The Influence to Income Advantage: How to leverage Consensus for Lasting Impact!

Welcome to the final installment of our “Influence to Income Advantage” series! Throughout this journey, we’ve explored five powerful principles of persuasion: reciprocity, scarcity, authority, consistency, and liking. Today, we’ll conclude with an eye-opening insight into the principle of consensus—how the actions of others can significantly influence our decisions, especially when we are uncertain.

You may have come across those clever hotel bathroom cards encouraging guests to reuse their towels for environmental benefits, with about 35% compliance. However, what if we could enhance this strategy even further? Research indicates that when hotels simply mention that 75% of guests who stay for four nights or more do reuse their towels, compliance shoots up by 26%! By honestly pointing out what comparable previous guests have done, we witness a remarkable 33% increase in towel reuse.

Science has revealed a fascinating phenomenon: the “everyone is doing it” effect, where people tend to follow the crowd, even if the behavior is negative. In our case, reusing towels at hotels highlights a positive impact on the environment. However, cast your mind back to the ’70s-’80s when a campaign with an owl urged, “Give a hoot, don’t pollute.” The campaign aimed to showcase the extent of pollution and discourage people from contributing to it. Surprisingly, this approach backfired as pollution increased. The culprit? Consensus. By making everyone aware of the prevalent littering, people felt compelled to mimic the behavior, thinking “if everyone else is doing it, why not me?”

Now, let’s apply this principle to your Ortho practice. There is currently a big trend in patients who need teeth alignment to choose traditional braces instead of Invisalign.The reason for this is that traditional braces are so prevalent in social media right now. If you watch any big Ortho Infulencers on tiktok or Youtube, you will find that 80-90% of what they show and talk about are traditional braces. So what do the kids choose? You guessed it, traditional braces. 

When you have goals for the number of Invisalign cases, this can be frustrating. However, you can harness the power of consensus to drive more people towards Invisalign. Display testimonials and success stories of individuals who initially opted for traditional braces but later switched to Invisalign, highlighting the positive outcomes and satisfaction they experienced. By showcasing how others in similar situations have chosen Invisalign, potential clients will be more inclined to make the same choice.

As we conclude this series, remember that these six scientifically validated principles provide practical, costless changes that ethically enhance your ability to influence and persuade others. Embrace reciprocity, create scarcity, establish authority, encourage consistency, foster genuine liking, and leverage the potent force of consensus to make a lasting impact in your professional endeavors.

Thank you for being part of this insightful series! Should you have any questions or need further assistance, don’t hesitate to reach out.