persuasion M. study session on thinking processes. In one group, the students were told at the beginning of the call at the session would begin promptly at 7:00 A.M. Of these students, only Percent agreed to participate. In the second group, the students were first Ninety PreSented to the111' however, none of them took advantage of it. forthe 7:00 A.M. session. 7Ю0 StUdy WaS and tbat their ParticiPation was desired. The part A'M" WaS n0t mentioned until after they had consented to take ait which 56 percent of them did. When the opportunity to change their trunds percent of students actually followed through and showed up In another case, social psychologist Steven J. Sherman wanted to see if he could increase the number of people who would be willing to collect door todoor donations for the American Cancer Society. He called a sample of residents and simply asked them what their response would be if they \vere asked to volunteer three hours of their time to collect charitable donations for the American Cancer Society. Not wanting to seem uncharitable, many responded that they would indeed volunteer. The final outcome? When a representative of the American Cancer Society actually called and asked for volunteers, there was a 700 percent increase of individuals agreeing to participate.13 Using FITD Effectively When utilizing this technique, you must first determine exactly what end result you are seeking. This will be the big commitment you ask for. You should then create several small and simple requests that are related to your ultimate request, making sure they can be easily satisfied. As the examples above demonstrate, taking these measures will greatly increase the likelihood that your ultimate request will be granted. Here are some more key points to remember in using FITD: This way the same person isn't required to make both the initial the'followup'requests and your prospects won't feel like they are being taken advantage of. Three Steps to Using the Law of Dissonance Step One: Get a Commitment You can create or reveal commitments in your prospects by ensuring that "commitments are public, affirmative, voluntary, and effortful (PAVE). Public Make your prospect's stand as public as possible. Get a written commitment and make that written commitment public. Involve family and friends in the proposed action. Engage your customer in a public handshake to seal the deal in front of other employees and customers. Affirmative You want to get as many "yes" answers as possible because yeses develop consistency within the person that will carry over into your major request. This technique reduces dissonance and makes it easier for prospects to say yes to your final proposal. Even if it is a watereddown, easy request, getting a yes to any request makes it easier to evoke the same response down the road. Close with a series of questions-ideally six-that all end with a yes. Desire increases with each yes, and decreases with each no. persuasion