Persuasion in Business: An Overview
Persuasion is a method of communication by which speakers or writers try to convince other people to agree to a certain viewpoint or to act in a certain way. The result of persuasion is motivation, the reason why listeners or readers think or do things differently. Sometimes the use of persuasion may be easy to spot, but at other times it may be less perceptible. Furthermore, sometimes persuasion may be used for very honorable and well-intended reasons, but at other times it may be used to further a corrupt, even sinister, agenda.
In a business environment, persuasion is used to motivate employees to buy into and work toward organizational goals, to take on specific tasks or projects, or comply with any number of thoughts or directives that leaders believe will lead to business success. Co-workers may also persuade their peers to adopt certain opinions or be responsible for certain duties of their shared workloads. Persuasion is a common practice used among customers and other stakeholders as well. Businesses use persuasion to earn favor from their target markets and the general public, in the hope of influencing customers to purchase their goods or services.
For example, Max is the owner and president of a virtual reality business specializing in police training. His business comprises finance staff, tech developers, and sales staff. In the face of societal concern around police brutality, Max persuades his employees to see themselves as important contributors to solving the problem. He tells stories of how the company's training programs have prevented harrowing police/public encounters from escalating into life-threatening conflict. These stories serve as motivation for Max's employees to be more committed to the company mission, innovative in their technological development, and driven in their sales pitches.
Amanda is another example of persuasion at work. Amanda is one of eight event planners at a large pharmaceutical company. It is up to Amanda and her co-workers to divide the responsibilities of planning and overseeing corporate events. Amanda believes that California would be the best option for hosting an upcoming company conference. In turn, she implicitly persuades her teammates to consider the advantages of planning the conference thereby presenting appealing facts about the location and comprehensive budgetary data.
People in business use persuasion in presentations, sales calls, and other scenarios.
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Why is Persuasion Important in Business?
Some people may overlook the importance of persuasion in business, but it has an obvious place and a powerful pull. The following sheds light on why persuasion is important in business and leads to overall business success.
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Staff motivation
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An unmotivated staff is likely an unproductive staff. Since persuasion is the process that leads to motivation, it should be a seriously considered and well-orchestrated practice within businesses.
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Customer Leads
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Persuasion in a variety of forms is often needed to generate leads, then to captivate prospects, then gain purchasing customers. Such persuasion may occur through one-on-one interactions, advertising, seminars, and other common platforms for sharing motivational messages.
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Investor Buy-in
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Organizations need capital to get off the ground and to keep running. Capital comes through investors. Persuasion is used to convince prospective investors that their contributions will result in substantial profit and make some kind of a meaningful difference to the world.
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Positive Supplier Arrangements
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Negotiation with suppliers often requires persuasion. It is often because of persuasion that companies enjoy discounts and other favorable contractual agreements when purchasing supplies and equipment.
