Greg's Right FIT Newsletter #126

Techniques for FIT

• One of our recurring challenges is keeping a sense of perspective. "A ship which looms large in the river seems tiny when on the ocean," said Seneca. Next week, test your perceptions by telling your brain to keep it in perspective.

• Along with perspective is the idea that life is 10% what happens and 90% how we react to it. Or, as Schopenhauer said, ". . .less depends. . .on what befalls and happens to us in life than on the way in which we feel it. . ." This next week, when you have an irritating interaction with a colleague, ask yourself if they're really trying to irritate you or it it's simply a story you're telling yourself. 

• We are made up of the accumulated stories we tell ourselves. Check what's going on inside your noggin' because we humans tend to be harsh on ourselves. 

• Your organization and team operates best wtih a strong sense of direction. Don't let strategic decisions to be swayed by individual self-interest or inter-deparmental conflicts. ""If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable." Yes, that's two Seneca quotes in one section.

Being Human - What do they think of your price?

What does your price represent to the buyer's sense of value?

The built in bias toward prices

Economists tell us that we carry a built-in bias toward pricing.

Before we begin shopping, there is a price below which we think the product won’t deliver a return on our investment, and we have a price above which we won’t consider purchasing, no matter what the promised ROI.

I saw this in action when I sat in on a sales discussion between a software provider and their bank prospect. In the discussion, our rep ballparked a low-end software cost estimate at $20,000, which the banker agreed was a good price without hesitation, piquing my interest. Later, outside of the sales process, I went back to the banker and asked her why she thought $20,000 was reasonable.

“Because I’ve learned that if software is under $20,000 it won’t meet the security protocols we have here,” she said. By walking me through her thought process, she let me in on the bias those economist are referring to. She used it as a decision shortcut. The software company I worked with still uses that insight today.

This is what it might sound like in your real-life discussions.

“Mr. Prospect, soon, I’m going back to my lair to consider these outcomes and I'll come back with ideas on how to get there. Out of curiosity, is there a dollar amount that will make you sit back and scratch your head either because it's much too high or far too low?”

I find it helps the prospect frame what their exact right solution will look like. As you can imagine, sometimes they will not be able to come up with a price off the top of their head, so use this "high-low" language Steve Blank teaches at Stanford and UC Berkeley: “What if it were free? If I could get you these outcomes for free would you be interested or skeptical? Conversely, what if it were $100,000? Is that just too much to consider?”

Random Stuff

Podcasting

I am on a podcast that "dropped" last week. It's called The Pillars of Franchising with Ray Pillar. You can hear it for yourself starting at minute 39:
 http://www.blogtalkradio.com/linkedlocalnetwork/2018/05/24/pillars-of-franchising-finding-growing-the-right-opportunity

Franchises get a few hundred words in my book because I spent a lot of time in one and have some opinions. I spill some of that knowledge in this podcast. 

Teleseminar

In a week or so I have a teleseminar that's open to the public. I offer these 5-6 timers a year and this one is called, "The Two Fastest Ways to Improve Your Selling Skills for the Complex Sale." If what you're selling is more results oriented than price oriented, if it involves multiple people rather than fewer people in the decision process, or if it solves multiple complicated issues versus a single, simple issue, this seminar will be interesting to you. Register here: https://www.chamberspivot.com/teleseminar-two-fast-ways-to-improve-skills-complex-sale/

Tiki bars

I have a weakness for Tiki bars. They had me the first time I set foot in the Mai Tai lounge in Omaha. A glimpse of a black velvet topless Tahitian princess painting, a menu proclaiming a "two drink MAXIMUM," and little umbrellas. Lots of little umbrellas. The Mai Tai is gone, but tiki bars are making a comeback: https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2018/06/a-new-golden-age-for-the-tiki-bar/562025/

Good stuff.

Booking Calendar