Where's Your Prospect Happiness Sourced?

Sometimes you just have to read a tabloid for downtime. I came across an article based on a book self-helpingly entitled Stitch Your Own Silver Linings. Certainly not my normal reading matter of choice.

The aspect that did interest me though, was from where your propensity to be happy hails;

50% genes

10% circumstances

40% your own actions

As the journalist explains;

Fifty per cent of your happiness is determined by genetics. You inherit this from your parents and there is nothing you can do about it.

Called the set point it’s the baseline level of happiness you will return to after major setbacks or great successes. Only 10 per cent is determined by circumstances, whether you are rich, poor, healthy or beautiful.

The remaining 40 per cent, a large chunk, is determined by your thoughts, actions and behaviour. This is where you can raise your happiness because what you think, do and how you behave is entirely up to you.

I wondered as to the potential parallel between this and the likelihood of a prospect making a particular decision.

If you are solution selling, and require them to make a change of some sort, then a possible selling crossover could perhaps be;

50% history of change

10% company health

40% attitude to changing

I do like the concept of the “set point” here. Whatever the age of the organisation you’re trying to do business with, there will be a corporate memory that dictates how likely they are to take action. And as hopeful vendor you might not be able to game it all that much. Fifty percent influence is indeed a powerful weighting.

All sorts of pointers can give you a glimpse into this. From the products and services they use to fuel their business, right through to status revealers such as what’s in the car park.

Are they enthusiastic early adopters or do they tend to wait until something is already widely taken up? Is there the thread of R&D running through their core or do they prefer reacting to other players? Are they fixated on counting beans or is the customer genuinely at the heart of what they think?

Then there’s company health. It stands to reason that anyone not awash with cash may be more circumspect about writing cheques. Although a flipside could be that someone in decline might be inclined to invest their way back up.

Finally, who’s fired up by the proposed change? Can it truly be embraced? Are there looking like decent stabs at planning for it, managing it, and making it happen?

Whilst not a definitive framework, it is one that gets you thinking. At the very least it’s an interesting lens through which to view a pipeline to freshen up the next forecast session.