book.chapter Step 1 – examine the situation.

To sell your ideas to others, you first need absolute clarity in your own mind about your goals and proposed solutions. You also must determine who needs to be persuaded and the order in which to approach them. If you understand the key players, you can tailor your style to maximize success. Passion for your suggestions is essential to winning support. Becoming a skilled persuader requires knowing your strengths and weaknesses as a communicator. You likely have a preferred communication channel and persuasion approach. Understanding these upfront allows you to play to your strengths. There are six key communication channels typically used in business: 1. Interest-based persuasion, where you position your idea as benefiting the other party. This induces buy-in since it appeals directly to their interests. 2. Authority-based persuasion relies on hierarchy and telling people below you what to do, irrespective of their interests. 3. Political persuasion involves gaining support from others first, making it difficult for superiors to then say no. 4. Rational persuasion focuses on logical, reasonable merits to justify the proposal. 5. Visionary persuasion utilizes inspiration, emotion, and a sense of purpose to motivate. 6. Relationship-based persuasion leverages networks of friends and partners to facilitate agreement. Additionally, there are five persuasion styles based on two dimensions: self-oriented versus audience-oriented, and high volume/active engagement versus low volume/conversational. 1. The Driver style demands acceptance of their viewpoint. 2. The Commander utilizes quiet confidence and finesse. 3. The Promoter engenders enthusiasm through an outgoing nature. 4. The Chess Player works behind the scenes to orchestrate agreement. 5. The Advocate blends enthusiasm with balance between self- and other-interests. Since you are central to persuasion, start by knowing your strengths, weaknesses, and preferences to enable authentic engagement. The first step in persuading others is developing your raw idea into a polished concept. This typically involves: - Precisely defining the problem. - Thorough research of prior attempts. - Subconscious contemplation allowing insights to emerge. - Shaping a robust, workable solution. The output is a well-conceived concept ready to promote. Next, methodically map out the influence process to sell your idea within the organization. Answer three key questions: 1. How are these decisions made? 2. Who should I approach first? 3. What follow-up is needed? Formal org charts describe the official process, but there is usually an unofficial real-world version - map this out. Armed with this understanding, develop a “stepping stone” strategy - the sequence of gaining buy-in for your idea. This usually involves identifying whom to approach in what order to: - Help refine your idea. - Suggest it to their superiors. - Win their enthusiasm. - Get resourcing approval. - Secure their backing. - Obtain decision-making authority. - Ultimately drive implementation. People believe you more when you demonstrate genuine conviction in your idea, so the legwork to thoroughly develop and understand it pays dividends in increased persuasiveness. Proper goal-setting is halfway to achievement. Even the best ideas must be skillfully sold through credible influencers to convince decision makers. Most decisions involve multiple layers of personnel, not just senior executives. At the end of the day, brilliant ideas fail without the ability to effectively communicate them and spur others to action.