How to Get What You Want
Scenario: "Dude, I want to interview the most badass marketer in the world. I tell her: 'Yo, I need an interview!' But, she won't respond to my inquiries. Ahh!"
To understand why that doesn't work, peep this:
Have a great weekend, y'all! p.s. A's rule!
Flashback: You're 16. You just got your license. You want a BMW.
The Convo With Papa:- You: Papa, I need a freakin' sweet ride!
- Dad: No! Take your brother's Pinto.
- You: But I want a BMW.
- Dad: It's too expensive. Go away.
- You: Ahh!
- a) Papa, I'll run away if I don't get that BMW.
- b) Papa, I need the ride now, you cheap-butt mutha %#@*$&!
- c) Papa, I need the BMW because the German auto provides smooth handling, arrow-like electronic stability, responsive engines, and iDrive controls to ensure I'll be in one piece -- safe and sound when I arrive home after volunteering with the city's children hospital.
"But dude, why is C correct?"
C is correct because one simple word empowers the sentence -- that word: "Because!" By using "because", you drastically boost your odds of getting what you want. You can bother people all you want with your best words; but to really influence people, they want freakishly genuine reasons why you want what you want. (And they'll see right through you if you're lying. Rule of thumb: Always -- always! -- be genuine with your reasons. Manipulative people suck!) Why does "because" work?It's in the Mutha Lucka Research.
Harvard Psychologist Ellen Langer, who is not nerdy, conducted a study on how giving reasons for requests influenced people:What
[Harvard's] librarian shut down all but one of the photocopy machines in a busy wing of the library. This quickly resulted in a long line behind the single operating photocopy machine.Experiment: Request + Reason
Over the course of several days, Langer had confederates approach a person at the front of the line with a request to "cut" in line. The confederate's request was carefully worded in three different ways. In the first condition, the confederate said, "Excuse me, may I use the Xerox machine, because I'm late to class?" The form of this question, request + reason, resulted in a 94% compliance rate.Experiment: Request - Reason
In the second condition, a confederate asked, "Excuse me, may I use the Xerox machine?" The structure of this question, a request followed by no supporting reason, resulted in a much lower compliance rate of only 60%.
"Cool! I'll need some examples for my business!"
We hear ya. Some examples to get you on the right path:- "I want to meet with you because I feel I can boost your sales."
- "I want to interview you because I admire your passion for your business."
- "I want to negotiate the price further because my business's sales have hit a quarterly slump."
- "I want you to finish the work by tomorrow because I'll need to see the Boss."
- "I want to date you because I feel we have a lot of things in common."
- "I want you to pay for dinner/movies because I have no money."
- "I want you to drive because I can't afford gas."
Give a freakishly genuine reason why you want what you want by using the magically sexy word: Because.
Have a great weekend, y'all! p.s. A's rule!
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Posted October 05 in Leadership, Life |
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on "How to Get What You Want"naturelover (Rank: #1866)
Well, always 'because' is so powerful when the request is made in a polite manner. Because, if you take a family tree, hierarchy in office - from lower level to top executives, known or unknown persons, everybody will have in their mind that they are the superior. But, when the time arrives for a cause and if it is for own sake, 'because' will tagged quite naturally in their request irrespective of the opponent. Or else, things will not be get done as per the needs. Apart from a business perspective, I would like to see that in all walks of life, if people starts using 'because' in a more productive way, you cannot see the struggles in all walks of life.