Each year around Christmas I share a variation of this post. Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Santa Claus — The Greatest Salesman Who Ever Lived

Why do I believe Santa is the ultimate salesman? To start, he has a couple of success stories most of us can’t compete with. First, he’s successfully run the same family business for hundreds of years. There’s something to be said for stability, especially over the long haul.

Second, Santa has a client base that expands every year — no matter the state of the global economy.

Can your business make those claims?

But those aren’t the reasons I believe Santa is the greatest salesman who ever lived. Contrary to what you might think, his success doesn’t come from his business savvy. After all, consider the obstacles he has to deal with.

• Business attire: Santa obviously doesn’t buy into the “dress for success” philosophy. Power suits are fine but a red suit and hat, both lined with fur, is a little over the top in today’s casual business environment.
• Delivery system: Santa’s remains way behind the times here. His “One Day Delivery” is literally that – you get your packages one day a year. He doesn’t seem to notice in today’s economy people want what they want, when they want it, and that usually means now. But the real problem behind “One Day Delivery” might just be his delivery method. I think you’d agree the U.S. Postal Service, FedEx, or UPS would be much more efficient than eight tiny reindeer pulling a small sleigh.
• Manufacturing: Some say Santa’s operation is too labor-intensive to survive much longer. After all, he’s competing with Wal-Mart, Amazon, Apple, and other giant organizations. In today’s marketplace, how can any business can get by without automating? Perhaps if he automated a process or two he’d have enough inventory to open this store more than one day a year.
• Efficiency: I realize Santa gives his product away for free but that doesn’t mean it costs him nothing. He has all those elves and reindeer to take care of. Food and lodging are bad enough but health care costs have to be crushing his profit margin! And, what about worker’s compensation costs? If he automated at least he’d save a little money and might be able to take Mrs. Claus on a nice vacation – somewhere warm for a change!
• Branding: All companies change their branding to fit the times and Santa might want to consider doing the same. After all, “Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas!” has gotten a bit old and stale over the centuries.
• Orders: I think Santa could fill orders much faster if only he’d set up a website. And how about replacing all those last minute letters with email, text, instant messaging, or a Twitter account? It has to be painfully slow for him to read all those handwritten letters.

So, all this begs the question, “Why is Santa so successful…in spite of himself?” In business if you continually land new customers and retain the old ones then you’re doing something right. Here are six reasons Santa continually attracts new customers and retains all his current ones:

1. He loves his job! Perhaps, “Ho, Ho, Ho,” is his corporate culture and not just some slick branding slogan.
   – Could you do the same job day after day, year after year, for most of your life, and remain so upbeat and jolly?
2. He genuinely cares for his customers. His goal is to meet everyone’s needs and all he hopes for in return is to see joy on their faces. He personifies what it means to be customer focused.
   – Do you get joy from serving your customers?
3. He gets to the personal side of selling. Granted he’s not always accessible but he doesn’t expect clients to come to him. When he’s at his absolute busiest, with his deadline approaching and delivery date nearing, he can be seen everywhere talking with his customers. How he can be in so many places at one time I’ll never know.
   – How often do you initiate contact with your customers, even when it’s inconvenient for you?
4. He creates an experience. A toy is just a toy, except when it’s from Santa. Because it only comes once a year and will be found under the tree on Christmas morning it creates anticipation and builds excitement! That’s so much better than getting something online or from some mail order catalog.
   – Do you create an experience for your customers?
5. He adds value. When people hear the word “free” they often think “cheap” or wonder, “What’s the catch?” Even though Santa gives his products away we love what he gives us mostly because it comes from him. Don’t you have a few things you value above all others because of the person who gave it to you?
   – Do your customers see you adding value?
6. He delivers on his promise. Santa does what he says and always delivers; no excuses, no extra charge, always on time!
   – Can your customer count on you to be that consistent?

So there you have it, six reasons behind the success of jolly old St. Nick. Did you notice that everything Santa does is within your power to do with your customers? That’s right, there’s no reason you can’t do the same things Santa does. And here’s some welcome news for most of you – you don’t have to wear a silly red uniform while you do those things!

I hope you enjoyed this post and that you and your loved ones have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Brian Ahearn

Brian Ahearn is the Chief Influence Officer at Influence PEOPLE and a faculty member at the Cialdini Institute.

An author, TEDx speaker, international trainer, coach, and consultant, Brian helps clients apply influence in everyday situations to boost results.

As one of only a dozen Cialdini Method Certified Trainers in the world, Brian was personally trained and endorsed by Robert Cialdini, Ph.D., the most cited living social psychologist on the science of ethical influence.

Brian’s first book, Influence PEOPLE, was named one of the 100 Best Influence Books of All Time by Book Authority. His follow-up, Persuasive Selling for Relationship Driven Insurance Agents, was an Amazon new release bestseller. His latest book, The Influencer: Secrets to Success and Happiness, is a business parable designed to teach you how to use influence at home and the office.

