41. Why do people have a resistance to change?
You will almost always run into resistance when you ask someone to change. Their resistance comes from their unwillingness to let go of the status quo. People do not like to change. People resist even the best ideas.
A person resists an idea for a number of reasons. The resistance starts with a negative feeling about the product or idea. He or she has not looked into it yet. The immediate resistance is general.
First of all, there is a risk. What if the change does not pay off? Then he or she loses the cost and looks foolish. Something new means change and maybe the change will be uncomfortable. It might cause problems, and who needs problems? “I tried something like this before and it did not work out well, why take the risk?”
People in general do not want to hear about you or your idea or company. Even if you get them to listen, their generalized resistance adds strength to the objection.
However, you have to sell your ideas to get ahead. Your value to the customer cannot be known unless your products and services are tried. Be prepared for this resistance.
A lot of sales people ruin their credibility because they start to sell when the presentation is only half formed. They do not do their homework. The desire to get their idea sold is there, and it generates enough enthusiasm in them to propel them prematurely into the buyer's office and go for the close.
The buyer, motivated by his/her generalized resistance to anything new, looks for what is wrong. At this point, the buyer is NOT focusing on how to make it work. So the prospect raises some tough questions that you cannot answer. Not being prepared the sale dies.
By not being prepared you have lost more than the sale. You have lost some creditability. You have hurt your image. You have set the stage with a negative first impression.
From then on the buyer expects you to be unprepared. The buyer will look harder for holes in everything you present. And he or she figures that maybe it is a waste of time to talk with you. If they hear unsupported ideas, they will not be so willing to listen anymore.
This is the reason why many people fail at presenting their ideas. They are unprepared to overcome the resistance. They cannot handle the objections.
To overcome this resistance the best approach is to gather sufficient information about the buyer as well as the products or ideas you are going to present. Depending on what you are selling it may be necessary to make two or three information gathering calls before making the first presentation.
Comments:
You will do what I say, when I tell you to and LIKE it!!!! I hope this dose not sound too familiar! Why are so many companies hiring “change managers”; because it is Human nature to resist! How do you over come this? There are a couple of ways. One: slap them upside the head and tell them to just do it (not recommended by HR). Two: use research, trust and communication to gently pull the customer into the correct way of thinking. As a change manager (IE sales person) there is no magic bullet. IF you do the due diligence, ask the right questions, involve the right people (centers of influence) and COMMUNITCATE the benefits you are much more likely to close the sale (change the situation and status quo)! It is not rocket science- but it comes pretty close.
Stirred but not shaken,
Teresa Cloninger
No one likes to change, it’s that simple. And it makes sense. Why leave what you’re already accustomed to and what’s comfortable to you to go to something you know little to nothing about. That’s our jobs as sales people. We are to provide adequate information to a potential buyer to make them want to change and then make sure we help as much as possible to make it a smooth and comfortable transition.
Matthew Thacker
People stay in loveless marriages, dead end jobs and horrible living conditions, because of resistance to change. People fear the unknown and therefore are not willing to take the first steps to change their current situations. As sales people we are responsible for gently guiding our clients into a new and better situation. This usually requires negotiation, persistence and building trust from the sales person. They have to buy you before they will buy from you.
Kristan Wilson
Bravo Kristan, you hit the nail on the head!
People DO tend to hold on to the familiar in a crisis situation, sometimes even when the “familiar same old-same old" is what created the crisis!
In today’s changing environment things are tough. The economy, the weather, along with the competition from the big chains has cash flow in many independent businesses down significantly. It’s not that the businesses themselves aren’t operating profitably, there is just so much more pressure that when sales slow downt it creates an “uncomfortable” situation for the business. Many times the impulsive reaction is to cling even tighter to the old way of doing things when the customer should be looking for ways to improve operations and draw more business in or cut operating costs.
I have heard “We always did it this way and it’s always worked fine” more times than I can count. Gasoline USED to be 29 cents a gallon. Employees USED to have a strong work ethic. The operators place of business USED to be one of 5 or 6 good dining establishments in town…before 20 chain restaurants opened in the same market and created a 20 more choices for people to eat out.
It is our responsibility as “partners” to show our customers HOW TO CHANGE.
Chris Chase
People get scared or annoyed with changes. Oftentimes it requires them to reach out of their comfort zone and do things differently. Not all people are open to that. In fact, most people aren’t. This is a big challenge for salespeople trying to convince customers to switch services or products. It is the burden of the salesperson to adequately prove the benefit of changing and be prepared to do what it takes to help the customer make the change efficiently. The better a salesperson can communicate the benefit of the change they are asking the customer to make, the more likely the customer will buy.
Marquesa Ortega
"To overcome resistance the best approach is to gather sufficient information about the buyer as well as the products or ideas you are going to present."