Persuasion is a very important part of influence.  And persuasion is ultimately all about a result which is otherwise known as getting your audience to do what you want them to do.

The result of compliance is often dependant on the relationship.

As an example, persuading your friend to go to the restaurant of your choice can be very different from persuading your child to do their homework.

Here are 8 simple steps to persuasion in business settings:

1.)  Identify A Problem – All of our decisions are made to either avoid pain or gain pleasure.  But statistically, people will actually do more to avoid pain than they will to gain pleasure.  If you can identify a problem or more importantly, a desire to avoid a problem by your target, you are well on your way to positioning yourself to persuading them.   

2.)  Identify The Consequence Of The Problem - The Once you've identified the unwanted issue in their life (which could be loss of money, loss of health, weight gain, rising costs, etc.), you now show your target how not taking the action to correct this issue will result in more pain for them.  Ultimately you're selling a solution, but sometimes you can’t do that unless the person knows that they have a problem.  So the first step is showing them their problem. 

3.)  Identify The Chosen Solution – Here, you simply have your target select the outcome that they think will solve their problem.  The best way to do this is by asking questions like “What do you think would fix this?” “What would be the ideal outcome for you?” or “What would you prefer?” 

4.)  Identify The Consequences Of The Solution - It’s very important that your target accepts and understands every aspect of the new outcome and fully supports it .If they don’t, they will blame you the moment things don’t work out as planned (if that happens). 

5.)  Check For Confirmation - Make sure that the chosen outcome is something that your target truly wants.  It will not help if they are not truthful; either to themselves or with you.  Gaining compliance and gaining pacification or two different things.  Make sure your target is not telling you what you want to hear just for the sake of not being combative. 

6.)  Ensure The Solution Is Beneficial - It will never do you any good to provide quick fix solutions or short-term answers to your target’s problems.  Make sure that any solution that you provide will provide long-lasting results.  This will not only make them happy, but will need to more opportunities for you to influence and do more business with them. 

7.)  Reserve Judgment - If the target makes a suggestion or answers a question appropriately, don't pass judgment on them.  Everyone views the world in a different way and sometimes someone's perception might be different than yours; making it hard for you to comprehend why they would have a certain opinion on a particular subject matter.  Invest the time and energy to understand your targets values, beliefs and outlooks on life.  It will not only better equip you to persuade them, but they will take notice to the fact that you have invested in getting to know them.

8.)  Never Correct Your Target - Often times your target may make statements that are false, untrue or downright incorrect.  If you experience a situation where this is happening, it's never a good idea to tell them that they're wrong or try to correct them.  When you do, their defense mechanisms automatically take effect.  Then, instead of listening to you or becoming susceptible to persuasion, they are too busy defending their thoughts and points of view.  This not only makes them difficult to persuade, but it also causes them to question their relationship with you.