Brian’s LinkedIn courses on persuasive selling and coaching have been viewed by more than 700,000 people around the world. His TEDx Talk on pre-suasion has more than a million views!

Last weekend college football conference championships took place. On Sunday, fans and alumni watched the college bowl selection show with eager anticipation to see which bowl games their favorite teams would go to. It’s an exciting time if your team is one that makes the cut for the playoffs or one of the premier bowl games.

When I think of college football bowl games, it always brings to mind one of the most persuasive television commercials I’ve ever seen.

About 15 years ago, Allstate Insurance ran a television ad the week of the Rose Bowl. Their spokesperson, Dennis Haysbert, stood in the middle of the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA, and told viewers, “This Saturday 110,000 people will fill this stadium to watch a football game. Last year Allstate filled this stadium 10 times with the number of people who made the switch.” 

Wow!! Most people don’t know much about insurance, but I can tell you from 30+ years in the industry, just about everyone thinks they pay too much for home and auto insurance. I’ve no doubt many viewers called an Allstate agent, or reached out online, as a result of that persuasive commercial.

When more than a million people are doing something, it’s worth looking into. After all, everyone can’t be wrong…at least the vast majority of the time. 

Social Proof

That’s the power of social proof. This principle of influence highlights the reality that we are heavily impacted by other people. What are they saying? What are they doing? How are they feeling? Others impact what we say, what we do, and how we feel because we’re social creatures. You could say we’re wired for connection. Humans learned long ago, there’s safety in numbers so following the crowd usually works out well.

Social proof is everywhere and impacts us all the time, even when we’re not fully conscious of it. For example:

• The more people who saw the Barbie movie, the more it enticed others to see it. My daughter made me, and my wife, see the movie and it was better than I anticipated.
• When you see hundreds or thousands of positive reviews on Amazon, that makes you more likely to purchase whatever item you’re looking at.
• People who move to a new location are more likely to dress, act, and talk like the people in their new hometown. This begins to happen almost without notice.

Most of the influence that impacts you happens without your critical thinking. That’s because the vast majority of your thinking and behavior is driven by your subconscious. This “thinking without thinking” is an efficient shortcut that saves you time and energy. 

Using Social Proof

If you take a moment to read my bio below, you’ll see how I use social proof with every LinkedIn article and blog post:

• My book Persuasive Selling was an Amazon new release best-seller.
• More than 700,000 people around the world have viewed my LinkedIn courses.
• My TEDx Talk has been seen by over a million people.

When social proof is available, make sure you bring it into your communication because it makes it easier for people to take similar action. Everyone else is doing it so why not you too? 

Brian Ahearn

Brian Ahearn is the Chief Influence Officer at Influence PEOPLE and a faculty member at the Cialdini Institute. 

An author, TEDx speaker, international trainer, coach, and consultant, Brian helps clients apply influence in everyday situations to boost results.

As one of only a dozen Cialdini Method Certified Trainers in the world, Brian was personally trained and endorsed by Robert Cialdini, Ph.D., the most cited living social psychologist on the science of ethical influence.

Brian’s first book, Influence PEOPLE, was named one of the 100 Best Influence Books of All Time by Book Authority. His follow-up, Persuasive Selling for Relationship Driven Insurance Agents, was an Amazon new release bestseller. His latest book, The Influencer: Secrets to Success and Happiness, is a business parable designed to teach you how to use influence at home and the office.

Brian’s LinkedIn courses on persuasive selling and coaching have been viewed by more than 700,000 people around the world. His TEDx Talk on pre-suasion has more than a million views!

This week Americans will celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. We should always be thankful but, it is nice to have a day dedicated to giving thanks. 

Rather than write a long post I thought I’d share a handful I’ve written over the years that stress the importance of giving thanks and responding appropriately when you’re thanked.

Don’t Be A Turkey When It Comes To Thanksgiving

The Importance Of Saying “Thank You”

Be Thankful And Give Thanks

Why Thankfulness Matters

Correct Ways To Respond To “Thanks!”

From my family to yours, I hope you enjoy the articles and that you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving. If you don’t live in the United States, I encourage you to pause this Thursday to give thanks for all the good in your life.

Brian Ahearn

Brian Ahearn is the Chief Influence Officer at Influence PEOPLE and a faculty member at the Cialdini Institute. 

An author, TEDx speaker, international trainer, coach, and consultant, Brian helps clients apply influence in everyday situations to boost results.

As one of only a dozen Cialdini Method Certified Trainers in the world, Brian was personally trained and endorsed by Robert Cialdini, Ph.D., the most cited living social psychologist on the science of ethical influence.

