how to try to gain acceptance of my idea or to drum up support. Persuasion has never been my thing; do you have any suggestions about how to sell my idea with my company?
The issue of persuasion is a complex one. There are a number of situation specific variables that will come into play, but there has been some very interesting research that describes what seems to be effective in the general case.
The act of “selling an idea” or “convincing others” to support your initiative has been called “proactive influence tactics” in the leadership literature.
Below I’ve paraphrased the 11 tactics that are used to influence people in organizations described by Yukl, Seifert and Chavez (2008).
1) Use logical arguments and evidence to show what you’re suggesting is feasible and desirable.
2) Show how your idea is directly beneficial to the person that you’re trying to convince. Perhaps for their career or to lower their workload or increase their commission.
3) Highlight the emotional appeal of your position, focus on their values and ideals.
4) Include the person you’re trying to convince in the formation of the idea. Ask for their feedback and make sure that their feedback is included into the proposal.
5) Put some skin in the game. Offer to help if the idea is accepted.
6) Do your best to express your confidence in the person you’re trying to convince, do some favours for them, make them feel good about you. Do it authentically though, people may see through false flattery.
7) Pull in personal favours. Ask people to support your idea because of your friendship on a personal level.
8) Offer to do something for the person. Make it transaction, if they support your idea, you’ll help them in some other way.
9) Get the help of other people who support your idea. Coordinate with them to strategically show support for your proposal.
10) If there are any rules, procedures or precedent that supports your idea, make sure that you highlight those to people you’re trying to influence.
11) In some cases and as a last resort, you can try persistent reminders, demands or even threats.
Although the long-term repercussion of these types of actions will damage your relationship with the person you’re trying to influence. Depending on your situation, some or all of these influence tactics may help you to convince the necessary decision makers to support your idea.
It is important to use each one in a thoughtful way that is appropriate for the target you’re trying to influence and that is commensurate with the importance of the idea you’re trying to convince others of.
References: Yukl, G., Seifert, C., & Chavez, C. (2008). Validation of the extended Influence Behavior Questionnaire. Leadership Quarterly, 19(5) 609-621.
http://www.amazon.ca/Leadership-Organizations-Edition-Gary-Yukl/dp/0132771861