The law of commitment (or the law of consistency) is always an interesting resource to use.So I decided to do a little research and make a contribution here about this technique so important in persuasion.
To begin with, the law of commitment is one of the six universal rules of persuasion. Look here.
This law states that if we make a commitment to someone, we have a strong tendency to comply with the agreement.
The big challenge is getting the person to accept the deal.
Robert Cialdini – perhaps the world’s greatest author on persuasion – says that once, a restaurant decided to test a different way to avoid canceling table reservations.
Until then, the procedure was that the customer made the reservation and then his presence or not would only be confirmed on the scheduled day.
A small change requesting an agreement, even if verbal, made people commit to calling before canceling reservations, if they were unable to attend the restaurant.
The change consisted of the attendant requesting, before the end, that if the customer had any unforeseen circumstances, he would call to cancel the reservation.
Like this request, people have committed and called in 25% of reservations.
I’ll leave the link of this video below for you to know.
Another study by consumer behavior researcher Dan Ariely concluded that if we are reminded of the loss or a possible cost of withdrawal, we tend to stick to the agreement.
For example, if we sign a declaration or standard of conduct, we tend to be maternal on the line.
In some situations, if you give 30 days warranty or your money back, people tend to keep the commitment to buy or continue with the product.
If the product is good, the tendency is that the person gets used to the product and from there, it becomes possession. The feeling of loss is psychologically painful.
How to increase the power of the offer with the Commitment Law
- Commitment in public generates engagement
- Writing engages engagement
The above two factors often generate commitment to persuasion. It is up to you to test and adapt to your sales process.
To the client, repeat what he said saying “This is my interpretation of what you said. Did you mean that… ”
To anchor your offer, use the other persuasion laws, such as the Law of Authority.
For example, when the person is insecure within themselves about something you have proposed, such as a product or service to be hired, people often seek out authorities (specialists).
Another place that they seek to support is in the people who look like them, who attend the same social group as them. The logic is that if these people did or bought that, you should buy it too.
I think you understand the power of using coherence, don’t you?
So, did you like the law of commitment? Did you already know? Have you used it in your sales?
I would very much like you to leave your opinion if you already study persuasion, body language, oratory and related topics.
