Nudging Prospects Along
In a moment of seasonal downtime, I read a marketeer's thoughts entitled does nudge theory have a future in 2023?
I picked up on this in part because the inimitable nudger-in-chief was cited.
Then I quickly realised how a quintet of said Rory Sutherland's insights duly contained within could be so readily refashioned. Away from the expense account laden, answerability absent world of the advertising exec. To our one of buck-stops-here solution selling.
In order of appearance, here they are. With remixed pertinence to us as required.
We don’t discount the whole of physics simply because some theories are proved to be wrong
A bit baby-and-bathwater yet I sadly report I have heard sales leaders denounce an ideal way of selling by dint of its scapegoating for when a whale fails to land.
You might also consider applications of this as-is. Such as when one calc in a business case runs awry.
In behavioural science there aren’t really rules, there are patterns. People do not obey absolutely fixed laws of behavioural science.
You could (almost) swap out 'behavioural science' for 'solution selling'.
This pushes my flashing multicolour illuminated buttons on what truly constitutes a winning, sustainable, repeatable sales process.
Such selling is absolutely about the patterns on won bids that allow you to prevail. But can you recognise them, refine them, reinforce them?
Ad agencies are a bit like pandas. Part of the panda’s problem is it only really eats bamboo, which is why they tend to be a bit endangered. And advertising agencies only eat brand communication budgets.
Another metaphor with much as-is potential. Especially where you've a prospect that's putting all its eggs in one basket. Everyone needs at least one alternative, a Plan B or back-up.
As well as having connections open up- and down-stream, side to side and in other dimensions too.
A brand can do great advertising but will still lose customers if its janky website makes it painful to buy its products
A recipe for finger pointing. Yet if you un-jank the site, then you've a pitch right there.
You could turn this on yourself too. As I might say in describing my current endeavours; a company can have great product, marketing, testimonials, but will still lose deals if its video sales call are not enjoyable for the prospect.
Whenever there is a bottleneck or an element of friction, then the place to intervene in the overall system is where the bottleneck lies
This requires a touch of nuance, as awareness helps 'fix' any unusual, undesired or untamed ingress and egress.
Still, in many a successful pitch, it is not the actual solution that matters most. It can merely be the simple fact that you remove the malady.
One way I frame this can be whether you sell the fire extinguisher or the fire itself.
If the latter is not fully accepted as ablaze, then no amount of nozzle prowess will mean a thing.
And a proven time-honoured way of aligning this way, is indeed, by attending to those bottlenecks.