How Much Money Are You Leaving On The Table? – Part I

Imagine you’re walking through a crowded Washington D.C. subway station at rush hour, on your way to work.

You come upon a man playing classical music on a violin. He is dressed like any other street performer. People walk by. Some toss some money his way. A few stop for a few minutes then continue on. Nothing out of the ordinary.


What do you do?
· Avert your glance and walk faster?
· Just keep walking?
· Stop and listen for a minute?
· Toss some loose change in and keep walking?
· Listen for a while and tip well?


Would you change your mind if…
· He was really good?
· You knew he had a $3 million dollar violin?
· You knew this man is usually paid over $1,000 a minute?
· Other people stopped and listened too?


Washington Post Experiment

This was, in reality, a Washington Post experiment.

The Post asked Leonard Slatkin, music director for the National Symphony Orchestra,

“What do you think would occur, hypothetically, if one of the world’s great violinists had performed incognito before a traveling rush-hour audience of 1,000 odd people?”

Slatkin said,

“Let’s assume that he is not recognized and just taken for granted as a street musician…Still, I don’t think if he’s really good, he’s going to go unnoticed. He’d get a larger in Europe…but, okay, out of 1,000 people, my guess is there might be 35 or 40 who will recognize the quality for what it is. Maybe 75 to 100 will stop and spend some time listening.”

When asked how much he would make, Slatkin said,

“About $150.”


What’s Your Guess?
· Out of 1,000 people, how many people stopped to listen?
· How much money did the violinist receive?

Here’s what happened. 39 year old prodigy, Joshua Bell, who played to packed houses where the cheapest seats are $100 a head, took his $3.5 million violin, and played classic violin pieces that have stood the test of time but would not stand out as pieces everyone would know and so stop to listen to.

In about 45 minutes,
· 1,070 people passed by
· 7 people stopped for at least a minute
· 27 gave money
· Total collected? $32 and change


What makes a performance worth $40 versus $60,000?

It’s interesting to see how people decide what is valuable and what is not. What to ignore, and what to pay attention to. In “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion,” Robert Cialdini outlines six laws of persuasion.

Six Laws of Persuasion
These laws are:
1. Reciprocity
2. Commitment/Consistency
3. Liking
4. Scarcity
5. Authority
6. Social Proof

So how do these factors that came into play in this situation?

1. Reciprocity

Reciprocity gets you to the $40/hour. You play and people feel guilt or enjoyment and pay.

2. Commitment/Consistency
If they typically give money to street performers they might do that here. If not, they won’t.

3. Liking
Is the performer attractive or performing in an attractive way? Not really in this situation so easy to ignore.

4. Scarcity
Looks like another street performer. These guys are everywhere. Nothing special. Not valuable.

5. Authority
No one I respect or who is knowledgeable about music is saying I should listen to this person perform.

6. Social Proof
Is there a crowd gathering? No? Then he must be nothing special.


What does the concert hall performance have that the street performer option does not?

I believe a lot of it has to do with the frame that is created and using the six persuasion levers more effectively.

What can you learn from this test to improve your company’s profits?

Find out in the next installment…