The Dip on influence
With Seth’s permission I’m reproducing a page of his most recent book, The Dip. I read it the day after I posted on the most important question. Spooky, but true…
Who am I trying to influence?
Are you trying to succeed in a market?
If you’re considering quitting, it’s almost certainly because you’re not being successful at your current attempts at influence. If you have called on a prospect a dozen times without success, you’re frustrated and giving up. If you’ve a boss who just won’t let up, you’re considering quitting your job. And if you’re a marketer with a product that doesn’t seem to be catching on, you’re wondering if you should abandon this product and try another.
If you’re trying to influence just one person, persistence has its limits. It’s easy to cross the line between demonstrating your commitment and being a pest. If you haven’t influenced him yet, it may very well be time to quit.
One person or organization will behave differently than a market of people will. One person has a particular agenda and a single worldview. One person will make up his mind and if you’re going to succeed, you’ll have to change it. And changing someone’s mind is difficult, if not impossible.
If you’re trying to influence a market, though, the rules are different. Sure, some of the people in a market have considered you (and even rejected you). But most of the people in the market have never heard of you. The market doesn’t have just one mind. Different people in the market are seeking different things.
Influencing one person is like scaling a wall. If you get over the wall the first few tries, you’re in. if you don’t often you’ll find that the wall gets higher with each attempt.
Influencing a market, on the other hand, is more of a hill than a wall. You can make progress, one step at a time, and as you get higher, it actually gets easier. People in the market talk to each other. They are influenced by each other. So every step of progress you make actually gets amplified.
Seth has also agreed to us using the above text as a pseudo-foreword for the book, which is due out late November. It’s just a tad galling that Seth writes in one page what we take 230 pages to say – gnash! At least we have case studies...
Needless to say, you should read The Dip in its entirety.
Who am I trying to influence?
Are you trying to succeed in a market?
If you’re considering quitting, it’s almost certainly because you’re not being successful at your current attempts at influence. If you have called on a prospect a dozen times without success, you’re frustrated and giving up. If you’ve a boss who just won’t let up, you’re considering quitting your job. And if you’re a marketer with a product that doesn’t seem to be catching on, you’re wondering if you should abandon this product and try another.
If you’re trying to influence just one person, persistence has its limits. It’s easy to cross the line between demonstrating your commitment and being a pest. If you haven’t influenced him yet, it may very well be time to quit.
One person or organization will behave differently than a market of people will. One person has a particular agenda and a single worldview. One person will make up his mind and if you’re going to succeed, you’ll have to change it. And changing someone’s mind is difficult, if not impossible.
If you’re trying to influence a market, though, the rules are different. Sure, some of the people in a market have considered you (and even rejected you). But most of the people in the market have never heard of you. The market doesn’t have just one mind. Different people in the market are seeking different things.
Influencing one person is like scaling a wall. If you get over the wall the first few tries, you’re in. if you don’t often you’ll find that the wall gets higher with each attempt.
Influencing a market, on the other hand, is more of a hill than a wall. You can make progress, one step at a time, and as you get higher, it actually gets easier. People in the market talk to each other. They are influenced by each other. So every step of progress you make actually gets amplified.
Seth has also agreed to us using the above text as a pseudo-foreword for the book, which is due out late November. It’s just a tad galling that Seth writes in one page what we take 230 pages to say – gnash! At least we have case studies...
Needless to say, you should read The Dip in its entirety.
posted by Duncan Brown at 4:11 pm
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