6 tips to help master the art of influence

 Oct 08, 2014

Are you having trouble getting your ideas for change across to your customers or those within your organisation who have the power to influence and make things happen?

Following are 6 quick tips that may increase your chances of getting your recommendations over the line:

Tip #1: Do your homework to find out what’s important to the individual from a business sense. For example, do their priorities relate to keeping costs down, increasing productivity, improving quality, or strengthening their reputation within their market?

Tip #2: Analyse what’s currently happening within the business and compare this to strategic goals. This approach will help you identify the gap and create a business case that will confirm the relevance of your idea.

Tip #3: Use a logical approach based on evidence. This can be very persuasive as you will have facts or figures that justify your argument.

Tip #4: To strengthen your position, present specific examples based on your experience or case studies of similar approaches used by other organisations. This will help build your credibility with decision makers.

Tip #5: Try to tap into their emotions through the use of stories to create a mental picture of the possibilities or, if necessary, the consequences of not changing.

Tip # 6: Finally, your recommendation should be clear, brief, and have an impact on the decision makers.

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About the Author:

Trish Dobe  

Trish has over 20 years of experience in organisational development, change management, and corporate learning & development both within Australia and overseas. As one of New Horizons’ Professional Development trainers, Trish’s main focus is the delivery of solutions which enable organisations to measurably improve their performance. Trish specialises in the delivery of training programs in the areas of performance management, leadership, process improvement, sales and customer service. From a practical standpoint, she has held a number of roles varying from front-line through to senior management within a variety of commercial environments. With this, Trish brings her practical experience into the classroom and gives her the ability to engage professionals from junior to senior levels.

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