Thoughtful Thursdays – Overcoming the emotional cost of change
I have talked about the emotional cost of change more than once on Thoughtful Thursdays. It can be one of the most perplexing barriers to making a sale that you will encounter. It takes logical thought and argument and tosses it out the window and can feel like pushing a boulder up a hill.
No amount of value selling will change a persons mind if they deem the consequences of making a change greater than the sum of all the value you and your company bring to the table.
Today’s thought is about identifying it as the barrier you are facing and ways to overcome the emotional cost of change.
Hints are usually dropped early in your sales conversations:
- There are inconsistencies in information depending on who you are speaking with
- It is difficult to get the parties in the same meeting
- You may experience objections such as we’ve always done it this way or we like the status quo
Listen to what your customer is saying and read between the lines to gain insight. Once you have determined that you are dealing with a decision making process that leans more towards emotion rather than logic, a change in approach is required.
Overcoming the emotional cost of change benefits from an injection of sales emotion. You may need to develop relationships with more people such as the not so obvious stakeholders who may be indirectly affected by the decision to change. The emotional sales component will allow people to save face as their steadfastness in not changing is challenged.
Undoubtedly the sales cycle can be longer in these cases. It challenges your sales creativity. In my experience it is beneficial to use multiple human resources from your company as well. Engaging different personalities types to help is often beneficial.
What will not work is to continue to sell in the same manner that has not worked previously.
Good selling,
Richard
Have a question about sales? Contact Sakanashi and Associates Inc.and I will respond.
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