In 1979, Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky first wrote about heuristics and how these shape the way we think, believe and behave. One of the heuristics they studied and gave a name to is the ‘Availability Heuristic’ – which states that we tend to see the world by the information readily available to us.
We only have to look at modern journalism and how they report major incidents over and over, which then shapes the way we see the world. Right now, the Russia/Ukraine war is being reported ‘ad infinitum’ in real-time, blow by blow. This generally shapes our thinking of how bad the world is becoming and that we are on the possible precipice of a nuclear holocaust.
This brings lots of thoughts into our concern bucket, of which we have no control over, feeding our sense of worry and stress until it becomes a vicious cycle.
What if every day the newspapers reported how many countries weren’t at war?
Would this put the situation into a better perspective? Would we see more clearly that sometimes bad things happen, but mostly good is around us? Think about what is happening around you and how this shapes your thinking of the world around you?
When we talk about confirmation bias in selling, the same thing applies. We listen to the available information around us, that feeds our beliefs, and apply that to our thinking and behaviour even though there is a lot happening that is contrary to our thinking.
One of the things coming out of the pandemic and the extended lockdowns is the amount of talk around stress, too much on our plate, no one is listening, so many things broken, things aren’t as good as they used to be, and I am not getting paid enough.
This is happening in every business I am involved with to varying degrees. The social connections and the sub-culture that exists in every business are huge influences on the type of available information that spreads – positive and negative.
I see a general shift in the balance of available negative sentiment over the positive (in the news world, negative sentiments sell far faster than positive ones, exploiting our human nature). When this happens, any initiative that has the right intent will be seen in a negative light. The pushback of too much to do and not enough time will rule the day.
There is no doubt there is truth in all of the issues raised. However, it is not as bad as it is made to be. Everything in life is about which lens you choose to view the world.
Our job is to help our people see the world through the lens that shows them how to succeed within their circle of control. We have a responsibility to make available to them the good things we are doing every day and how we listen to them and what we are doing because we have listened.
Like any vicious cycle, they need an intervention to turn it into a virtuous one.
The good stories we tell, the behaviours we reinforce and the information we make available to our people to help them see that sometimes bad things happen, but mostly we are surrounded by good is so important right now and the intervention we need.
Happy selling,
Andrew Nisbet
PS -
My new online course, which teaches you the knowledge, processes and frameworks of relationship selling, is now live - module one is free, and even if you do module one alone, I’m sure it will make you a better salesperson. See below for course details.
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