Episode 14
How To Know If False Consensus Bias is Affecting Your Sales
The host, Dennis Collins, delves into the nature of cognitive biases, illustrating their pervasive influence on human behavior and decision-making. He emphasizes the significance of understanding and mitigating the false consensus bias in the context of sales, highlighting its potential detrimental effects on sales strategies and customer interactions. The following key points are discussed:
Introduction to Cognitive Biases: Dennis explains the automatic and unconscious nature of cognitive biases, underscoring their impact on various aspects of human behavior and decision-making.
Understanding False Consensus Bias: The false consensus bias is defined as the tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs, opinions, and behaviors. Dennis outlines the roots of this bias as well as its implications in sales.
Impact on Sales: The false consensus bias leads salespeople to make assumptions about their customers' preferences based on their own beliefs and behaviors. This can result in an overemphasis on price, overlooking other product features or benefits, and an assumption that objections primarily relate to pricing.
Mitigating the Bias: Dennis provides practical strategies to counter the false consensus bias, such as self-awareness checks, challenging assumptions, active listening, and customer-centric sales training. He emphasizes the importance of embracing a growth mindset and being open to feedback to continuously improve sales performance.
Importance of Mindset in Sales: Dennis underscores the significance of mindset in achieving sales success, emphasizing that while having a strong skill set is crucial, maintaining a positive and customer-centric mindset is equally important. He concludes that effective selling involves both honed skills and the ability to understand and overcome cognitive biases.
The episode serves as a valuable guide for sales professionals, emphasizing the need to be aware of and counteract the false consensus bias in order to build stronger customer relationships and enhance sales performance.
Transcript
Hi, you've landed on Connect & Convert.
Dennis:The podcast where we share insider secrets for small business sales success.
Dennis:I'm Dennis Collins, your sales training expert.
Dennis:I've been successfully training salespeople and sales managers for
Dennis:nearly four decades, and my specialty is working with small business owners.
Dennis:Today we have an interesting topic.
Dennis:It's probably a topic that you haven't thought much about.
Dennis:I hadn't either.
Dennis:I, Googled the other day, cognitive biases, just to see how many,
Dennis:I think I counted over 200.
Dennis:I think it was like 250 different biases.
Dennis:As these are part of our system.
Dennis:One brain, we don't think about them.
Dennis:It's automatic.
Dennis:It's sometimes unconscious.
Dennis:It's just reactions that we have.
Dennis:In the system, one brain, the fast brain, the brain that doesn't
Dennis:take time to think things through.
Dennis:And those biases affect almost everything we do.
Dennis:Okay.
Dennis:So today's topic is how to know if the false consensus
Dennis:bias is affecting your sales.
Dennis:Okay.
Dennis:That's a mouthful.
Dennis:Let me break that down.
Dennis:Cognitive biases, as we all know.
Dennis:Most important, how we can mitigate that.
Dennis:All the way back to 1977, professors Ross, Green, and House, they were the
Dennis:first to define false consensus effect.
Dennis:We humans take a large degree of comfort in believing that
Dennis:we are part of the majority.
Dennis:We tend to overvalue our experiences.
Dennis:We see our own behaviors, our own attitudes, our own choices and judgments.
Dennis:It's relatively common.
Dennis:We overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs,
Dennis:our opinions, our behaviors.
Dennis:Hey, we're typical, aren't we?
Dennis:I am.
Dennis:We assume that our personal qualities, our characteristics, our beliefs, our actions
Dennis:are widespread throughout the population.
Dennis:Then in the late 60s, early 70s, professors Holmes and Ickheiser found
Dennis:that we tend to validate our own beliefs.
Dennis:By projecting them, our characteristics, onto others.
Dennis:You've heard of projection.
Dennis:A lot of people talk about that.
Dennis:So when faced with uncertainty, when we don't, when we have only a limit,
Dennis:limited amount of information to make decisions, we often project ourselves
Dennis:and our beliefs and our attitudes into that situation as if we are typical.
Dennis:Here's a surprise.
Dennis:This surprised me when I, found this.
Dennis:Confronted with evidence that this false consensus bias does.
Dennis:In fact, exist.
Dennis:We often assume that those who do not agree with us are defective in some way.
Dennis:A lot of implications there.
Dennis:All right.
Dennis:So how does this all apply to sales?
Dennis:Hey, salespeople are human and we are all affected by all types of cognitive biases.
Dennis:It's common for salespeople to assume that the objections and stalls that they're
Dennis:hearing from a customer are reasonable because they personally hold similar
Dennis:beliefs and act or behave in the same way.
Dennis:It might sound something like this.
Dennis:Hey, this sounds reasonable to me.
Dennis:I shop around.
Dennis:So of course my, my customers should get many quotes.
Dennis:I get the best deal.
