Prebunking Malinformation

I came across this phrase very much of the modern landscape through a professor of evolutionary biology. Talking about his visit to the migrant trains running north from the infamous Darien gap. Destination, U S of A.

It appears the vast numbers of Latin Americans fleeing dictators and the lesser but still sizeable middle eastern and various -stan peoples escaping oppressive religious extremism were happy to discuss their hopes, journey and admiration of the American Dream.

Completely the opposite though, are apparently huge cohorts of defiantly silent young military age Chinese men, travelling alongside them to also cross into America.

Given his academic career, Bret Weinstein's conclusion being that the unusual imbalance of the sexes through China's Little Emperor policy produced an alarming number of males destined to never find a wife. Which the totalitarian regime do not want causing trouble at home, so send them away. An inability or unwillingness to speak openly, excitedly about their future perhaps raising express intention of becoming a kind of sleeper giga-cell, primed to explode inside their enemy borders.

Conspiracy theorists of the world unite?

Whatever the merits of such threat, I noted the language used evolves from degrees of 'fake news' rife through our experiences from 2020 on.

I now hear citing of 'hate science'. And this neologism itself of malinformation. Which he has defined as;

"when you say true things that cause people to mistrust authority".

We solution salespeople quickly recognise this in our field.

Yet more often with competitors saying untrue things that cause buyers to mistrust us. So more maybe simply mis- (honest errors) or dis- (spun untruths) information. The little lies they tell to show us in undesirable light.

He also references that such 'fact' is deliberately used out of context to mislead, harm or manipulate.

For us you might even call this 'hate procurement' or variants thereof too.

This mal- prefix is interesting, in that it can almost be like damning with faint praise.

Think on the classic case of a buyer being primed that you as competing option have a strong track record with a certain type of deal - big/small, sector/territory, tech/outlook - when that is specifically not what the potential customer sees themselves as.

Regular readers will know I recommend never speaking about the competition, at all.

Also of note is the idea of prebunking. Getting your retaliation in first. Being upfront about where, how and why you might be attacked.

Which seems to fit in with the Enterprise sales skill of laying competitor traps.

If you're not doing so, it could well open up a route to greater conversion.

All about getting the bid played on your terms.

Especially when you've a strong, dependable advocate prospect-side, we've now a new phrase that'll let us, together, work out how we're going to shape the deal to our advantage and ward off the malbidders.