Does Your Prospect Like Horror Movies And Solo Travel?

So much social media chatter surrounded the recent maths findings inside dating site Ok Cupid.

Apparently there are three questions that overwhelmingly dictate whether two people are compatible.

All you need do is answer them the same on your first date then march straight to the exchanging of rings;

Do you like horror movies?
Have you ever travelled around another country alone?
Wouldn’t it be fun to chuck it all and go live on a sailboat?

(That third one can apparently even be excluded.)

You can’t help but chuckle at these of course.

At the time I was reminded of serious research by the American Republican party. They reckon they won the ridiculously tight 2000 election because, in part, they found that someone was more likely to vote their way if they both had a dog and went to church. Only in America…

These are the kinds of psychographics I’ve blogged on before (like here, a couple of years ago in relation to fridgenomics). (Note modern-day data hounds may also refer to psychographics as IAO variables, as in Interests, Attitudes & Opinions.)

As opposed to demographics. Which are pretty much all the vast majority of b2b salesteams look at.

Prospect company turnover, number of employees, branches, if a specific named role exists.

Which is a huge missed opportunity.

What values, beliefs, aspirations crop up time and again with those that buy from you?

When such patterns are unique to you, there’s something for you to bottle.

For me right now, one current project majors on helping sales leaders run a product launch that does not stall and does not scupper their career.

Indicators as to whether we are kindred souls comes from their attitudes to internal sales meetings, on-going training and my old favourite, process.

If I speak to someone that’s at the opposite pole to me on these, then I do not pursue.

Similar essential qualification criteria exist in your target marketplace. The sooner you find where they reside the more you will undoubtedly sell.