Covert influence works extremely well in many situations because it doesn’t force anything on the other party. This type of influence often leads people to personal conclusions that benefit both parties at once.

Unlike more blatant persuasive tactics, people rarely feel pressured to do something for the influencer because the other party doesn’t realize that he is being persuaded or influenced already. This is one of the reasons why I advocate ethic application of covert influence techniques because every human transaction should always benefit both parties (as much as possible, that is).

Personal commitment = influence

A study spearheaded by Freedman and Fraser shows us exactly how personal commitment can help an influencer accomplish his goals in a short period of time. In this unique study, the researchers sought to find out just what it is that encourages compliance in the least amount of time even if the influencer has no deeply rooted bonds with the other party.

In the study, the researchers headed to a wealthy neighborhood to discover exactly what it is that makes people say “yes!” to a request from someone who is a complete stranger. In the first round of testing, they asked members of the wealthy community if they would be interested in volunteering their frontage for a six foot sign that said “Drive Carefully”.

Of course, all the work needed to put up the gigantic sign would be handled by the Road Traffic Safety Committee. In their first attempt, as surprising 17% of all the respondents said yes to the request. The researchers were close to the answer they were looking for, so they dug deeper. This time, they change their tactics a little.

In the next round of attempts, they asked respondents if they would like to support the traffic safety campaign by hosting a small sign that said “Be a Safe Driver”. Because the sign that was being offered was tiny compared to the six foot sign before, almost all of the respondents said yes. But that’s not the end of the experiment – yet.

Two weeks later, another set of people were assigned to knock on the doors of those who have said yes to the small “Be a Safe Driver” sign and the respondents were asked again if they would like to help out by hosting a much larger sign. A staggering 76% of the respondents said yes to the request – a massive contrast to the 17% in the first attempt.

I know what you’re thinking – yes, there is something in the second approach that radically changed the situation. And this is the secret ingredient: personal commitment. The respondents in the second attempt were able to personally commit to the campaign and therefore, they felt that it was their responsibility to follow through with their personal commitments.

It was that simple. There was no force or coercion of any sort – people committed to the campaign even if the “shoe on the door” tactic was used in a small way. They could have said no, but something more important came to the fore – commitment and responsibility. You can sue the same strategy when you want to influence someone through a simple text message.

Before asking for a big favor (that would likely be met with a bigger NO), I want you to focus on having that person commit to something really small. Give the person time to develop the personal commitment within himself before asking for a bigger favor.

The other party needs a little time to add that new personal commitment to his image of himself before he/she can agree to bigger requests. Text messages that bolster the other party’s feeling of personal commitment to what you want to do (eventually) will also help you influence the other party when you need to request for something significant.

Remember: commitment almost always results in full compliance. If there is no commitment, there won’t be any pressing motivation to do something for someone else. But if there is personal commitment involved, the other party will see to it that he is able to follow through with his commitment.

Labeling, self-image and quick action

A person’s self-image is something that you can really tap into when you need to influence someone. You can do this by suggesting a particular self-image (a positive one, of course) that would later become a self-fulfilling prophecy for the other party. The effectiveness of this approach is illustrated clearly in a study headed by Tybout and Yalch. This particular study focused on voters right before Election Day.

The researchers told 50% of the respondents that (based on their answers to the questionnaires) they are above-average individuals with a high likelihood of participating in events in like elections. The other 50% of the respondents were told that they were average when it came to matters related to those mentioned earlier.

Sure enough, the respondents who were told they were above average when it came to participating in events like voting were 15% more likely to fulfill the categorization given to them by the researchers. How can you apply this technique when you want to influence someone through a simple text message?

Easy: create a positive self-image and tie this with what you need at the moment. For instance, if you really need a friend to finish a favor for you but he is having a hard time, simply tell him that he has worked exceptionally well in similar situations in the past and he possess specific traits that make him more than capable of handling the present task.

This is just one example of how you can tap into a person’s self-image to influence him covertly. This technique works well also because you are raising the other person’s status and that deepens trust even more. If the other party feels that you are raising his status, he would be more than willing to comply with what you need to reciprocate your own positive words and actions.