"Every good salesperson knows the 7-step process in which you identify and qualify a prospect to understand their needs, then present your offer, overcome objections, close the sale and follow up. It's proven so consistently effective that its concepts have been the standard for training salespeople for decades. Many business leaders come up through sales and marketing, so it shouldn't be surprising that they try to use similar persuasion techniques for large-scale change."
"Unfortunately, that's a terrible strategy. The truth is that the urge to persuade is often a red flag. It means you either have the wrong people or the wrong idea. Effective change strategy focuses on collective dynamics. Rather than trying to shape opinions, you're much better off empowering people who are already enthusiastic about the idea and working to shape networks."
Sales persuasion techniques that identify needs, present offers, overcome objections, close, and follow up work reliably for individual sales but fail when applied to large-scale change. Business leaders often apply sales and marketing persuasion to organizational change by crafting messages and overcoming objections, yet that approach frequently indicates either the wrong audience or a flawed idea. Effective change strategy emphasizes collective dynamics, empowering already-enthusiastic people and shaping social networks rather than attempting to persuade everyone. Research identifies influence principles—reciprocity, commitment and consistency, social proof, authority, liking, scarcity—and recent frameworks like SPEACC. Conversation-based practices prioritize empathetic listening and rapport.
Read at Fast Company
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