Read Time ≈ 2 minutes
Technically Selling’s creation stemmed from a single lightbulb moment. My thought, flipping the switch was:
If I can learn the mental criteria around HOW people make decisions – I may be able to figure out a more effective way to – influence decisions.
This exact moment, coming back in January of 2016, re-routed my course, eventually leading us here. At this stage, though, the path was far from paved.
I was coming off my best year and considering the sales education – my selling foundation was already quite strong. However, the further I dove down the ‘research rabbit hole,’ learning the science behind behavior – the more everything started to click. I felt, for the first time, I had finally found a method to my madness.
Irrespective of any prior sales success, I, like most reps, never had proper logic or rationale behind WHY a particular process ended up being effective; or, more importantly, why it wasn’t.
So, the lightbulb moment, in effect, was… what if I did?
The events directly after the now named ‘TS Lightbulb’ are shared in various sections of this book. While I don’t put much weight on naming, this moment represents an overlying theme of our first story – thinking differently.
I wasn’t trying to change how I sell, nor will I ever suggest it, but anyone can improve selling ability. Sometimes, a spark is all we need to start the process.
Awareness is the name of our game; regardless of where you set your sites, gaining new perspectives is essential for maximizing performance. You don’t know what you don’t know… until you do.
Leveraging Our Mind
Technically Selling was developed over two continuous years, using a strategy consisting of four primary phases: Research / Design / Testing / Adaptation. (detach visual aid)
The three-part A NEW ERA series centers around phase #1 – research.
Throughout each book, our objective mirrors what I aimed to accomplish during my brief sabbatical, before starting my business – LEARN to gain LEVERAGE.
With endless external factors outside our control, professional selling is an occupation that relies on information. Leverage means using something to its maximum advantage; so, a continuous ‘sales task’ is simply leveraging all information available.
Since details about prospective buyers’ needs, wants, and pain points are often limited (or non-existent), salespeople, not only need to maximize what we know, it’s necessary to uncover additional insights to improve our chances of closing.
My reaction following the lightbulb moment made me realize there was information available that I hadn’t yet tapped. I had no idea how to leverage psychology during a sales interaction, but I knew it would help, and I was fired up to figure it out!
After Asia and a brief ‘travel burnout’ period – I immersed myself in research, placing strategic focus within the fields of Cognitive Psychology & Behavioral Economics.
My Mission: Learn how people make decisions / My Hope: Gain new insights to improve my selling approach
The Outcome: What actually happened… Buckle up!
With reactions varying from fully mind blown to the lesser but fun facts, behavioral science research expanded my awareness far beyond what I initially hoped.
The insights were vast, but three areas we’re so big, they fundamentally shifted the way I think about selling. The context surrounding those insights is the focal point and respective moral of each story in our three-part series. My mission was HOW, but the three breakthroughs all lie with WHY. Let’s start with the one that started it all!