Influence People, LLC

08/28/2026

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗮 𝗦𝗶𝘅-𝗙𝗼𝗼𝘁 𝗣𝘂𝘁𝘁 𝗜𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗔𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗮 𝗦𝗶𝘅-𝗙𝗼𝗼𝘁 𝗣𝘂𝘁𝘁

🏌‍♂️ I used to play golf, but I haven’t picked up the clubs in decades. My wife Jane, however, is a big-time golfer, so when the major championships and other big PGA tournaments roll around, we spend plenty of Saturdays and Sundays watching.

⛳ This past Sunday we watched the final round of the BMW Championship. Wyndham Clark began the day with a five-shot lead. By the back nine, that lead had disappeared. Then, after some mistakes by the golfers chasing him and a fantastic three-birdie finish, Clark walked away with a well-earned three-shot victory.

👓 Watching the drama unfold reminded me of fascinating research I came across years ago.

🤔 Is a six-foot putt just a six-foot putt?

✅ Click below to find out...

I used to play golf, but I haven’t picked up the clubs in decades. My wife Jane, however, is a big-time golfer, so when the major championships and other big PGA tournaments roll around, we spend plenty of Saturdays and Sundays watching. This past Sunday we watched the final round of the BMW Champ...

08/25/2026

𝗗𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝘁𝘆𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗼...
- influencing,
- persuading, or
- convincing people?

⏰ Perhaps 30 minutes? Maybe an hour? Not likely, but possibly several hours?

📗 Daniel Pink addressed this question in his book 𝙏𝙤 𝙎𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙞𝙨 𝙃𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣.

🤔 You probably don't have time to read Dan's book right now (I highly recommend it) but I bet you're curious about the answer (trust me, it will surprise you).

✅ 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸 below and I'll give you the answer in 36 seconds

08/20/2026

𝙄𝙣𝙛𝙡𝙪𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝘼𝙗𝙤𝙫𝙚: 𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙁𝙖𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄𝙣𝙛𝙡𝙪𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙈𝙚𝙚𝙩

I spoke briefly about my latest book, 𝙄𝙣𝙛𝙡𝙪𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝘼𝙗𝙤𝙫𝙚, with Shā Sparks.

If you're interested in finding out how faith connects to ethical influence, check out the clip and book link below.

𝙄𝙣𝙛𝙡𝙪𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝘼𝙗𝙤𝙫𝙚 https://www.amazon.com/dp/1733178562/

What is my book Influenced from Above about?

08/19/2026

𝗟𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗪𝗲 𝗟𝗼𝘀𝘁 $𝟯.𝟳𝟳 𝗕𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻. 𝗕𝘂𝘁…

😳 Imagine having to stand in front of your shareholders and say: “Last year we lost $3.77 billion.” That was the situation Warren Buffett faced after Berkshire Hathaway’s difficult 2001.

👂 I first heard this story from Dr. Robert Cialdini in 2004, when he spoke at several State Auto agency partner meetings. He used Buffett’s situation to illustrate something most of us overlook: The order in which we present information can dramatically change how people receive it.

🤔 Buffett had some very bad news to deliver. Berkshire Hathaway’s value had declined by billions. But there was also important context...

Imagine having to stand in front of your shareholders and say: “Last year we lost $3.77 billion.” That was the situation Warren Buffett faced after Berkshire Hathaway’s difficult 2001. I first heard this story from Robert Cialdini in 2004, when he spoke at several State Auto agency partner mee...

08/18/2026

“𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚'𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝 𝙤𝙧 𝙡𝙤𝙬, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙩 𝙨𝙤.”

Compare and Contrast is not a principle of influence; rather we talk about it as a phenomenon because it’s always available for use and quite often it's used in conjunction with other principles of persuasion.

🤔 Did you know the order in which items are presented to you impacts your perception about those very things?

🪑 For example, if someone told you the price of a piece of furniture was $999 then quickly said, “I am sorry, that wasn’t correct. The price is actually $799.” All of a sudden $799 seems like a very good deal in comparison to the original price.

If the salesperson has originally quoted $599, then came back and told you the actual price was $799, now you are disappointed because the price seems high...by comparison.

