LeadingMinds Tip 148: The Power of Perceptual Contrast This week's LeadingMinds Tip was written by Haider Imam of the Kaizen Team. 2 for £5, 3 for £10. Pause... rewind. When you re-read the above and do the maths - you might realise it's not the best incentive to purchase more! Believe it or not, I saw this sign recently at a fayre and decided to point it out to the stall owner, who gratefully modified her sign to display "2 for £5, 3 for £7". And it got me thinking about how we can use 'choices' to persuade and influence more successfully. Here are a couple of scenarios to experiment with - see what your reactions are, and try them out on your colleagues. Scenario 1: Imagine your boss requests that you work over the weekend to help meet a deadline that's important to her (not to you). It means you'll need to be at the office 9 - 5 both days to achieve the objective. No time in lieu, no extra money - it's just one of those things that has to be done. Trouble is, you promised your kids/friends/partner that you'd spend time with them this weekend. How do you notice yourself responding on the inside? Now she tells you that a possible alternative is to work through two lunch hours this week to accomplish the same thing. Again, on the inside, how do you notice yourself reacting to the second choice? Scenario 2: Imagine you've some guests coming to a party at your house and you want to ensure the house is spotless. You ask your reluctant (kids/friends/partner) to help out with some chores: either they can scrub and clean both toilets for five minutes, or they can hoover for five minutes. Which are they more likely to go for? When I ask these questions on my influencing, selling and negotiating workshops, the overwhelming response is for people to choose 'working through two lunch hours' and 'hoover for five minutes' as the preferred options. Frequently, I hear participants say things like: "That's a good deal in comparison!" or "I'd snap your hand off for the second one". What's at work here is the psychological phenomenon known as "Perceptual Contrast". If you were only asked to work through two lunch hours with no alternative option, how would your internal motivation be different to scenario 1? Notice that when a more scary, unpleasant or more costly option is presented to us first, we gravitate towards the second far more easily than if it had been the only option offered. It's almost a relief when that 'easier' option is offered. And consequently our motivation to take it is far higher than if it had been the only choice. You only have to look at prices in gourmet coffee to see different versions of perceptual contrast at work. Have you noticed how the price differential between large, medium and small is so negligible that most people go for large without questioning why the small size is so damned expensive. In contrast, it seems like a better deal at £3.40 for a cup of coffee. In effect, we're being encouraged to have a different kind of internal conversation. Rather than "do I buy it or not?" the internal conversation becomes "which one should I buy?". It's a subtle approach: moving the conversation from a selling frame to a negotiation frame. So, when making your next requests and offers, especially those that may be perceived as less desirable, how will you harness the deep-rooted power of 'Perceptual Contrast' to increase levels of engagement and ownership in relation to your requests, and ultimately, your acceptance rate? This week's call to action: Option 1: Call a one-hour meeting with all your peers and leadership team to discuss how you can now leverage the power of 'PC' in your pricing and your communications Option 2: Once you've used this effect successfully in your context, just let us know via info@kaizen-training.comand receive THE classic light-hearted example of 'PC' in action! Take a tiny step and enjoy the learning!