Contrast: Make Your Grass Greener
“Could be worse… Could be raining.”
Igor, Young Frankenstein
Contrast is a lever of persuasion that salespeople use on you all the time. And it’s quite effective.
Do you know how you can use contrast to persuade? Don’t you want to know a tool that other people already use?
WHAT IS THE CONTRAST PRINCIPLE?
As Robert Cialdini writes in Influence:
“There is a principle in human perception, the contrast principle, that affects the way we see the difference between two things that are presented one after another. Simply put, if the second item is fairly different from the first, we will tend to see it as more different than it actually is.”
FOR EXAMPLE
Say you want to buy new shoes, but you don’t want to buy an expensive pair. You go to a store and the salesperson first pitches you with a pair that costs $150, which you think is too expensive so you go for less expensive pair.
But if the salesperson instead started with a pair that cost $250 and then showed you the $150 pair, you would think that the $150 pair was relatively inexpensive. This is because your brain views it in contrast to the nearest alternative in your memory: the $250 pair.
Scott Adams touches on the Contrast Principle in Win Bigly:
“Every decision is a comparison of alternatives. If you control how people see the alternatives, you can sell anything.”
CONTRAST IN RECIPROCITY
The Contrast Principle helps explain why using reciprocity via concessions is so powerful.
Concessions work like this: (1) You start with a big request, (2) that gets rejected, and (3) you back off (concede) and follow up with a smaller request.
Not only is reciprocity at work here, but contrast is too. Your new, lower ask looks better in contrast to the original big ask.
HOW YOU WILL LEVERAGE CONTRAST
Sales & Copywriting
Don’t pitch a product or service in isolation. Always compare it to alternatives.
Consider multiple types of alternatives. It could be based on price, quality, features, or other aspects.
As Scott Adams writes in Win Bigly: “If you aren’t framing the alternatives as bad, you are not persuading at all.”
Accessories
People are more likely to buy small accessories if they’re add-ons to larger purchases. For example, someone will be more likely to buy a new pair of shoes if he or she is already buying a suit because the cost of new shoes will be small in contrast to the suit.
Break Costs Up
If there are a lot of fees involved, consider breaking them up. This will make the “big” cost item seem less expensive, and all the smaller costs will seem negligible to the buyer.
For example, rental car companies often start by showing you the rental cost of the car only. Once you’ve decided to move forward, then they add on smaller fees like cleaning, stocking, insurance, add-ons, etc.
In contrast to the big cost (the car), these extras appear negligible, even though they can easily double or triple your cost.
Negotiations
In negotiations, if the other party isn’t giving in to your request, you can mention a more drastic alternative that you could be requesting.
For example, when there is a legal dispute, lawyers will often remind the other side that the alternative is litigation that will cost a lot more money. It makes whatever current demands seem affordable by comparison.
Favored Course of Action
When you’re trying to convince others to choose your preferred course of action, present it in contrast to a worse (boring, more expensive, etc.) alternative.
Asking for A Raise
When negotiating a raise, if your boss isn’t willing to give you a raise, remind them of the contrasting alternative: the cost to train someone new is probably more than the raise you’re asking for.
Prospect Pitches / Interviews
When pitching prospective customers or interviewing for a new job, find some unique strength you bring and mention how other candidates probably don’t bring that strength at all (or at least as much as you would).
How have you leveraged contrast to persuade and influence? Where have you seen it used by others? Share your expertise in the comments.
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