3 Ways to Get People To Do What You Want
In the business environment there are three, and only three, ways you can get a person to do what you want. They are as follows:
Institutional Power
If you have institutional power over someone, meaning that you can reward or punish him or her in the work environment, then you can wield that power to make people do what you want. For example, if my CEO said, “get me this report by Friday” it would be a safe bet that I would have that report on his desk by Friday. This is because his name is on the door and he can fire me with no questions asked. (In this economic climate I plan to stay employed.)
Expert Reputation
If someone feels that you know more than them about a specific subject, they will do what you suggest. For example, I know nothing about cars. So when I had a problem with my car I went to a co-worker who knows a lot more about cars than me. If he told me to take my car to Dairy Queen and pour a blizzard into the gas tank, I would have done that.
Relationship Built on Trust and Giving
If you have built strong relationships (by using the tactics outlined in my previous posts) with your co-workers, they will often follow your direction. This is because they will like you, trust you, and feel obligated to return the favors you have provided to them.
Often Marketers find themselves in a situation where they have little to no real institutional power and work with a group of people that somehow think they know more about marketing than they do. If you find yourself in this situation, you are left with one option for getting people to do what you want…develop relationships built on trust and giving. The tactics outlined in my last couple posts will help you do just that.
