August 7, 2006
Attorneys Should Never Underestimate the Power of a Favor
I was drawn to Robert Cialdini’s book INFLUENCE: The Psychology of Persuasion by an article in the August 2006 Harvard Management Update by Martha Craumer
Look for advice about rainmaking and the experts will let you know it is about relationship building. Ask how to build relationships and they will tell you it is about giving. That is often described as being of value to others. Robert Cialdini puts it in even simpler terms. Doing something for someone gives you power and influence over them. Craumer directs us to “Do a favor—even a small one”.
In her article, Craumer reports that Cialdini’s research shows that the size of the initial favor has little bearing on the size of the favor we feel obliged to perform in return. Further, she notes that “the study shows that in spite of the uneven quid pro quo, we also seem unable to refuse the favors of others.”
A favor is a powerful influencing tool, one easy for the influencer to exploit. The exploitive power of a favor comes from what Cialdini calls the reciprocity rule—the obligation (or propensity) to receive in combination with the obligation (or propensity) to repay.
Martha Craumer’s article is about management and leadership—tactics for getting your point across subtly when traditional direct approaches do not work. The practice of doing favors (doing something for others) is a rewarding habit to develop.
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Filed under Marketing by Tom Collins