Comedy Decision Making Notepad

Here’s pics I took from a briefly entertaining planagram near the till of a Capetonian bookstore. The firm responsible is called Knock Knock. They have a plethora of these ‘comedy’ pads for the impulsive gift buyer.

Despite being at the dodgy end of the style scale, getting a touch too close to naff tat, I did see merit in this.

Take a prospect you know right now. One that is perhaps ‘dithering’, in your terms. Or does not appear to share your thoughts on the impending gravity of the deal.

I would quite happily use the ideas here as a framework for a meeting.

Take the very first item.

Dilemma

Let’s tackle the issue head on, hey. If your prospect cannot frame their current position this way, then you both have a problem. One that you may not profit from.

And bear in mind the old school definition of dilemma. People mistakenly think it means simply ‘a problem’. But it is not. Think of the saying ‘on the horns of a dilemma’. A real dilemma has two conflicting positions. Here’s the definition, shamelessly googled just now;

A situation in which a difficult choice has to be made between two or more alternatives (especially equally undesirable ones)

For many a solution pitch, the option that must surely ‘win’ most bids is to do nothing. The status quo wins out, no new order ever gets placed. In terms of a dilemma, that option can be shown as horribly hazardous. Stand still, you go backwards and all that.

Much of the prompts that follow are excellent. For a specifically sales bent, I’d likely swap out ‘Decision Needed By’. After all, the seasoned seller knows such date is never cast in stone, more often than not slips and can prove a serious shackle. So why take the risk of making that the focal point? Better rather, to expose the ‘Urgency’ behind the decision.

You could also add such solution selling stalwarts as ‘people needing to be on board’, ‘implementation team’, ‘selection process’ & ‘selection criteria’. But you don’t want to turn this into something like a “blue sheet” on the sly. And the framework’s good enough for it’s designed purpose.

The only other product that caught my Sales eye, was this one, pictured below.

How many salespeople do you know that take nothing in to a meeting? Now then, that’s a whole different topic…!