The Sales Archaeologist

I am not sure if you have been following the story about the release of the West Memphis Three  and although I have been following the story this post isn’t about the case. In the process of following the case I came across this article from the LA Times and it had some really interesting points that relate to sales and selling.

In particular as the writer talks about the police in this case getting it wrong and why that happened then she says this: 

                              Cognitive bias is not the same thing as racial bias or personal animus. It's the habit of our brains to let the first fact   we  encounter guide our evaluation of the second and the third One  false start can lead to a    miscarriage of justice more quickly than any of us would like to believe.

Do you think prospects ever suffer from cognitive bias? Do you think it ever has an impact on your sales calls?

Imagine this concept - the idea that doing or saying one thing early on in a sales call can determine the entire fate of the call – regardless of what else you do after that? I believe this happens to more sales people than imaginable. Let’s suppose that you are a rep and you just made a mistake – what you have done wrong is not important – what is important is how that affects the process from then on.

The converse of this fact is also true and can really serve the competent sales person – we talk about becoming a trusted advisor, separating yourself and asking the tough questions that build what we call speed on bases; once this is done think about how the prospect will now continue to view you? This backs up the fact that people buy you first – now that you add the idea of cognitive bias that makes even more sense.

So early on, as part of your pre call planning you might want to establish some best practices – this might include some of the following:

1. What you do right after setting up the appointment. You send an outlook invite but what else can you include that will differentiate you and establish some cognitive bias?
2. Before the appointment – how do you confirm and take a lead?
3. At the appointment be determined to change the cognitive bias as soon as possible.
4. End the appointment in a way that causes the prospect to keep thinking after you are gone.
5. The follow up to the appointment – how unique is your Thank You?

This is a start – Do you have these steps clearly defined? I would love to know what techniques you have successfully employed to accomplish this and how it has improved your sales process.