You need more than need to make a sale

Almost every business exec thinks that if their products or services meets people's needs then they should be successful selling them. Yet, the same business executives are frequently and constantly frustrated with how much better their products and services are than their competitors, but people still choose to buy and use competitive products.

What's the issue? Why is it so difficult for business strategies to create more sales?

I believe that traditional sales and marketing practices are focused on product features and price and creating more knowledge for customers and consumers so they would choose their products. While all of these are important tenets of strategy, they are necessary, but not sufficient to convert someone to a customer.

Ultimately for someone to buy your product or service if they have not before or to buy more than they have in the past, the customer must behave differently than they previously have. Sales is the product of volume and price and volume is the product of penetration, frequency and transaction size. Other than raising price, increased sales can only occur when someone buys that hasn't before (penetration), buys more often than they have before (frequency), or buy more when they purchase than they did before. If increased sales is primarily a behavioral change event, why don't business executives view their strategy through the lenses of behavioral change.

This would involve realizing that no matter how much one knows that a product will meet their need, if they are not willing to abandon their status quo, they will not change. This willingness is the first step to changing behavior and is called "unfreezing" (Lewin's change model).

Therefore, for sales to increase through increased penetration, frequency, or transaction size, customers have had to be willing to do something different than they are currently doing. What causes this desire to change (unfreezing)?

"Unfreezing" is about willingness, which is a motivational process. At the heart of motivation is valence and saliency. Valence is the degree something is important to us. This is in a sense "the need". However, valence is not sufficient for someone to change their behavior. The behavior and its associated outcome must not just meet a need, but be salient. This aspect of behavior often escapes sales and marketing practices. Most businesses just think their products must be important and have value (meet a need) to someone for them to become a customer. NOT SO!!!

Many people know that eating better and exercising more would make them feel better and add to the quality of their life. However, obesity and diabetes is rampant. Is this because people do not feel a need to feel better and live longer? I have met with several insurance salesmen recently. After they give me a spill for how their products meet people's needs for protecting income and/or saving for retirement, i ask why doesn't everyone buy? Everyone has the need. To what degree do people really shop around for anything but term insurance? The failure to sell retirement or savings oriented products is rarely that the individual bought someone else's product but that they did not buy at all. Why?

Retirement or savings are not usually salient to the customer. What makes something salient? A behavior is salient when the outcome is urgent and can't be delayed. It is salient when the outcome is likely, practical, and normal (legitimate). Change occurs when someone believes the status quo is riskier than the new. Saliency occurs when the new behavior "must" be engaged. Saliency is often prompted by disequilibrium occurring in the status quo. For instance the stock market drops significantly or interest rates take a sudden rise. The need is not in the value of the outcome but in the risk avoidance of the outcome (this is what gets the individual's attention). For someone to take income from today and invest it for the future must realize that the risk of losing today in creating net worth is greater than the risk of not spending for today's pleasures. I do not find insurance salesmen, even the best, focusing on this risk assessment. they usually focus on the need to retire and knowledge of "time value of money". Those are important to people but often not made salient AND sales often fail to occur.

One note about customers. they are the ones who purchase the product or service. They are usually concerned about price and the service experience (convenience, "top of mind" awareness, ease to obtain and accessibility). These will be the purchase criteria unless the consumer controls the purchase. the consumer is concerned more about psychological and physical attributes of the product. Price is more about fairness and value and usually is not a factor unless price is prohibitive. Product features inform the consumer's experience associated with the outcome from using the product (trust, quality, pleasure, legitimacy, social and personal identity, ease of use).

The customer's risk is that there is a better deal otherwise or that the product will not meet the consumer's desired experience. These risks must be eliminated for the customer to buy. The more the consumer influences the customer (even if it is the same person), the less the risk there is for the customer to purchase. Consumer's risks are generally reduced the greater the social and personal identity and legitimacy (acceptance by others) and the greater the trust and dependability (reputation) of the product.

There's a lot here but you can read more about it in "Winning in a Hostile Environment", available at Amazon.com  

more on conflict

A common perspective among people is "I avoid conflict like the plague." Many feel there is a social stigma to creating conflict. The way you perceive conflict can have significant influence on your behavior. When you see conflict as negative, you will often not challenge others even though you think they are wrong. Similarly, if you avoid conflict, you will not stand up to challenges from others to your own ideas. Unfortunately, the belief that conflict is always negative and that you should avoid it is misguided. Many organizations fail to innovate in a constantly changing world because members of the organization avoid conflict.

The fact is that conflict is inevitable in organizations and provides a force for positive change. "Inherent in all organizations are divisions of labor (differing goals), interdependence (people need other people), and scarce resources" (Harvard Business Review, Jan-Feb 2011). There is a natural need for units in organizations to work with other units that have conflicting goals, such as sales and manufacturing. Solving the natural conflicts is in the organization's best interest. Systemic failure to approach conflict results in "functional silos". When organizational units isolate themselves to avoid dealing with other units, the organization experiences a fundamental disengagement with its strategic initiatives. The same can occur among employees within a unit when each one’s goals do not have an overall purpose and employees become individualistic.

Therefore, one difference between managing and leading is to see conflict as an opportunity to advance the organization’s chances to win in the future. Leaders encourage their employees to see conflict as positive. Leaders give employees permission to challenge others when they believe they are wrong and to appropriately defend their own positions when they believe they are on sound ground. How an employee perceives and responds to conflict within the organization may not only have a significant impact on how well the employee performs their assignment(s), but also the degree the employee will act positively on behalf of the organization beyond their assignment.

