Mental Models Open Possibilities and Close Deals
Richard Feynman, renowned physicist and poster-child for curiosity, credits mental models for his legendary ability to solve problems that stumped other physicists. When approaching a math or physics problem he would select the model he felt fit best and in the spirit of Dory ("Just Keep Swimming!"), if the first attempt failed, would pull another model out of his quiver until he found an approach that worked.
In his article, "Mental Models: How to Train Your Brain to Think in New Ways," James Clear describes how mental models guide your perception, behavior and decision making. Learning a new mental model gives you a new way to see the world. Developing the ability to view the world through a range of mental models also has the benefit of helping you see things from another person's point of view.
"The mind once opened never returns to its original size." (Einstein)
What is a Mental Model?
A mental model is a concept, framework, or worldview that helps you interpret the world and understand the relationship between things. For example BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, Timing) is a model that helps sellers qualify prospects by providing a framework for thinking about the key requirements in a complex sale. However, there may be situations where MEDDIC (Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Decision Process, Identify Pain, Champion) provides additional insight that helps close the deal.
Mental models are imperfect, but useful. There is no single mental model that provides flawless guidance for every situation. That is why developing a broad base of mental models is critical for anyone interested in thinking clearly, rationally, and effectively regardless of the situation.
Life Long Learners Never Stop Accumulating Mental Models
Mental models provide an internal picture of how the world works. We should continuously upgrade and improve the quality of this picture. This means reading widely from the best books, studying the fundamentals of seemingly unrelated fields, and learning from people with wildly different life experiences. As the philosopher Alain de Botton notes, “The chief enemy of good decisions is a lack of sufficient perspectives on a problem.”
You don't need to master every detail of every subject to become a world-class thinker. Of all the mental models humankind has generated throughout history, there are just a few dozen that you need to learn to have a firm grasp of how the world works... obviously, far fewer to become a world-class seller. The point is that relying on a single method limits your perspective and, therefore, limits your ability to succeed.
Models for Complex Selling
Most organizations select a common sales methodology to enable consistent sales motions across their entire sales organization. For example, most consultative sales methodologies focus on helping your clients identify new possibilities to overcome "Status-Quo Bias" - a preference for the current state of affairs.
However, what if you are an enterprise account manager tasked with retaining and growing an existing book of business? Corporate Visions' discovered that applying this approach in renewal situations reduced the likelihood of renewal by 13%. So, they developed the "Why Stay - Why Evolve" model to help Key Account Managers navigate the delicate balance between maintaining the status quo (i.e., the current vendor) and helping companies continuously evolve to improve their performance.
The Right Model
So what is "the right" model? Trick question... there is of course, no "right" model. They point is:
1) Have a go-to model as a starting point to provide a consistent way to evaluate prospects and conduct your sales activity; however,
2) Never stop testing your model and seeking new ones to add to your bag of tricks.
Your clients will thank you and your quota will thank you!
Educator | Learning & Development | Training
3 年A lot of meat in this article Alex Berg ! Navigating the complexities & unexpected challenges of 2020 in #Education is requiring #Teachers & #SchoolAdministrators to rethink the playbook, like many other industries. In the #Remote world we have to find new ways of "listening" & responding to the information. Listened into a local school district recently, their data had shown that 50% of their Full Online students had never logged in since the start of the school year. Where did the students go? Drops in enrollment, attendance & completion of assignments affects funding and the bottom line. #Engagement - truly successful engagement is the active repeat "customer"! Being inside the shoes of the receivers of the product/service and seeing and hearing it from their perspective is paramount. Otherwise, all the sales pitches are just noise, ignored or worse- turning the audience off completely. #ClosingTheDeal is more complex than it first looks. Thank you Alex Berg for opening doors to #Lightbulbmoments!