Brian’s first book, Influence PEOPLE, was named one of the 100 Best Influence Books of All Time by Book Authority. His follow-up, Persuasive Selling for Relationship Driven Insurance Agents, was an Amazon new release bestseller. His latest book, The Influencer: Secrets to Success and Happiness, is a business parable designed to teach you how to use influence at home and the office.

Brian’s LinkedIn courses on persuasive selling and coaching have been viewed by more than 650,000 people around the world. His TEDx Talk on pre-suasion has more than a million views!

Last weekend, my wife and I were in Pennsylvania, visiting her family and enjoying some football games. However, with the November 7th election just around the corner, there was no escaping the onslaught of political ads on every television station we tuned into. It got me thinking about the power of persuasion and manipulation in politics.

Two ads, in particular, stood out as so far-fetched that my wife, Jane, decided to look into each of them. What she discovered was truly eye-opening. These ads weren’t just misleading; they were blatant lies. Today, I want to share the details of these deceptive political ads, shedding light on the manipulation that politicians often employ to sway public opinion.

Attack Ad on Steve Zappala

Allegheny County District Attorney Steve Zappala is running for reelection. An ad against him stated, “Zappala is the one who jailed a woman who had a miscarriage, and then charged her with concealing the death of a child.”

Wow! I’m sure having a miscarriage is hard enough but to be jailed for it, was that true? Not at all. Here are the details from CBS News Pittsburgh:

“‘Pittsburgh Police responded to a house in Bloomfield,’ said Zappala. ‘There was a baby in a freezer and the baby was in a box. They didn’t know what to do exactly, so they charged abuse of corpse. And they didn’t know if it was a homicide, so what they did was call homicide who immediately calls us. So when they called us, we asked about the interview between the woman who was living there and the police officers, and what they said was that she had been disowned by her family, she lost her job, she was a single mom, and she had panicked when she had had the child,’ said Zappala.”

“Instead of jailing her, Zappala said he was concerned that the woman was suicidal. ‘She was immediately placed into a mental health pod which is equivalent to civil confinement in Western Psychiatric Hospital, and from that point on, she was cared for by medical professionals,’ noted Zappala.”

Bottom line: Steve Zappala is not jailing women for having miscarriages.

Steve Zappala Attack Ad

For his part, Steve Zappala isn’t much better than his political opponents. He ran an attack ad against his opponent Matt Dugan saying Dugan, “fought to stop a rape victim from testifying against her rapist.”

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “In short, they argued that testimony from women accusing him of sexual assaults for which he was not on trial shouldn’t be allowed, because it would prejudice the jury against him in considering the accusations for which he was on trial. Lawyers refer to such testimony as ‘propensity evidence’ or ‘prior bad act testimony,’ and prosecutors sometimes try to use it to demonstrate to a jury a pattern of behavior by defendants.”

In layman’s terms, she couldn’t testify against the man (Bill Cosby) because he wasn’t on trial for raping her. She’d already had her day in course in a separate trial.

Distortion is Manipulation

At the heart of these political ads is the manipulation of the truth for the benefit of one party, while detrimentally impacting the other. Unfortunately, such distortions have become the norm when it comes to political campaigning, and it’s essential for us not to turn a blind eye. The relentless repetition of misleading information can influence our thinking and voting decisions, while also fueling division and animosity between different political camps.

As we approach the next presidential election, and many critical congressional and senate races, the rhetoric will undoubtedly intensify with each passing day. My encouragement to you is simple: when you come across something that appears outlandish or too good (or bad) to be true, take a page out of Jane’s book and dig deeper. Seek out the truth, because being an informed voter is our best defense against manipulation.

Conclusion

In a world filled with political ads vying for our attention, it’s crucial to approach them with a critical eye and a healthy dose of skepticism. As we’ve seen, distortion and manipulation are all too common in these campaigns. By staying informed and fact-checking claims that seem too extreme, we can help ensure that our political decisions are based on truth rather than manipulation.

So, as the election season unfolds, let’s all make a commitment to be diligent truth-seekers, striving to see past the smoke and mirrors of political advertising. Only then can we make informed choices that reflect our values and beliefs, rather than falling victim to the snares of manipulation.

Edited with ChatGPT 

Brian Ahearn

Brian Ahearn is the Chief Influence Officer at Influence PEOPLE and a faculty member at the Cialdini Institute. 

An author, TEDx speaker, international trainer, coach, and consultant, Brian helps clients apply influence in everyday situations to boost results.

As one of only a dozen Cialdini Method Certified Trainers in the world, Brian was personally trained and endorsed by Robert Cialdini, Ph.D., the most cited living social psychologist on the science of ethical influence.

