What Do You Think?

According to psychologists, there are two main ways in which people process information.

Automatic thinking is all gut instinct, making knee-jerk decisions without really considering the implications.

Reflective thinking is the exact opposite.

Its very considered, looking deeply into a subject before making any kind of decision.

One is a little like Homer Simpson, the other is more like Mr Spock.

Hopefully I don’t need to point out which is which.

Anyway, the point of all this is that in any sales process, you have to be aware of both of those styles.

It’s all too easy to breeze through a pitch and come out assuming you’ve got the business because of all the nods and smiles throughout the presentation.

That’s because you’re basing your perception on the feedback from automatic thinking.

Once you've left the room however, the reflective thinking kicks in to investigated your offer in a little more detail.

The flipside is that you focus on the detail and the protocol, but forget all about the easy wins, the instant agreements.

Everyone uses both types of thinking so be sure your content plays to both.

If you need a clue, watch for donuts and pointy ears – they’re a dead giveaway.

This Week

At this time of year, we all turn our attention to the coming year.

Not for New Year’s resolutions – after all, no-one sticks to them anyway.

I mean in terms of planning the sales strategy.

New budgets, new clients, new briefs.

It’s an exciting time of year, as well as an intimidating one.

As part of this I’ve been giving a lot of presentations and webinars recently, helping to get people focused on what needs to be done.

So I thought it’d be worth capturing some of those thoughts in a series of blogs.

If serialisation was good enough for Charles Dickens, I’m sure I can have a crack at it too.

Cry “Wolves”

It was announced in August that Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant had been named the new Vice-President of Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club.

As a life-long fan of the ‘Wolves’ he’s delighted, and a little embarrassed, to be taking on this high profile role.

The thing is, everyone’s a fan of something - even legendary rock gods who have their own dedicated fan-base.

Now, I don’t know Robert, but I’m prepared to bet that if you wanted to get close to him, you’d have a much better chance if you struck up a conversation about the Wolves, than if you started talking about Led Zeppelin.

We all have passions, and they’re usually the best way of connecting with people.

When approaching a new client or colleague, try to think about what drives them, rather than what’s driving you.

You’ll find you have a lot more to talk about that way.

Just steer clear of how badly their team’s doing.

Value Added

It’s customary in the agency world to spend our time thinking about new services and solutions that can be sold to clients.
But unless you start by thinking about what challenges clients are facing, you’re never going to solve anything.
Rather than looking for opportunities to sell, we should be looking for ways to add value.
As Albert Einstein once said “Do not try to become a man of success, become a man of value.”
If we can find a way to add value, then business success will follow.
Success comes as a result of accomplishments, not the other way around.

No No No... There's No Limit

Drop a cricket in a pint glass and it will easily jump out again.

However, if you place a beer mat over the top for a few minutes, then remove it, the cricket will no longer be able to clear the top of the glass.

Continuing with the nature theme for a moment, a goldfish in a bowl stays the same size its entire life.

In the wild, they can grow to two or three times their usual size.

The point here is that we often find ourselves limited by the constraints we put on ourselves and each other.

It’s all down to the language we use.

When we take a negative view of the world around us, we limit our potential and prevent ourselves from rising to the challenge.

Think of the partner who calls you at work and says “It’s only me.”

It’s so easy to be negative, but it does no-one any good.

Got to go, there’s a dead cricket floating in my drink.

Do You Know Who I Am?

I love hearing stories about misguided celebrities who throw a strop when they can’t get a table in a restaurant or access to the VIP area in a club.

It’s just a matter of time before those legendary words are yelled at some poor member of staff.

“Do you know who I am?”

The thing is, it never works, because it shows a fundamental lack of respect for everyone else in the room.

There’s another one that gets far too many public airings – “Because I said so...”

It’s fine when you’re chastising an unruly child, but not when you’re managing grown-up colleagues.

The moment you take that angle, you’ve lost the room, the team, the whole agency.

Think of William Wallace’s big speech in Braveheart:

Aye, fight and you may die, run and you’ll live.

At least a while.
And dying in your beds many years from now, would you be willing to
trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one
chance to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take
our lives, but they’ll never take our freedom?!

How effective would he have been as a commander if his call-to-arms had been “Because I say so”?