This article is inspired from a great book called Selling Change by Brett Clay and also builds on my previous one titled “Newton law of motion”, you can read it here : http://ashraf-osman.com/2013/06/20/newton-law-of-motion/
As I always say; no one wakes up and say ” what a wonderful day for a root canal” , there has to be pain to drive change, pain is a significant force that drives change. I have also included in previous posts the kinds of pain and triggering events, etc..
today I will tell you one of Brett Clay secrets of how to sell change. In his book he mentioned 4 kinds of forces that affect change :
- Internal Needs.
- Behavioral tendencies.
- Cognitive strategies, and
- Environmental factors
A lot can be said about the different forces (I recommend reading the book), however this article is about the four phases of change:
- Awareness; You live in a large cosmopolitan city, lots of car thefts and house break-ins. You are aware of the force (lack of personal security), the Insurance sales person offers you a comprehensive insurance policy but you postpone the decision.
- Appraisal; The phase where a person assesses the force to decide on one of 3 options: Fight; take action to confront and diffuse the damage of the force. Flight; avoid it, run away from it, leave the city and move to a safer place.Ignore; do nothing about it and continue with your life.
- Intellectualized; The insurance sales person shows you reports about the theft cases in your part of the city and mentions referrals and testimonials from people you know. Now you develop am “intellectual” and unemotional understanding of the force.
- Internalized: Your neighbor’s car is stolen or his apartment is burglarized (broken-into) , this is the moment of truth and you feel the force on a deep emotional level.
Now is the time where you are most emotionally vulnerable and ready to take measures against the force (lack of personal security), the measure is fight and the action is buy an insurance policy.
This is how the forces of change work on all of us, your customer included. You have to be guide your customer through change phases; awareness, appraisal, intellectualizing and internalizing. By being close to your customer and by asking him questions like : What do you think /how do you feel about that ? How will this affect you?
Guiding your customer through change is what makes you an Agent Of Change so you become an Elite Sales Person.