Dennis:I always get the best deal.
Dennis:So of course my customers should shop around for the best deal.
Dennis:I always buy the lowest price.
Dennis:So my customers should press me for the lowest price.
Dennis:I always challenge the first price because, hey, we all know
Dennis:that first price isn't real.
Dennis:It's always too high.
Dennis:And here's one that I think goes to the heart and soul of belief and confidence.
Dennis:I don't think what we charge for our product or services is fair.
Dennis:It's too much.
Dennis:Yeah.
Dennis:A false consensus bias.
Dennis:If I feel that way, everyone feels that way.
Dennis:So what's the potential impact a seller who is a careful shopper.
Dennis:And as overly price sensitive in their personal life is affected
Dennis:by the false consensus bias.
Dennis:Here's what can happen.
Dennis:False belief one, every customer values price above all else.
Dennis:So we cave on price quickly and often with little or no pressure from the customer.
Dennis:False belief two, focusing too much time, on justifying price while
Dennis:ignoring other benefits of the offering.
Dennis:We assume that price is the only criteria for the purchase.
Dennis:False belief three, ignoring customers who are willing to pay more for premium
Dennis:features for excellence in service.
Dennis:Yes, they exist.
Dennis:If you don't value that, don't let your false consensus bias make
Dennis:you believe no one values that.
Dennis:Here's number five, and I hear this a lot in my consulting practice.
Dennis:Every objection is really a price objection.
Dennis:Thank you.
Dennis:Every objection is really a price objection.
Dennis:Yes.
Dennis:I've heard salespeople turn any and every objection into a price objection.
Dennis:Why?
Dennis:Because that's how they look at it in their life.
Dennis:And number six, false belief.
Dennis:Everyone knows that our product or service is the best, so
Dennis:I don't have to explain it.
Dennis:Everybody knows we're the best.
Dennis:Really?
Dennis:Not so much.
Dennis:Okay, most important.
Dennis:Once we know that this could be a blind spot and once we uncover this
Dennis:blind spot, how do we mitigate this?
Dennis:Okay, there are five hints.
Dennis:Number one, self awareness check.
Dennis:Are you projecting your beliefs and buying behaviors onto others?
Dennis:That's a gut check.
Dennis:Are you?
Dennis:Could be.
Dennis:Number two, challenge your assumptions.
Dennis:Is there a chance that what you're thinking is hurting your sales?
Dennis:Is what you're thinking based on facts or assumptions?
Dennis:Now that you know about the false consensus bias, you
Dennis:may have that blind spot.
Dennis:You could be judging your customers in the same way that
Dennis:you yourself make a purchase.
Dennis:Number three, actively listen to the customer.
Dennis:Actively listen to the customer.
Dennis:What are they really saying?
Dennis:Ask questions.
Dennis:Clarify what they mean.
Dennis:Clarity creates confidence.
Dennis:If you don't understand what the customer means.
Dennis:Stop and ask, what do you mean by that?
Dennis:Oh, that's interesting.
Dennis:How do you mean that?
Dennis:Great questions.
Dennis:Number five, sales training, be informed about cognitive biases, focus
Dennis:on customer centric sales processes.
Dennis:Base your sales process on the customer's journey, not on what you
Dennis:think their journey is, what their real journey is, and be open to feedback.
Dennis:It's hard to listen to something you don't agree with.
Dennis:So when somebody says, Hey, Joe, uh, what you just said, that's, that's not real.
Dennis:That's some kind of bias that's hard to hear, especially
Dennis:when you think you're right.
Dennis:So do a self awareness check, challenge your assumptions, actively listen to
Dennis:your customer, be open to feedback, and get the right kind of sales training.
Dennis:Customer centric, customer based, customer oriented sales training, okay?
Dennis:While having a strong skill set.
Dennis:Is undoubtedly important in sales.
Dennis:We do need to have highly honed skills.
Dennis:It is equally critical to recognize the impact of your mindset.
Dennis:Salespeople with the correct mindset are more likely to effectively utilize
Dennis:their skills and achieve success.
Dennis:A positive mindset is probably one that overcomes.
Dennis:The false consensus bias allows salespeople to approach each challenge,
Dennis:each sale with confidence and to build strong relationships with their
Dennis:customers by listening, creating rapport, understanding their needs.
Dennis:A growth mindset is about continuous learning, building new skills,
Dennis:embracing new strategies and techniques.
Dennis:Therefore.
Dennis:My conclusion is simple.
Dennis:While skill set is important, mindset plays a significant role in sales success.
Dennis:Selling is not just about your skill set, it's about your mindset.
Dennis:Okay, that's all for today.
Dennis:I'm Dennis Collins and thank you very much for tuning in to Connect & Convert.
Dennis:We'll see you next time.
