Your Expert Office

You know, where you make your request or your ask is as important as howyou make your request.

Dr. Robert Cialdini did an interesting study with a medical group, that compared compliance with the directives of physicians and the directives of physical therapists. And what Dr. Cialdini discovered was that patients were complying with 100 percent of the directives of the physicians but only complying some 34 percent of the time with the directives of the exercise therapists.

Well, when Dr. Cialdini looked at the environment where these directions, or directives, were being given, when you looked at the environment of the physician, you had the physician, and he was in a white coat. And, behind the doctor, you could see all sorts of state licensing credentials; you saw medical school diplomas, all of these trappings of their expertise.

When Dr. Cialdini examined the environment where the exercise therapists were giving their advice, well, he looked behind them and saw things like, you know, those crazy motivational posters, like the one with the kitten, saying, “You hang in there.”

Well, Dr. Cialdini said, you know, the exercise therapists had great credentials, as well. So they removed the crazy posters and replaced them with the exercise therapists’ credentials, and guess what happened – compliance increased significantly.

So how can you use this? Well, you’ve got to display your expertise in your office.

If you have credentials, show them. If you’ve got certificates, post them. If you’ve got diplomas, get them out for the world to see, and you’ll hear “yes” more often.