Virtual Selling

22Developing Effective Because Statements

Robert Cialdini, author of Influence, writes that, “A well-known principle of human behavior says that when we ask someone to do us a favor, we will be more successful if we provide a reason. People simply like to have reasons for what they do.”

When prospecting, if you give your prospect a good enough reason (from their perspective) to meet with you, they'll say yes. Good enough is the name of the game. Because statements are like horseshoes and hand grenades, they don't need to be perfect—just good enough to convert your prospecting call into an appointment, sales call, or qualifying information.

The Power of Because

In a landmark study on human behavior, psychologist Ellen Langer and a team of researchers from Harvard demonstrated how using the word because compels people to comply with your requests.¹ Langer and her team of researchers attempted to cut in line in front of people waiting for access to photocopiers.

She discovered that when the researcher politely asked to jump in front of the person waiting for the copier without giving a reason—“Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the copier?”—the subject would say yes about 60 percent of the time. However, when the researcher qualified the request with a valid reason—“because I'm in a hurry”—the subject said yes, on average, 94 percent of the time.

Then things got interesting. When the researcher gave a nonsensical reason like, “Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the ...