Chapter 12
Influence Action—People Decide in the Opposite Way of What You’d Think

With all its cleverness, decision theory is somewhat crippled emotionally, and thus detached from the emotional and visceral richness of life.

—GEORGE LOWENSTEIN

YOU’VE ALREADY DONE the work to make it rain with clients, clients, and more clients. You’ve found the right people. You’ve captured attention and emotion. You’ve established yourself as a credible expert in your field. You’ve made yourself memorable and furthered relationships by following up and adding value. You’ve built a sense of community through stimulating conversations, and you’ve shown people how you help others like them. You’ve given and activated the law of reciprocity. You’ve even presented people with a singular message and call to action. So, what’s left? Not much—they just need to decide to hire you. The traditional view of decision making is that people make a pros and cons list and go with whatever choice is most compelling. This is not necessarily true. In this chapter, we’ll explore how people actually make decisions and the things you should do (and not do) to help them decide to hire you.