Play the Whole Game

When i was a young man, companies would try to tell me about my retirement benefits when recruiting me. I somewhat arrogantly shunned their attempts because retirement was so far away it was totally irrelevant to me. When I was at my peak earnings, articles in WSJ, seminars and conversations ultimately focused on the question, "how much do you need to retire?" People would talk about how they couldn't wait to retire so they could travel more. It seemed that retiring early was almost a "badge of courage" for Baby Boomers.

I have come to realize that the notion of retirement is destructive to the human soul. It denotes a time in which we "pull out of the mainstream", we no longer see ourselves or are seen by others as contributors. This does not discount people who have retired from their career only to have a productive life as a volunteer. However, volunteering is more of a "giving back" than a sense of "contributing to." Don't misunderstand me, volunteering is a good thing and giving is an admirable aspect of our character. The point is it does not nourish our soul to "resign" to a life of volunteering when we feel that we have much more to give. People of age have experience and wisdom beyond what they provided at the peak of the contributions from their careers. People of age still have aspirations to impact others, not just provide helpful, but simple tasks. Especially when the have a high need for achievement. However, the social orientation of retirement seems to constrain what older people may expect of themselves and what others may expect from them.  

This may lead to some frustration and even sadness in the hearts of the aging Boomers. The anecdote - PLAY THE WHOLE GAME!! Perceiving the end of the game as the end of life rather than the end of one's career can restore lost energy and passion that may have been lost at retirement.

One more thing, retirement may be a psychological state versus a time in life when one no longer works for a living. We used to joke that my dad "retired" in his job 10 years before his retirement. Anyone is susceptible to dropping out of the game at any point, willing to accept the score as it is at that time. The fact is our story continues to be told as long as we are on this side of eternity. Playing the whole game honors our story. After all, our story is HIS story.

"Dont make waves"

I've been sitting on the beach for several days now and noticed there just are no waves. I thought to myself (which I am prone to do), that is not a good operating philosophy for an ocean catering to tourists. Surfers and active ocean dwellers benefit from waves.



I thought more about this (as I am prone to do) and realized that this often describes the culture of organizations. This operating philosophy makes for a safe, predictable working environment. However, millennial professionals, high achievers, natural change agents (all of which organizations need engaged) feel bored and frustrated, eventually losing interest. Moreover, while organizations desire and need levels of disruption to innovate and adapt to a changing, hostile environment, a "make no waves" culture can be the greatest obstacle to sustained success.

As "make no waves" makes for a safe trip to the beach, it results in unengaged ocean dwellers. Of course, high and chaotic waves from a hurricane can be destructive. Thus, while making waves can be beneficial, there are limits. BUT, being afraid of the destruction and desiring "no waves" may have similar devastating consequences.

Something to ponder, both as an individual and as an organization ......  

whilst or after? it does matter

The Heidelberg Catechism Q32 answers the question, "why are you called a Christian?", this way - "because I am a member of Christ by faith, and thus am a partaker of His anointing, that I may confess His name and present myself a living sacrifice of thankfulness to Him ...." This is very good and the catechism should stop RIGHT HERE, but it doesn't. It goes on to add, "and that with a free and good conscience I may fight against sin and Satan in this life and AFTERWARD reign with Him eternally over all creatures."

What's your impression of this last part? Is our role as a Christian to "fight against sin and Satan?" Is that how you see your life? How does that role compare to the life of testimony to His name, of Thanksgiving and of fellowshiping with His anointing? Doesn't the joy, hope, freedom and significance kinda get stomped on as I see myself in a fight and the reward is after I die? Is this what we too often receive from the pulpit? I have often heard the preacher say, "fight the good fight on earth so that when you die, you'll go to Heaven."

Ay yi yi yo yo - sounds like an exchange to me. Is this what Jesus says to us in His word? I don't think so. He says "I have come so that you may ahve joy and that your joy may be full". He says "do not fear for your Father has chosen gladly to give you His Kingdom." He says I am the truth and the truth shall set you free." NOW, not LATER.

Apostle Paul tells us that yes we are 'in Christ", NOW, not LATER. "old things have passed away and behold all things have become NEW." NOW, not LATER. Paul said "but God ..... made us alive together with Christ and made us sit together in the Heavenly places in Christ Jesus. " NOW, not LATER.

Don't let well intended but ill informed pastors convince you of the last part of this catechism. Ask him to please stop after the first part. The Christian resides in the Kingdom, NOW, not LATER. While Satan and our flesh sometimes constrain us from experiencing the blessings of Grace, the fight has been won. NOW, not LATER. The joy, freedom, significance, and hope of a Christian is not in his fight, but in his faith. Our eternal reign is not AFTER we die, but NOW as we live.

Don't let bad doctrine rob you of the blessings of God. Paul says "Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every Spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ."  The first blessing is our adoration and worship toward God (we "Bless God"). The second "blessed" is that God has "bestowed" on us - blessed us with what? "EVERY Spiritual blessing in the heavenly places", which is all the provisions and privileges of the Heavenlies. Paul is not saying AFTER you duke it out here with Satan and die, you can have this. He says this is NOW your reality as a Christian.

IN thanksgiving, live this reality out, right where you are - NOW, not LATER.

something to ponder .......