I’ll be the first to admit it…I am not a great salesman.
When approaching a sale, I often feel like Chris Farley from Tommy Boy.
Maybe Tommy Boy and I are just not using the right words.
Turns out the power of persuasion comes down to one very important word.
In 1989, a study by Harvard social psychologist Ellen Langer found that the word “because” appears to be a magical word.
Langer set up her study by closing down all but one of the photocopy machines in her university’s library. She wanted to create a long line behind the single working photocopy machine.
Langer had undercover students go up to the person at the front of the line and request to cut in front of them. The request to cut was always worded in one of three different ways.
The first style of request said, “Excuse me, may I use the Xerox machine, because I am late to class?” This way of asking, request + reason, resulted in cuts being given 94% of the time.
The second form of the request was, “Excuse me, may I use the Xerox machine?” This structure of a request with no supporting reason resulted in only 60% of cuts being allowed.
This sounds about right, doesn’t it? We would expect people to be more willing to give cuts to a person who has a good reason for needing to jump to the front of the line.
However, that wasn’t what the study was trying to prove. Langer used the following as a third form of the cutting request, “Excuse me, may I use the Xerox machine, because I have to make some copies.”
We can agree that this is a pretty lame reason. Of course a person at a copy machine has to make copies. The entire line of people are there for that same reason. Why should someone get cuts just because they have to make copies?
Langer wanted to see if simply matching the pattern of a legitimate appeal, request + reason would result in a positive response.
Turns out it does. Using the third form of the request, Langer’s staff received cuts 93% of the time. Just 1% less than when they used a legitimate request.
“Because” was the magic word that tipped the scales in favor of the person asking for cuts. It gave the asker a reason for needing help. Even if it was a bad reason, it still worked.
So, next time you want to sell something or simply cut in line, remember to use the word “because” and provide a reason. Any reason will do.
Photo credit: Wikipedia
