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Practical Help to Grow Your Business
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An Easy Choice To Make
A 'No-Brainer'
If your bank account, your current account that is, pays you no interest on the cash that's sitting in it but your savings account pays several percent interest with no minimum balance, instant access to your money, internet banking facilities and no limit on the number of deposits and withdrawals, I'm assuming it's an easy decision that you move all your spare cash to the savings account.
Or if you won a lottery where the star prize was a car, fully fuelled, taxed and maintained for five years, with the choice of a Citroen C1 or a Ferrari 599, it's easy to guess you'd pick the Ferrari, even if you just sold it the next day.
So what makes these particular choices so easy to make?
“Interest or no interest?
Citroen C1 or Ferrari 599?”
What Is A No-Brainer?
Your own decisions are easy to make - no-brainers - when there is a huge gap between the choices, when things are black and white with no grey in between. It's pretty reasonable to imagine that other people will feel and behave in the same way, so much so that if you can have any influence on circumstances you can help them by making their decision making easier.
Extending the motoring analogy, imagine driving down the road and seeing a car waiting to turn out of a T-junction on your left. There are three possible thoughts going through that driver's head: "I have time to pull out safely", "I don't have time to pull out safely" and "I wonder if I could just pull out safely". If you can eliminate the third of these, you have made that driver's decision making easier. You could possibly do this either by easing back and indicating they should pull out, or by maintaining your steady speed and line and avoiding eye-contact. Being 'slightly hesitant' is actually the worst thing you could do.
“Eliminate the, ‘I wonder if I
could just ...’ option”
Apply To A Sales Conversation
You can do the same thing in the sales process. During a sales conversation (you are driving down the road) the prospect is wondering whether to buy or not buy (pull out now or wait). If the consequences of one decision and the other are very close together in terms of the value that prospect will derive from their purchase, their decision is difficult. Whether their choices are to buy or not to buy, or better that you've given them more than one choice at more than one price, then the bigger the gap in value and price, the easier their decision will be.
“Give more than one choice at
more than one price. The
bigger the gap, the easier their
decision will be”
Widen The Gap
Going back to your own decision making, something I remember from learning to drive was to do with traffic lights. In the UK the Highway Code states that "You may go on only if the AMBER appears after you have crossed the stop line or are so close to it that to pull up might cause an accident."
The advice I was given by my driving instructor was to pick a point on the road which was my thinking distance plus stopping distance in front of the stop line.
If I was between this point and the stop line I should accelerate slightly to remove all thought of stopping from my mind, as attempting to do so would not bring me to rest before I'd crossed the stop line. In other words, remove the grey area, widen the gap and make your decision making easier.
Similar thinking applies to your own choices during the sales conversation.
Before you quote a price that is compelling for the prospect you need to ensure that it will be profitable for you if it is accepted. This doesn't need to involve intricate cost accounting, in fact you don't have the time for that. All you need to do is decide whether it would be highly profitable or loss making. No grey areas of marginal profitability allowed - either it's one or the other. Your conclusion will make this particular piece of your decision making easier.
“Widen the gap. No grey areas
allowed! You need to ensure
your price will be profitable.”
 
Copyright ©2011 David Winch
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