Made For
We’ve all encountered the situation where there’s a minor hiccup, delay, or something changes leading up to closing a deal and the prospect is now spooked. To them, this is a huge deal. To you, this is something that happens, and will probably get resolved pretty quickly.
This is just one example of a sort of psychological trait we all share. It’s the same thing that makes a slow day or week make it feel like you’re definitely going to miss quota, even when you know you’re not.
This gets brought up in different ways and there are usually associated platitudes about maintaining discipline or sowing now what you’ll reap later. There’s a much broader lesson here that many miss.
What disturbs men’s minds is not events but their judgments on events. — Epictetus, Enchiridion
Epictetus was a stoic philosopher, a group that spent a great deal of time thinking about how we perceive, think about, and react to the world around us. He was probably echoing the sentiment of another scholar that came before him:
[…] We suffer more often in imagination than in reality. — Seneca, On Groundless Fears
Both Seneca and Epictetus were talking about much grander anxieties than we see in sales, however it’s safe to say the same principle applies. The reality of whatever is going on is never as relevant as how we perceive that reality.
One of the first things you look for in discovery is how big of a pain point do they have. What hopefully you’re looking for is actually **how big of a pain point do they think they have. **
For example, if I’m the type of person who needs everything to be neat and orderly and I have just one part of my process that doesn’t quite fit right, that may seem like a small problem. However, given my personality, that little flaw eats at me as bad as if it were broken entirely.
Similarly, say I’m going out on a limb to switch providers, a crucial part of my business, and something changes towards the end of us closing the deal, now there’s a new problem to be solved or a new party involved.
To you, this is just another sale that’s hit a small snag but is likely to close, albeit slightly later than expected. Nothing to worry about.
This isn’t something I do often, I don’t know what these hiccups look like, what further problems could occur from here; these are uncharted waters for me. That not knowing is going to keep me up at night, anxious about the deal closing. In my head this problem is far bigger; it expands into that unknown space.
Lastly, this same principle applies to us, as salespeople. We watch in anticipation as metrics go up, and start to get anxious as they drop. Sometimes these moves (especially when they are unexpected) can feel much larger than they are.
It’s hard to not follow the trend and imagine how much worse things could get. In our heads though we know that things change.
This isn’t to say that things can’t get bad and we shouldn’t always be watching how our environment is changing and ways to adapt to it. Rather, not to let that heart-dropping feeling of a slow week drive your attitude; the problem may be smaller than it appears.
Perceptions drive both sides of a sale. Knowing that buys us a better understanding of how a prospective buyer may react to various events throughout the process. We can even to some extent predict what those reactions might be and adjust for them in advance.
If you’re interested in this type of content make sure to follow us on social. If you are interested in some of the works referenced in this article we recommend the Enchiridion by Epictetus and Letters from a Stoic by Seneca (Seneca is perhaps a little less dry.)