Know the Language of Influencing

Influencing people requires time. It seldom happens at the point of a gun or under duress as that is force not influence. To change someones mind so that they see themselves as the maker of decisions or wisdom or communication, it is important to speak “their “language.

Have you ever spoken to someone in a call centre from say…The Philippines? Or Belfast? or Mumbai? Each one will attempt to speak the words we want to hear to influence our decision. That is whether it is sales, or telling us to switch off the machine and on again, or that we did indeed order 144 items instead of 12, which is of course a gross mistake.

Sometimes it works and they hit it just right. They speak as I speak about the right level of knowledge in words I understand and both of us come away feeling we have achieved something.

As a consultant going in to different organisations I must adapt quickly to the local parlance, the four letter acronyms, the levels of power, the expectations of results. It usually demands more listening then talking initially and questioning rather then answering but it shows us how and ,oft times, when to talk.