Evolution, Creationism or Intelligent Design? No Facts!
How did humans get here? More importantly, how many people do you know (maybe even you) who very strongly subscribe to a specific answer? You’d be surprised how most people have come to their conclusion.
DISCLAIMER - THIS ARTICLE DOES NOT TAKE A STANCE ON ANY ANSWER TO THE ORIGIN OF HUMANITY. THIS IS TO SHOW HOW PEOPLE OFTEN SUBSCRIBE TO OPINIONS/BELIEFS AND HOW WE CAN ADJUST OUR TACTICS TO INFLUENCE THEM IN OUR EVERYDAY LIVES.
If you were to ask three separate groups of 10 people who respectively subscribe to evolution, creationism and intelligent design, “How do you know that this is the answer?” Most would say something like, “It just makes sense.”
If you went deeper and asked (respectively):
“Have you checked the fossil records?”
“Do you know the entire story of Genesis?”
“Have you seen the most recent literature?”
Nine out of ten would have to answer, “No.”
So, regardless of the stance on the issue and regardless of how passionate the person is on the subject, they don’t actually have the facts! While this may seem odd or silly, it’s actually common. Most people select stances on any given topic NOT by the facts but by two different influence ideas: Authority and Social Proof.
Authority – We are influenced by people that we believe are in a position of authority.
When we see people that WE BELIEVE are powerful, smart or popular making statements, we have a tendency to believe them, even if we don’t know the facts.
Example 1: A special on Discovery Channel has a scientist that has been on TV many times and talks about the fossil records. He could be an actor and he could be lying, or he could be a real scientist and telling the truth. It doesn’t matter – if YOU respect him, you will probably be moved by his presentation and it will affect your beliefs.
Example 2: A popular televangelist is on a panel and debates/explains how Genesis relates to history. Again, he could be a fraud and have the facts wrong, or he could be a true theologian and have all the facts right on. It doesn’t matter – if YOU respect him, this will help shape your beliefs.
In both imaginary cases, you personally don’t know all of the facts, but may have a very strong view.
Social Proof – We are influenced by our peer group or groups we feel an affinity for.
When we see people who are “just like us” or people that we want to be associated with, think a certain way, we are more likely to follow in their thought process.
Example 1: Close friends/family often make negative comments about “bible thumpers” and take serious stances on the “family tree of nature” and our common ancestors. If this is your peer group, it will help form your beliefs, even if they have no idea what they are talking about.
Example 2: Co-workers, that you spend a lot of social time with, have a very low opinion of “non- (insert religious group here)” and are very adamant about getting creationism taught in schools. If these are your peers, they will probably affect your beliefs, even if they don’t have any data.
Again, in both imaginary cases, you don’t have all the facts, but may have a hardcore belief.
We will even hold views DIRECTLY AGAINST the facts.
Example 1: You see consumer data that shows that product X is better, faster and cheaper than product Y. You see a report on the news that validates this data. While shopping, several sales reps agree with the data, as do some customers that you run into. But, your close friend has product Y and says it’s great and that product X sucks. If you respect your friend, that ONE piece of data may have a huge impact on you and may cause you to hesitate or even to buy product Y against all the facts.
Example 2: A politician has a very poor record in your view. He supports policies in direct opposition to your values and has actually helped enact initiatives that have negatively impacted you personally. But, he is part of YOUR party. If you strongly identify with the PARTY, you will probably support him, even though it’s not in your best political interests. The odds are also much better that you’ll believe him, even if he has lied in the past.
So, how does this affect us? Well, not only is someone’s religious belief system influenced this way, but so is their belief system regarding your product, service, idea or deal!
We spend a lot of time trying to get out all the facts in our sales/influence process, but this isn’t all that critical. We need to use Social Proof and Authority in our process.
It may be more effective to show your target how others are using your idea and avoid detailed facts until they are asked for. These “others” can be those that the target respects (Authority) or those that the target feels are in his peer group (Social Proof). It’s best if you can show both.
Bad example:
You: See Bob, with this deal you get the GinZoid 5000 with new EverJunk technology. And it is compatible with Flink 2.0.
Target: ZZZZZZZZZZ….
Good example:
You: Bob, this is the same deal that Phil over at ACME is doing. Not just that, but your mentor Jane at XYZ has also come aboard.
Target: Really, Phil and Jane are doing this? Tell me more.
While facts have their place, let’s not get bogged down with them and try to impress.
Many times people think that facts can be manipulated or that your facts are just claims that can’t be proved. It may be hard to get around this if your trust level is low due to the targets previous experiences.
Therefore, Social Proof and Authority are often far more effective in getting the YES.
Good luck!
Larry
This is a powerful concept. I subscribe to it and can say it works. In my business (international shipping) we learned early on that it paid to focus on penetrating a few industries or markets rather than focusing on any business that had a need. For example, working with law firms. Winning the business with large international law firms is a complicated and daunting task. But, if you stick to it, provide great service and gain the trust of 3-5 of them you will be trusted by every other law firm that you prospect. In our first year targeting international law firms we partnered with 4. At the conclusion of the follow 12 months FGX was working with over 30! Social proof and authority is real. Listen to Larry he will help you turn more prospects into customers!
Posted by: Justin Brown | September 12, 2008 at 11:42 AM
Larry,
I thought this was a great post--illuminating concept well presented. And certainly applicable in my field, financial servcies.
Libby
Posted by: Libby Dubick | September 13, 2008 at 01:04 PM