The Brain Science of the Sales Pitch
There are plenty of books on "Sales Psychology", but most of them are written by sales gurus looking to make their anecdotes seems scientific. However, there is one actual neuroscientist who studies the psychology of selli...ng: Stephen M. Kosslyn, Chair of the Department of Psychology at Harvard University. Kosslyn was kind enough to grant me a short interview recently. Here's an excerpt from our conversation:
- Geoffrey James: What's the most common mistake in sales presentations?
- Stephen Kosslyn: They create a presentation that doesn't take into account their audience consists of human beings who have mental strengths and weaknesses. The key to an effective presentation is one that plays to those strengths and avoids the weaknesses.
- GJ: How do you do that?
- SK: You must remember that each person is the center of his or her own world, with a unique set of interests, motivations and beliefs. You need to discover those elements of their thinking, acknowledge them, and build on them in order to connect with your audience.
- GJ: How do you connect with your audience?
- SK: From an evolutionary standpoint, it's a distinct advantage to understanding what's going to happen. Therefore, as humans, we prefer to interpret the world in terms of a story consisting of a series of cause and effect events. Therefore, rather than attempting to impress and convince, you must create a story line that communicate your message in terms that the audience will understand.
- GJ: What about the mechanics of the presentation?
- SK: Even with a great story, a presentation will fall flat if it's visually distracting. Common errors include a busy background to the slides, tiny letters, unreadable color schemes, insanely complicated graphics, etc. The general rule is that anything that makes the audience squint or scratch their heads is going to get in the way of telling your story.
- GJ: Why do sales reps give that type of presentation?
- SK: Usually it's because they're trying to impress the audience with their knowledge, rather than trying to tell a story. The idea is that if you put enough detail into the presentation, the audience will be wowed by your technical ability and sophistication and, by extension, will see you as an expert. Ironically, even real experts come off looking silly when they attempt to impress audiences this way.
- GJ: What's the key to telling a compelling story?
- SK: You need to find out what the audience really wants and needs and then tell a story that shows how working with you and buying from you will help them fulfill that need. To do this, you have to research and understand your audience. Focus on the story and let the technology of the presentation be completely transparent.
- GJ: Why aren't there many sales courses in major universities?
- SK: Two reasons, I think. First, sales is often viewed a component of a marketing program in a business school, not a liberal arts program. Most liberal arts programs take great pride in being rooted in deep ideas, and not much attention has been paid to developing and testing the theory that underlies sales. Second, many people in academia feel strongly that liberal arts programs should avoid the appearance of being pre-professional. But I don't think teaching sales needs to be pre-professional. One way to test basic ideas is to see whether they can be applied -- good theory leads to technology. And sales would be one form of technology that should follow from good psychological theories.