Sales: Decision Inertia

Why do we fall in love with routines? Why do we eat the same thing for breakfast every morning? Why am I an extreme repeat customer of the same tiny little Cuban coffee joint close to my house?

Decision Inertia my friends. A concept that I hadn't been able to name until relatively recently, but all people (and customers) are affected by on a daily basis. Decision Inertia is the concept that people have millions of choices to make per day: Captain Crunch, Cheerios, Fried Egg, Hard Boiled Egg, French Toast, "Just coffee... I'm on a Diet", Muffin, Chocolate Chip Muffin, Bagel with Schmear, Smoothie, Protein Shake... ect. That's 11 choices before you've even left the house.

Next: What to wear to work? Next: Which car do you take? Next: What route to work will you take? Is it too late for the train? Do I have enough gas to go the long way? What's the traffic like on the highway?

Exhausting. Draining. Painful even, no? Although we may not recognize it, we are drained by decision after decision we're required to make literally thousands of times each day. Why is this significant to Professional Sales People? Because we want our customer to have our Sales-Decision on their mind. We want what we are selling to have benefit and significance to our clients! We do not want to be another Cheerios or Frosted Flakes decision! We do not want to be another commoditized decision like drinks for the staff party next week: Coke, Pepsi, Diet something, That one no name brand at the grocery store...

No! That's not our Product! Not at all! We sell one of a kind hand crafted solutions to individual customers, Do We Not!?

When selling for Stratus Video I was competing across the entire United States with a variety of solutions for Interpretation in the Court Room.

Problem: Legally the United States requires equal access to Justice for all languages and disabilities. Problem: Court certified interpreters are hard to find. Problem: Courts, no matter the location, are required to have solutions for all languages on earth.

It was in west Pennsylvania where I entered a Court House one crisp morning. I had previously had a phone conversation with my Decision Maker (Manager of Interpretation) and she had agreed to a face to face meeting. After a short product demo and about ten minutes of dialogue, one of the four people watching stopped the conversation. "Are you saying that when I need (to solve my problem) an interpreter in the courtroom, all I will need to do is press a button on an iPad? That's all?"

She went on to explain the current Decision Process of using interpreters: "Well usually our tiny community here in West Pennsylvania can only support Spanish interpretation. Any other language we have to pay someone to drive from a major city, contact another state, or in dire circumstances we have to fly interpreters in for our defendants. Some interpretation cases cost upwards of $2000 to $3000 per day that the court is required to handle and can not be billed to the defendant."

Could you hear my eyes dilate from where you were sitting? Can you imagine the excitement that I attempted to hold behind my cool calm inquisitive look? For all I actually did to answer this young woman's question was respond, "Yes. All you will need to do to have an interpreter (instantly) is press a button."

Decision Inertia won me this deal. Competitors could not compare to the simplicity of my solution. Competitors for this service would have required to call into a phone tree, schedule interpreter meetings far in advance, or even leave a request (with no guarantee of service) on a website. With my solution the (Customer) Courthouse received great service, simplified their process, and were able to focus their energy on more important matters of Social Justice!

Stratus Video made the process simple, removed every decision in the process and took the hassle away from the customer. I, as a salesman, was simply awakening new clients to this solution.

There are numerous Sales tactics to sell your Widget. You may have a more competitive price, more features, better service... the list goes on. But the fact is, no matter your product and no matter the industry, your competitors are more than numerous.

Eventually the Customer has heard enough. They have seen enough presentations, they have talked to enough people, they have received enough post-call-thank-you-cards for the time being.

Decision Inertia affects customers just as much as it affects you. They want solutions that take hassles away, solve problems, simplify their work day, and get them home to their families sooner so they can enjoy their beautiful customer lives!

Prescribe your Product to your Customer in a way that simplifies their life, gives them back their time, and demands less of their energy to make Decisions!

Ken G Barton. World traveler. Chinese linguist. Moving to Berlin to pursue my love for language and find my next career in software sales.

A huge thank you to Stratus Video for believing in me directly out of college. I learned so much from my first sales job, and I would not be where I am today without the training I received from the company. Special thanks to Scott Eudy, Greg Doin and Kate Pascucci.