🍷 What you present first makes all the difference. If you own a restaurant and your wine list starts with $20 bottles and works up to a $200 bottle, very quickly the $60 or $70 bottle seems expensive when your eyes saw $20 first.

But, if the list starts with the $200 bottle at the top and works down to the less expensive bottles, now by comparison a $100 bottle doesn’t seem so expensive and the $60 – $70 bottles appear to be a bargain. Odds are, by listing the highest priced bottles first, the average sale on a bottle of wine will be higher than if the restaurant starts with the cheapest bottles at the top of the list. If that is all it takes to increase sales, then isn’t it worth the change?

Comparing and contrasting numbers and features are also important when thinking about reciprocity. What you present first can have a big, big effect on how future presentations are perceived.

When you make your presentation undoubtedly there will be times when you hear the dreaded, “No thanks.” That is a part of life and I suspect one reason you are reading this book is because you want to be more successful.

Most people hear “No,” and leave the situation feeling defeated but, if you are ready with an alternative proposal, one that looks even better by comparison, then the other person might just say “Yes.” Hearing “Yes” more and “No” less is a surefire recipe for success.

When it comes to the contrast phenomenon remember, “There's nothing high or low, but comparing makes it so.”

This was an excerpt from my book 𝙄𝙣𝙛𝙡𝙪𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙋𝙀𝙊𝙋𝙇𝙀: 𝙋𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙊𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙪𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙇𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙀𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡. https://www.amazon.com/dp/1733178503/

08/12/2026

Spending the day in Pittsburgh with several dozen Selective Insurance agency partners.

We’ll dive into concepts from Persuasive Selling including:
💵 Dr. Robert Cialdini’s principles of influence and their application to insurance sales.
😊 Relationship building ideas with clients.
🎶 Using pre-suasion to “set the stage” for more productive client meetings.

It’s going to be an excellent day!

Persuasive Selling for Relationship Driven Insurance Agents

08/06/2026

𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗖𝗮𝗻'𝘁 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝘀𝘁...

𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙈𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙔𝙤𝙪

I've come to realize this as I've looked closely at my past, reading through old journals, over the last eight months.

We are who we are in large part because of our life journey, our history, our past.

What most of us don't recognize is how the past might be influencing us in unwanted ways in the present.

When you start to understand this, you realize the past is always present.

As I discover this, it's led to immense freedom to become more of the person I've wanted to be.

Reflecting on the past can be scary, and even painful, because of mistakes and regrets, but nothing worthwhile in life comes without a price.

In the short clip below, I explore this with .

How AI can help you unlock the past and understand yourself better.

08/05/2026

Loss framing isn't about...

👉 fear mongering,
👉 scare tactics, or
👉 coming across as Debby or Danny Downer

It's about honestly and conversationally alerting someone to what they might miss out on or lose, should they pass up the opportunity you're presenting.

Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky statistically proved the humans are twice as likely to take action when they think they will loss something as opposed to gaining the very same thing.

Dr. Robert Cialdini calls it the principle of scarcity.

07/30/2026

Two people can make the exact same ask...

and one person might hear yes more often than the other.

If the ask is the same, then why the consistent difference in outcome? 🤔

Sometimes it's about how you set the stage using pre-suasion. Can you put the person you're trying to influence into an optimal mental, physical, or emotional state?

You intuitively know this because, when you were little, I bet you knew the best time to ask your parents for something... and when to avoid them. If you could have done something to change their mental or emotional state to hear yes more often, I'm sure you would have.

Check out this short clip from my conversation with where I detail this with a personal example... a life changing example. 😊

Brian Ahearn and I talked about using Pre-Suasion in practice and h...

07/29/2026

𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗧𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗠𝗲 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗗𝗼...

🍷 I recently read a LinkedIn post where the author shared a fascinating study about music in a wine shop. Simply changing the background music dramatically shifted whether customers bought French or German wine. 🎶

❓ Then someone commented: "What kind of music should I play in my toy store?" I understood the question. But I also think it revealed something about human nature. 😳

🛠️ We love quick fixes. We assume that if one tactic worked somewhere else, it will work for us too. But is that really true? 🤔

I recently read a LinkedIn post where the author shared a fascinating study about music in a wine shop. Simply changing the background music dramatically shifted whether customers bought French or German wine. Then someone commented: “What kind of music should I play in my toy store?” I understo...