Threats and Opportunities in Sales

The world of sales is not just about selling a product. For example, consider a customer's decision to buy a security system for their family: this decision is based not only on the features of the product but also on the desire to ensure their family's safety. The customer forms an emotional bond between the concern for their family's well-being and the necessity of purchasing a security system to alleviate this worry. This emotional impact plays a decisive role in making the decision. Influencing customers' decisions and touching their emotions are among the most important factors in sales.

Anyone involved in the sales process should know that customers often make purchase decisions based not on logical thinking but on their feelings, and therefore emotional influence is crucial.

Perception of Threats and Opportunities

How can a sales specialist influence the other party's feelings? Is there a simple way to do it?

There is a simple method. When applied correctly, it can lead to success in sales.

There are two main factors that govern people's behavior:

1. Perception of threat

2. Perception of opportunity

Opportunities are related to benefits, while threats are related to losses. Understanding how these two factors influence people's behavior is very important in the sales process. Threats and opportunities are powerful reasons that affect people's choices.

Magnitude of Threats and Opportunities

Our behavior toward threats and opportunities is determined by the size of the loss or benefit and our perception of it.

Magnitude of Threat/Opportunity = Size of Loss/Benefit × Perception

This means that we, as humans, can amplify a 1-unit threat to 10 units through our perception. Similarly, we can perceive a 10-unit opportunity as only 1 unit. In other words, something may be objectively small or large, but how we perceive it can lead to different decisions.

Let's simplify this topic further.

To convince a potential customer that they need our product, we will tell them a story. For example, we can create a story about someone trying to solve time management problems to be successful at work. In this story, we should emphasize how our product can solve this problem and how important the need is. The story should strengthen the sense of threat or opportunity in the human mind and motivate them to take action. Human nature is such that the desire to avoid danger or gain benefits is one of the strongest motivators.

As mentioned above, the magnitude of the threat or opportunity depends on the size of the loss/benefit and our perception of it. In short-term processes, the size of the loss or benefit remains constant, as outcomes do not change significantly within the expected timeframe. However, different perceptions can change how significant this loss or benefit appears to be. Now let's look at how we can influence the perception of threats and opportunities.

Factors Affecting the Perception of Threats and Opportunities

There are three main factors that affect our perception of threats and opportunities:

1. Size of Loss/Benefit

2. Urgency of Loss/Benefit (i.e., timing)

3. Probability of Loss/Benefit

Magnitude of Threat = Size of Loss × Intensity × Urgency × Probability

Magnitude of Opportunity = Size of Benefit × Intensity × Urgency × Probability

Threat Factors

Let's take a closer look at these factors, starting with threats:

• Size of Loss: The loss can be large, medium, or small. For example, a cold is a small loss, asthma is moderate, and cancer is a large loss. The size of the loss can relate to physical health, as well as financial, social, or emotional losses.
• Intensity of Threat: For example, if someone with a weapon approaches you in an empty street at night, the threat is very intense. However, if you are involved in politics and have enemies, it may be more difficult to perceive hidden threats. The more intense the threat, the more likely people are to take action against it.
• Urgency of Threat: Threats that may occur in the near future (e.g., a meteor impact), medium-term threats (e.g., global warming), or threats far in the future (e.g., the sun swallowing the Earth one day) have different effects. As urgency increases, people tend to respond to the threat more quickly.
• Probability of Threat: For instance, the probability of being struck by lightning is low. But if there are thunderstorms around and you are sitting under a tree, the probability is much higher. As the probability of the threat increases, people's concern and desire to take action also increase.

The same factors apply to opportunities as well...

Conclusion

Using stories to help customers understand how intense, urgent, and probable threats or opportunities are will increase the effectiveness of sales. Apply these storytelling techniques in your next sales presentation and see for yourself how it impacts customers' decision-making. This approach is a powerful tool for making the customer feel the need for the product or service and encouraging them to take action. Considering these factors is essential for creating emotional impact in sales and changing the customer's perception.