Are We Consistent?

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Are we consistent?

Have you ever noticed how uneasy we feel when someone points out to you that you have been inconsistent in something you said or did? Come on ... you mean to say I am the only one who starts defending what I said (or meant to say) when my kids call me on something? It's an uncomfortable feeling and most of us will go out of our way to make sure we remain consistent in our actions and beliefs. In psychology, they call this Cognitive Dissonance.

Cognitive Dissonance

The psychologists suggest that Cognitive Dissonance is an uncomfortable feeling or stress caused by holding two contradictory ideas simultaneously. The theory of cognitive dissonance proposes that people have a fundamental cognitive drive to reduce this dissonance by modifying an existing belief, or rejecting one of the contradictory ideas.

So, what does that mean and what does it have to do with selling?!?

It means that when a client tells you one thing early on in a conversation there is a natural cognitive (i.e. in their brain) tendency driving them to not contradict what they told you .

How do you use this information? Let me give you an example to illustrate:

Let's say that you get a lot of clients telling you, after you have presented them a product, that they would like to "think about it". You naturally would want to reduce the likelihood that you would hear that objection. One way to do that is to have had them say, before you ask them to buy, that they had already been thinking about this decision for awhile. So you could ask them early on in the meeting, after you have found out why they are there, "how long have you been thinking about coming in to discuss this (mortgage/investment/new account)?" If they said that they have been thinking about it for awhile then the principle of Cognitive Dissonance will be working in your favour when you go to ask for the sale. They will be less likely to procrastinate on the decision because they already told you they had been thinking about it for awhile and they do not want to appear inconsistent.

Two Important Considerations:

1. Timing. You need to premeditate some of the information you would want from the client and ask it early on in the conversation. If you ask them to buy and they say they want to think about it and THEN you asked how long they had been shopping around, you will likely not get the answer you are looking for. In fact, the principle is now working against you. They said they wanted to think about it and now they have to be consistent with that statement so they will most likely respond that they just started shopping and have lots more homework to do before they decide. So make sure to ask for the information you need well in advance of when you need it.

2. People will, on occasion, go against what they said. As much as this principle can help you it is not bullet proof. So don't get discouraged when someone ends up not buying and contradicting what they told you earlier. Unfortunately, that will happen on occasion but that shouldn't stop you from using this strategy. The goal is to increase your odds of getting a client to buy and this will definitely do that.

Assignment (should you choose to accept of course):
Write down all of the things you would like the client to say, that if stated up front in the conversation, would make it easier to get the sale because they would not want to contradict earlier comments.

Hints to think about:
- What are the objections you consistently get?
- What would motivate the client to buy? (i.e. if the primary motivator is convenience and you get them to tell you that early on then when you show them how convenient your product is they will want to stay consistent with what they said earlier and buy).

"There's as much risk in doing nothing as in doing something."
-Trammell Crow

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Are We Consistent?

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