36. What do people base their decisions on?
Have you ever laughed at a joke because everybody else laughed so you felt the obligation to laugh? Have you ever bought something based on the fact that it was the “best selling” or “fastest moving” item? Would the statement “4 out of 5 people surveyed recommend this product” influence your decision? How about “over two million copies sold” on the cover of a book? Would that make you feel more comfortable about your decision to buy it? If so, you are not alone. People are highly influenced and persuaded by what others do.
I am the first customer to go through the car wash, yet the tip jar has 10 one-dollar bills folded in the jar. I am the first one in the bar and notice the bartenders tip jar already has several dollar bills in it..
Nightclub owners create long lines to give the impression that business is great. Krispy Crème Donuts has a bunch of folks camp out the night before the store opening so they can have the first donuts that are cooked – creating the impression that these donuts must be really good.
What does all this mean? It means that this concept works and it can work for you too. Here’s how.
Everybody likes to think of himself or herself as a nonconformist – someone who does their own thing. You and I like to see ourselves as independent – until it comes time to make a decision – then we find out what everybody else is doing and what everybody else thinks – and conclude that they must be right – and make the decision that I am going to do the same thing.
Let’s say you are a new sales person calling on a potential account. Would you say; ‘I am new and don’t have any customers yet – will you take a chance and be the first?”
If you were a seasoned sales person would you go into a potential customer and say; “We have great quality and excellent service?” No, you wouldn’t want to say something like that because their response would be “so what.” You would want to take the approach that the bartender, car wash, church, evangelical preacher and concert promoter took. You want to bring on your success stories, testimonials, references, people your prospect knows and a list of happy customers who are buying from you. You would want to put a little money in your tip jar to show that others are buying and they are happy. Why? To make them feel safe about their decision to buy from you.
Comments:
I made several calls on a local doctor and explained and promoted our payroll service to him. He was very skeptical at first but after the fourth call he was on board and excited about it – he could see the advantages for his practice and his employees.
He said to come by the following Monday and we would take care of all of the documents but on that Monday morning his office manager called and said that they had discussed it further and decided against it at this time. She had a defensive attitude and did not want to listen to anything I had to say.
At this point I was very tempted to “raise the level” of my tone to her but I bit my tongue and resisted. I just said ‘”please feel free to call me if I can help at any time”. Yesterday the doctor called me and said he was ready to do the deal. His accountant had told him that this was a good thing for him to do and it would save him money (the exact same thing I had been telling him). Sometimes it takes a third party to convince a customer. I signed him up two hours later and I was able to feel comfortable around the office manager also.
But I came very close to “burning the bridge”. It turns out that the office manager was also his daughter.
Crocker Smith
I’ve never been one to follow crowds, never bought the most popular car model, etc. It seems to be a great marketing strategy though because a lot of people follow the crowds. I remember a guy telling me one time that McDonald’s had the best hamburgers. "They had to be the best because they sold the most." I replied telling him no they do great research on where to locate their restaurants and have a great marketing campaign. It’s funny how some people equate the most with best.
Cary McAfee
One of my early careers was a waiter with a chain restaurant. I wanted to move on to very upscale white table cloth restaurant in the heart of downtown where the tips would be much better. I took all my 324 comment cards, good and bad, and give them to the owner with the statement: “I would like to be a part of your team, (he was a ex-pro basketball player) and here is the best references I can give you. Most of them are outstanding, A few may not seem that good, but it’s a honest review of my work.” Yes I got the job and it opened up a whole new world for me.
David Vize
People base a lot of their decisions on what other people are doing. It seems to make more sense to use a product/service that someone you know is using and happy with, right? Not always. My personal belief is that price is not the ultimate factor. I believe it is the ability to persuade the customer into buying “ME.” Of course the successful stories, references, and the list of companies we serve are just the “icing” on the cake. Then you tell your prospect, “You get “ME” and look who else has made this decision and its working perfectly!”
Brooke Knight
I try to be the type of person that makes up my mind based on the facts not the, "I’m doing it because every one else is doing it type." Although I have been a bartender for many years and every time I walk behind the bar I take $20.00 in ones and put them in the jar. It does work. People want to follow the crowd. If they see a bunch of ones in the jar they believe that he must be a really good bartender and stand in line waiting on me instead of getting a drink right away form a bartender with only a few dollars in there jar.
Brian Spraggins
I like this strategy, although I must say that quoting a client’s competition has come back to bite me as well. People do like to follow the crowds sometimes so letting a prospect know where and who your program is working with seems to build more credibility. It’s funny thing to watch a crowd (and I have been guilty of this), migrating a certain way or waiting in a line just because it is drawing the masses.
Kristan Wilson
We see this all the time (tip jars full, etc.) and it tends to work in most situations. Of course, when you’re doing marketing and sales, you can’t really carrying around a tip jar full of ones. But you can have an arsenal of success stories, situations that best represent your services. We can all do this!
Suzanne Davis
"We find out what everybody else is doing and what everybody else thinks – and conclude that they must be right – and make the decision that I am going to do the same thing."