Loading Odds of Primacy-Recency Choice

I've noted a fair amount of PR across the airwaves of a sporting confessional.

The Not-So Secret Football Agent spills buckets of beans from behind-the-scenes shenanigans of a now past Wild West era.

Anecdotes galore flow from former player turned dealmaker Barry Silkman.

One catching my ear, involved a common selling conundrum, cunningly resolved.

A pair of London English Premier League sides were both in for a new star signing he represented.

Tottenham and West Ham vying for the affections of Eyal Berkovic in the Summer of 1997.

Silkman knew both team's managers. Gerry Francis and Harry Redknapp.

Due to his better relationship with the latter, the fixer preferred to do the deal for him.

A day was duly arranged for the player to meet both managers.

Silkman made Francis the first call, Redknapp the second.

This occurs in perhaps its most vexing form for us when delivering the final presentation.

I have witnessed fraught meetings where vendors have vigorously debated whether they want that first or second slot.

As I always say, from experience, it's a bit of a trick question. As the true test is whether you are asked to make that first selection.

If you are, it might not matter. If you aren't, it probably does. And if you're handed your time, your chances of being preferred are practically too slim to continue.

From a psychology perspective, there have been studies on this.

Findings come with the usual caveats. Context is crucial, numbers involved feel low, decision importance dubious.

Yet these do suggest what they term primacy outdoes recency.

You're better off going first, rather than last.

Indeed, on the first big win of my cubrep days, I went first in the two-horse race.

This is precisely the kind of element your process measurement must track. It is not the kind of thing many want to be A/B testing a lot, after all.

So how did Silkman stack the odds in his favour?

Well, he claims Francis had real difficulty looking someone in the eye when he spoke with them. Especially, we infer, upon meeting afresh.

So as his man drove to the meeting, he simply told him that he'd be able to tell if his potential new manager liked him.

'If he looks you right in the eyes as he speaks to you, he likes you.'

And of course, that never happened. West Ham landed the signature. Silkman got his way.

Direct crossover into selling is tricky. As maybe the thrust of primacy beating recency is that going first, you set the agenda. Set the bar. Lay the traps.

The power of that meaning pitching nearer the actual decision is blunted.

Any unexpected shots will lead to you being given chance to respond anyway. And going last seldom (if ever) allows for a decision right then and there.

Cooling-off time is a thing. Separation between final pitches and official green light the norm.

Yet we can certainly take the knowledge we can swing odds in our favour.