Overview
Are sustainability people some of the most frustrated people in the world?
I have worked in sustainability for over 25 years and there have been many occasions in that time where I felt completely sick and tired of having to explain to others why they should do something about sustainability.
It felt like I was having the same conversation over and over again explaining why addressing climate change was important, why energy efficiency was a good idea, or why we should think about recycling or modern slavery or the social impact of our businesses.
No doubt it’s probably happened to you also: You spend a lot of time trying to convince someone that your sustainability idea or initiative is something they should support. You take pains to make sure your argument is air-tight. Your business case is solid. But instead of coming around to your point of view, people push back, offering a variety of frustrating excuses. “Our stakeholders don’t care about ‘going green”, “we’ve tried that before and it didn’t work”, “we don’t have the funds for it this year”, or “our customers won’t be willing to pay for this stuff”.
In the end, you’re faced with the same stalemate you had at the beginning—and your sanity may be feeling the strain.
If only we had a mind control device where we could easily get others to take action on sustainability issues!
The good news is that this mind control device does exist and it uses the ultimate mind control technology – the human brain.
Related: How to use behavioural science to create a successful sustainability product
The Secret to Getting Others to Take Action on Sustainability
Whether tackling global issues like climate change, challenges within your own organisation, or even scaling your sustainable business the key to getting action is the ability to influence behaviour.
The good news is that the secret sauce to influencing behaviour and getting others to take action on things like climate change is really not much of a secret at all – this information is readily available in thousands of research studies on behaviour change.
If fact this is probably one of the worst kept secrets in sustainability because the solution is sitting in plain sight!
The skills to influence others draws upon the realms of behavioural science, sales, and communication. By integrating these powerful disciplines you will gain influencing superpowers that will help you to move people to action and eliminate that frustration.
Research from behavioural science has provides valuable insights into how individuals make decisions and what influences their behaviour. By understanding these psychological principles, you can employ strategies that nudge stakeholders towards sustainable choices, fostering positive change at both personal and organisational levels.
Sales and communication skills, on the other hand, are essential for effectively conveying the benefits of sustainability, engaging stakeholders, and inspiring action. By harnessing the art of persuasive communication, you will be able to make compelling cases for adopting sustainable practices, whether it be encouraging clients to invest in your products or services, or persuading individuals to adopt sustainable behaviours in their everyday lives.
Related: How to get more buy-in for you sustainability initiatives.
How to use Behavioural Science
The good news for you is that you don’t need to spend years studying behavioural science to learn how to influence others because we have done it for you and codified the best in behavioural science into a simple technique you can learn in just a few hours.
This technique basically involves sitting down and having a conversation with the person you are trying to influence and simply asking a series of questions in a specific sequence.
These questions activate key behavioural science principles designed to move people towards taking action on things like climate change, reducing waste, or even tackling poverty.
The technique uses the acronym SPINS which describes the types of questions you need to ask and the sequence in which to ask them.
It is very easy and practical and amazingly effective.
Try it for yourself… If you want to have a go at using this technique we have a FREE guide that will teach you how to use this method in a range of scenarios including sales conversations to getting support for your sustainability strategy.
THE SPINS TECHNIQUE – AN OVERVIEW
SPINS technique simply involves asking a series of questions from four categories: situation, problem, implication, and need-payoff.
Not only does every question have a clear purpose, but the order in which you ask these questions is strategic, too. The goal is to get people to identify the benefits they will gain by adopting a sustainable solution.
Pro Tip – the benefit your sustainability solution provides to someone is probably not the environmental outcomes. To learn why read our article about the 3 Golden Rules of Selling Sustainability.
SPINS is an acronym for the five steps of the process.
Situation
Problem
Implication
Need/payoff, and the
Solution
Situation
Situation questions such as “do you have any specific business targets/KPI’s?” function as a way to gather information.
Problem
Problem questions such as “what is you biggest challenge with X?” function as a way to identify the pains and problems the person you are seeking to influence is experiencing.
Implication
Implication questions such as “Why is this a significant problem?” helps you to underscore why those problems need to be solved and the consequences of not solving them.
Need Payoff
Need Payoff questions such as “Wouldn’t it be simpler if…?” lead people to draw conclusions on their own rather than leading into a pitch for your sustainable solution right away.
Solution
Finally once the person you are talking to has drawn their own conclusion about how solving a specific problem would benefit them, then you simply need to explain how your sustainability solution solves that problem.
Download our FREE guide on the SPINS technique if you would like more detail.
EXAMPLE
The following video is from our most popular online course and provides an example of this technique in action.
In this video the sustainability manager for a medium to large business involved in manufacturing components for the construction industry is meeting with the CEO of the company. In this conversation the sustainability manager is seeking to influence the CEO to get the board to consider her new sustainability strategy which includes some ambitious targets for the organisation to achieve net zero and to start to develop its circular economy strategy.
Conclusion
The ability to influence and persuade others is one of the most important leadership skills that every sustainability professional should have in their skillset because it is something we are constantly trying to do.
The more effective you are at influencing others the bigger the sustainable impact you will make.
If you want to learn more we have a free guide you can access on our free resources page or you can take our online course that will teach you the SPINS technique.
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