(Influential Leadership) Use Future Pacing To Move Someone To Action

Are you frustrated because you know you have a great solution for someone but they just aren’t acting on it?  

 

How can you get others to take action immediately? 

 

Here’s the technique we promised in our last blog entry.

 

When trying to influence someone, remember that immediate pain is a stronger motivational force than future pain or future pleasure.

 

This principle is why so many fail at dieting. The delight of having that chocolate cake now outweighs the consequences that show up on the scale later. Or another way to look at it: the pain of giving up that cake now is a stronger force than the satisfaction of sticking with the diet and dropping unwanted pounds.

 

The vast majority of smokers stop smoking only after a serious heart attack or cancer diagnosis. Few stop for the promise of better health. So even though the health hazards of smoking are well-documented, the pleasure of taking another drag overrules.

 

Case in point:  My Dad was a heavy smoker when I was growing up, even though I suffered with asthma.  When I was in high school, he developed a serious smoker’s cough that really worried him.  He stopped smoking cold turkey.

 

So what does all this mean to you?

 

This principle is important because our solutions almost always involve future benefits, and require some immediate pain in order to achieve them. For example, it may be desirable to optimize a state filing process, reformat a report for senior management or reorganize an area. The problem is that the work to make these changes happen is painful (immediately). Any change will involve pain, because it represents movement from the status quo. It’s easier to keep things the way they are, even if they aren’t perfect.

 

Even the distraction of having to consider your idea is painful. Your prospect already has too much to do. You’re competing for your prospect’s time and attention. So unless your idea provides instant benefits without having to change much, the odds of getting buy-in are stacked against you.

 

Roger’s Frustration

 

Roger was a financial planner, frustrated that the lead-time to get a client was more than nine months from the first meeting. Why did it take so long to get prospects to pull the trigger and start building their retirement? It wasn’t because Roger wasn’t excellent at what he did. His investment philosophies and strategies were rock-solid. He had great rapport skills, so he came across as very likeable.

 

Let’s look at the pain-pleasure dynamics:

 

1. Roger is asking clients to part with their dollars. Even though they’re not spending the money, and are investing it, they are still giving up immediate access to the cash. (Immediate Pain)
2. As a result of having less disposable income to spend now, the clients may have to defer certain purchases that are near and dear to their heart – like that 60-inch plasma TV. (Immediate Pain)
3. Roger explains to his client about the accumulated wealth that will result from the compounding interest, dividends and fund growth. As good as it sounds, this wealth won’t be enjoyed for 25 years (Future Pleasure).
4. In addition, for Roger to design and implement the financial plan, his potential client must fill out a myriad of paperwork consisting of risk profile surveys, applications and agreements. The client must also hunt for all kinds of detailed personal and financial information to supply to Roger. You may think, “Shouldn’t they have this at their fingertips?” Maybe – but most do not. (Immediate Pain).

 

So it’s not hard to see why Roger felt he was swimming upstream. For Roger’s client, the pain of implementing a plan was more immediate and, thus, felt greater than the pleasure of taking this step.

 

The Answer: Future Pacing

 

One way to counteract this dynamic is to bring the future pain into the present (sometimes called “future pacing”). The human imagination is a powerful thing. When we imagine something vividly, the associated feelings occur in the present moment. So as an influencer we need to become skilled at helping people future-pace the status quo. In other words, we need to get them associated with what will happen in the future if the proposed action is not taken.

 

Dave’s financial planner, George, applied these techniques with him. Although Dave was funding his financial plan better than the average person (which he knows is not saying much), he was uncertain if it was enough.

 

George showed Dave a projection that illustrated the probability of running out of money before age 90. Dave didn’t like the answer. He became associated with the pain of how awful it would be if he outlived his savings – what would he and his wife do? Dave immediately increased hismonthly funding level.

 

Influencers are skilled at helping people get associated with the pain of the status quo.

 

 

A collaboration with David C Miller, Author of The Influential Actuary