Brian’s first book, Influence PEOPLE, was named one of the 100 Best Influence Books of All Time by Book Authority. His follow-up, Persuasive Selling for Relationship Driven Insurance Agents, was an Amazon new release bestseller. His latest book, The Influencer: Secrets to Success and Happiness, is a business parable designed to teach you how to use influence at home and the office.

Brian’s LinkedIn courses on persuasive selling and coaching have been viewed by more than 650,000 people around the world. His TEDx Talk on pre-suasion has more than a million views!

You’ve been there before, haven’t you? You meet someone, and something inside says, “I don’t like that person.” Or maybe the dislike stems from a bad interaction. Abraham Lincoln felt the same way at times, but he knew how to remedy the situation.

One of my favorite books is Team of Rivals by Doris Kerns Goodwin. Her biography on Lincoln’s life revealed the truth that he had many detractors. He was viewed by some as a country bumpkin. Others saw him as uneducated. One person even called him a baboon. Sounds a bit like MSNBC and Fox News before they were a thing.

Lincoln’s challenge was this: each Republican he ran against in the Republican primary had skills the nation needed. When he won the presidential election, he persuaded each to join his cabinet. As much as we’d like to believe they simply set aside their differences, that wasn’t the case. Each still had aspirations for the nation’s highest office, so they agreed to join him, but some worked against him for a time.

How do you work with people you honestly don’t like or who don’t like you? Lincoln put it this way, “I don’t like that man. I must get to know him better.

Lincoln didn’t try to get those men to like him. Rather, he put his energies into getting to know them better so he would like them. Two principles of influence are at play in this approach.

Liking

We all know it’s easier for people to go along with whatever you propose if they like you. I often tell salespeople, “You may not win the deal because someone likes you, but you’ll almost never win the deal if they don’t like you.”

Getting people to like you doesn’t take rocket science, but a little understanding of social science helps.

First, look for what you have in common with the other person. It’s natural for us to like people that we share similarities with. It’s best to find out a few beforehand and open your conversation by connecting on them.

Second, offer genuine praise. Everyone has some praiseworthy traits, so look for them and mention them. In Lincoln’s case, this came naturally because his rivals did possess skills he did not or did not possess to the same degree.

Third, and most importantly, Lincoln wasn’t trying to get his cabinet to like him. Instead, he focused on liking them. When people start to sense that you truly like and care for them, that’s where things begin to change thanks to reciprocity.

Reciprocity

This principle of influence ties into Lincoln linking the men he worked with because it’s natural to give back what you first receive.

If someone offers you a compliment, at a minimum you say, “Thanks.” However, sometimes you go further and offer a compliment in return. Doing so in a genuine spirit causes liking.

When you offer help, it’s likely people will help you in return when you need it. A funny thing occurs here; people begin to rationalize their help because we generally help people we like.

Conclusion

Do you have someone in your life that you’d have to honestly admit, “I don’t like that person”? If so, here’s your opportunity to change course. Make it a point to engage the principle of liking by doing whatever you can to get to know and like that person.

Don’t expect overnight results. Stay with it and allow liking to work its magic on them then trust, in time, the other person will slowly begin to respond in kind. And never forget, if someone is challenging for you to deal with, they’re probably a challenge for other people too. Break through and you might be pleasantly surprised at what you find on the other side.

Influence isn’t just about getting people to do what you want; it’s about building connections, fostering understanding, and making the world a better place through ethical persuasion. Lincoln’s approach to dealing with his rivals can be a valuable lesson for all of us in our daily interactions.

Remember, the next time you encounter someone you don’t like or who doesn’t like you, take a page from Lincoln’s book. Get to know them better, focus on liking them, and let the principles of liking and reciprocity work their magic. Who knows what positive transformations and opportunities might await when you approach people with empathy and a genuine desire to connect?

Let’s start a conversation below! Share your experiences or thoughts on using these principles of ethical influence in your life. Together, we can create a ripple effect of positive change in how we relate to others and transform our influence approaches.

Edited with ChatGPT

Brian Ahearn

Brian Ahearn is the Chief Influence Officer at Influence PEOPLE and a faculty member at the Cialdini Institute. 

An author, TEDx speaker, international trainer, coach, and consultant, Brian helps clients apply influence in everyday situations to boost results.

As one of only a dozen Cialdini Method Certified Trainers in the world, Brian was personally trained and endorsed by Robert Cialdini, Ph.D., the most cited living social psychologist on the science of ethical influence.

Brian’s first book, Influence PEOPLE, was named one of the 100 Best Influence Books of All Time by Book Authority. His follow-up, Persuasive Selling for Relationship Driven Insurance Agents, was an Amazon new release bestseller. His latest book, The Influencer: Secrets to Success and Happiness, is a business parable designed to teach you how to use influence at home and the office.

Brian’s LinkedIn courses on persuasive selling and coaching have been viewed by more than 650,000 people around the world. His TEDx Talk on pre-suasion has more than a million views!