One of the most crucial skills to improving your career in the new year may be the ability to persuade people to see things your way.

的一年里，对促进你的职业生涯最重要的一项技能或许就是说服别人从你的角度看问题的能力。


Social norms can play an important role in getting customers, colleagues and businesses to do the things you'd like them to do─such as making a particular purchase or agreeing to your position over a deal, says behavior expert Steve Martin, author of a book on the science of persuasion, 'Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive.'
行为学专家马丁(Steve Martin)说，要让客户、同事和各企业做你希望他们做的事，比如让他们买某种东西，或是同意你在某一桩交易中所持的立场，社交规范所起的作用非常重要。马丁已经出版了一本专门讲说服之科学的书，书名为《就是要说服你：提高说服力的50个科学方法》(Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive)。

'The advertising industry was crafting appeals on the basis of consumers' desire to fit in long before the 'Mad Men' era,' Mr. Martin says. 'But many businesses are only now beginning to experiment with social norms as a tool to drive profits.'
马丁说，在《广告狂人》(Mad Men)开播之前，广告业就已经利用消费者想要合群的欲望作为诉求点了，不过很多行业现在仅仅刚开始涉足“社交规范”领域，将其作为提振利润的一种工具。

Mr. Martin, who heads the U.K. office of the consultancy Influence at Work, has used a handful of simple persuasion strategies with large corporations and government agencies in the U.K. to influence the behavior of customers and citizens. The strategies make use of simple messages that can generate significant returns with changes that are virtually costless.
马丁是组织行为培训咨询集团Influence at Work公司英国业务负责人，他向英国的一些大企业和政府机构传授一些简单的说服策略，教他们如何影响顾客和民众的行为。这类策略利用的都是简单的信息，能够产生相当可观的收益，而达成这种改变的成本几乎可以忽略不计。

Among the strategies, tapping into a social norm to create consensus is a powerful tool that gets people to follow the behavior of others. Managers should try to identify what the consensus view is in a workplace and think about what messages will convince others to join the consensus.
在这些策略中，利用某种社交规范来创造共识是一个非常有利的工具，可以让别人跟随他人的行为。管理者可以试着先找出工作中的共识性观念，然后想一想可以利用哪些信息来说服他人接受这一共识。

An example of the power of consensus messaging is the use of information cards in hotel rooms. The number of customers who reused their towels increased by 26% when information cards in hotel rooms read '75% of customers who stay in this hotel reuse their towels,' according to research conducted by Robert Cialdini, Mr. Martin's co-author and founder of Influence at Work in Tempe, Ariz. The reusage rate increased by 33% when the cards' message read: '75% of people who stayed in this room reused their towels.'
酒店房间中的信息卡这个例子可以说明能够引发共识的信息的力量。根据恰尔迪尼(Robert Cialdini)所做的一项研究，如果信息卡上面写了“在本酒店住过的客人中，有75%的人重复使用毛巾”，重复使用毛巾的客人的数量就会增加26%。如果信息卡上写的是“在本房间住过的客人中，有75%的人重复使用毛巾”，重复使用率会提高33%。恰尔迪尼既是与马丁共同创作了《就是要说服你：提高说服力的50个科学方法》一书，他还创建了亚利桑那州坦佩(Tempe)的职场影响力公司(Influence at Work)。

Location and personalization are important because they draw an even closer association between the customer and those you want them to imitate. Mr. Martin adds that managers can use a 'test and learn' approach to determine social norms. Start with small groups or locations, test messages and then assess whether there is a social norm to tap into.
选对地点以及因人制宜非常重要，因为这会进一步拉近顾客与你想让他们模仿的人之间的距离。马丁补充说，经理人可以使用一种“测试并学习”的方法来决定社交规范。先从小规模的群组或地点开始，对信息进行测试，然后评估这是否可以形成一个可资利用的社交规范。


Another strategy, which Mr. Martin calls 'reciprocity,' takes advantage of people's desire to respond when they feel they owe someone something. Research published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology found that a diner is more likely to tip a waiter if the bill comes with a piece of candy, for example.
另外一个策略是马丁所称的“互惠策略”。该策略的出发点是，当人们感到欠别人什么东西的时候会产生做出反应的欲望。《应用社会心理学杂志》(Journal of Applied Social Psychology)发表的一个研究发现，如果侍者为用餐者送上账单的同时奉上一颗糖果，用餐者更有可能支付小费。


Framing a choice as leading to a potential loss rather than a gain─thereby creating a sense of stress─can also be a tool for managers. Mr. Martin describes a study in which a group of executives were presented with a proposal for an information-technology project. Twice as many in the group approved the proposal if the company was predicted to lose $500,000 if the proposal wasn't accepted, compared with a scenario that predicted the project would lead to a profit of $500,000. Managers should look at the message they are sending. Could a stronger argument be made by describing the opportunity costs rather than just the benefits?
告诉对方某种选择会带来潜在的损失而非收益（这会产生一种紧迫感），这也是经理人可以利用的一个工具。马丁描述了这样一项研究。在该研究中，有人向一群高管提交了一份信息技术项目建议书，如果建议书声称不实施这一项目预计将产生50万美元的亏损，相比声称实施这一项目预计将产生50万美元盈利的情况，接受这一建议书的高管数量增加了一倍。经理人要注意审视自己传达出去的信息。如果描述机会成本而非简单地描述收益，是不是会更有说服力呢？

Mr. Martin finds that favorable outcomes almost double when we identify common ground with the other party in a negotiation. Find similarities between you and your customer─such as the car you drive or the age of your kids─and express them before you start negotiating with them over a contract or a price, he advises.
马丁发现，在谈判中，如果一方能和另一方找到共同点，那么出现有利结果的可能性差不多会提高一倍。他给出的建议是：找到你和你的顾客之间的共同点，并在就合同条款或价格展开谈判之前把这些共同点表达出来。


'Influence isn't an art,' says Mr. Martin, 'there's over 60 years of research and evidence that shows how we can effectively move people. My advice would be to learn the science.'

马丁说，如何影响他人并不是一种艺术，60多年的研究和各种证据能够告诉我们如何能有效地说服他人，我的建议是，学一学科学的方法。