Doubt Is Our Product

Aka, doubt is our friend.  I heard these words in a drama from the mouth of a lobbyist.  There are two viewpoints I’ve encountered in selling that I deplore. 

Overwhelmingly, it is nearly always the case that I bewail how anyone that promotes the status quo can live with themselves.

Blatant scaremongering is tantamount to bullying and can never win long-term.

We’ve probably all heard of FUD.  Fear Uncertainty Doubt.  The creed from post-war IBM, since ingrained in every market leader more deeply than the ‘Reverand’ Moon could ever hope.  “Nobody got sacked for buying Big Blue….”  How would you expect a prospect faced with a tricky choice to react after being taken to one side and whispered that?

Yet there is a place, that stops short of the damage the aforementioned bombast can cause, where Doubt can be an essential tool.

In my solution selling remit, I often battle with people not wanting to change.  Trying something new fills them with the fear.  (Often the fear that they’d actually have to do some proper work.)  They mistakenly reason, why take a risk, however small, if it could lead to career demise? 

Yet illuminating the path to Doubt could lead the way.  What could happen if the world moved around whilst your prospect stayed static?  What pressures would start to bite?  How much worse off would your prospect be tomorrow? 

So, make sure you ask about such scenarios when the need arises.