Want to double your success in persuading people to do as you ask? Four simple words, and even other phrases with the same meaning, have been shown to double the success rate in dozens of studies worldwide.
What are these magic words? Here’s a clue: they aren’t, “But you have to!” or, “You absolutely must, really!” In fact, it turns out that reminding people they have the freedom to choose makes them much more likely to be persuaded. This technique is known as But You Are Free (BYAF). After making the request, one simply adds, “but you are free to choose.”
This technique has been studied extensively. Christopher Carpenter of Western Illinois University conducted a meta study of worldwide research on BYAF and came up with 42 studies that involved 22,000 participants. BYAF was found to double the success rate in this huge data set.
The exact language doesn’t seem to be important. Pointing out that the person isn’t obligated to do as you ask seems equally effective. The key is to give the person the security of knowing they are free to choose.
Why isn’t this used more often? I think BYAF may seem counter-intuitive to sales people. A typical sales effort often focuses on showing how the customer’s other choices are less desirable or won’t work at all. To wrap up a lengthy persuasive discussion with a reminder that the customer is free to choose seems, at first glance, like a recipe for failure. To some salespeople, it may seem to indicated a lack of confidence in their solution.
The way to use BYAF without seeming wishy-washy is to express your confident opinion while still pointing out that the customer is free to choose. For example,
The numbers show our solution will cut your monthly expenses by 15%. But, of course, you are free to choose.
In my opinion, it’s important to express that sentiment in a serious way. Implying that the customer is free to choose, but would be an idiot not to choose your solution, would be less likely to work.
One caution: BYAF seems to be somewhat less effective in sales situations, perhaps due to the general skepticism regarding anything the salesperson says. On the other hand, BYAF seems to work very well in more altruistic requests. For example, non-profits seeking volunteers could say,
I know you’d be a great tutor and the kids would love you. Of course, you are free to make your own choice.
So, next time you are in a situation where you need to persuade, do the unexpected: emphasize that the other person is free to choose. It may seem risky, but, on average, you’ll have a much higher chance of success!
Have any Neuromarketing readers actually tried this? Share your experiences in a comment! (But, of course, you are free not to share, too.)
I definitely get put off by people, salesmen or not, when they imply I have no choice or that if I don’t choose what they say then I’m stupid. This is a great tip and article really, and I will use it in my blogs as well as in my personal life haha.
Maybe this is also why it’s more successful to promote products with the aim of helping the consumer rather than trying to make a sale.
Hi Roger, I find my Small Business Clients make assumptions about what their clients want and only give one option. A very simple example was a tradesman who was getting riled about his eftpos machine. It wasn’t working properly and he was having problems with Cash flow. He just went on about the 4% charges. I convinced him to offer a higher price for card transactions,Let the client choose! Surprise, surprise some clients happy to pay and were totally understanding.Thanks for the article.Alan
That earliest form of persuasion, rhetoric, had three components that were thought essential: Logos, Pathos, and Ethos; the appeals to logic, emotion, and credibility. Of these three, ethos was often the trickiest. As the audience sits thinking “..and why exactly should we trust you?” the speaker has to find some quick ways to prove the honour of their intentions. I’m thinking that BYAF may be playing an ethos function. “But you have a choice….” constantly reminds the audience that they are in the driving seat.
Fascinating post Roger. I haven’t across anything similar in the huge canon of the classical tools of rhetoric.
Excellent, I believe with enough conviction that BYAF is a true and powerful marketing force. I was in primary 3 in 1981, during an exam, the teacher laid out his objective questions on the black board and provided an example, (Y/N) of which he chose the right answer and asked us not to follow the example but make our own choice. I managed not to listen to him by also choosing the answer he used in the example. And I passed.
Marketers knows how to cross the sales and leave the customers with the questions of choice where the only confidant is the same marketer when taking advice on whether to go ahead and agree completely with the marketer or not. Sales are easy to make with the right iq strategy in place.
[…] you are free.” I usually use them in the form of: “but it’s your decision.” According to this article, “but you are free” doubled the success rate over 42 […]
Thanks for this post. Do you have any data/insight on how BYAF would translate online in an e-commerce context? In other words, would reading BYAF in an appropriate place on a site have a similar effect as somebody verbally saying it?
That would be a great hypothesis to test. I think there’s less pressure on an ecommerce site than in a one-on-one sales encounter, so my guess is the effects wouldn’t be huge. But that’s why you test stuff!