3 Key Takeaways From “Predictably Irrational” That Apply to Sales Coaching
Book Review #24/25: “Predictably Irrational” by Dan Arieli
More than a century ago John Wanamaker said, “half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.” Being the son of a creative director, I’ve always wondered just how much of an impact advertising has on my own personal decision making. After reading Predictably Irrational I’m convinced the answer is — more than I’d like to believe.
Dan Ariely goes to great lengths to share how irrational human beings can be when making decisions and yet when you study the research behind our decision making it becomes quite predictable. This book reinforced two critical themes that have been recurrent in this reading challenge:
- Emotion absolutely and unequivocally influences and drives our day-to-day behavior.
- Unless we constantly challenge our own actions, beliefs, and thoughts, we are constantly at risk of operating completely at the mercy of our subconscious. Not that this is a terrible thing, but personally I prefer to exercise my free will to the degree that I have control.
One of the more compelling topics that was discussed in this book was what happens when social norms and market/business norms collide? If emotions drive behavior, and they do, then corporate America should be thinking a lot more about how to incorporate social norms effectively into the workplace rather than focusing too heavily on market norms, such as compensation, to be the item that incentivizes productivity, engagement, and loyalty.
3 takeaways from “Predictably Irrational” that apply to sales coaching
- The Placebo Effect — There is a large body of research and science that exists today noting the impact of positive psychology. Napoleon Hill famously said, “Whatever the mind can conceive, the mind can achieve.” Help your salespeople focus on positive expectations. Help them visualize and feel the positive emotions before the sale becomes an actual manifestation. Doing this will improve their perception of the sales world around them and improve their outcome results.
- Emotion, Emotion, Emotion — Are you sick of me beating the drum about emotion yet? It’s only going to become louder. Your words do not teach, only life experience teaches. This means that it is hard to look from one emotional state to another. For example: You can teach your salespeople the right things to say when their emotions are calm, but when they get in front of the daunting “c-suite” and the objections start flying, are they going to articulate those correct words you taught them? Likely they won’t. As a coach, that’s why it is important to roleplay difficult sales situations, visualize difficult sales situations, and let your salespeople fail, when called for, in difficult sales situations. When they do fail, help them recognize the emotions they were feeling and how it impacted their performance, then pick up their spirits with positive psychology and on-going development support.
- Abundance Abounds — In 1941 philosopher Erich Fromm said, “people are beset not by a lack of opportunity, but by a dizzying abundance of it.” This is true in sales organizations today. There are so many sales resources, tools, methodologies, technologies that offer unlimited chances to achieve success — it has become overwhelming. As a sales coach, help your sales people make sense of all the information and stick to a process that can be scaled and executed. Also, do the same for yourself when it comes to coaching. Strategies are a dime a dozen, but the team that executes even the simplest strategy at an elevated level will always come out on top.
Arieli poses the question: Could it be that the lives we have so carefully crafted are largely just a product of arbitrary coherences? Could it be that we made arbitrary decisions at some point in the past and have built our lives on them ever since, assuming that the original decisions were wise? This could absolutely be correct; I assume it is what Plato meant when he said, “An unexamined life is not worth living.”
I enjoyed this book because it not only helped me better understand how I make decisions, but it also reinforced my belief that we are all better off the more we challenge our own actions, beliefs and old ways of thinking that no longer serve us.
If you want to start challenging your personal actions, beliefs and the way things have always been done, then check out EcSell’s upcoming Sales Coaching Academy. There’s no doubt you won’t be challenged or leave thinking differently about the impact coaching has on performance.
LAST Book Reveiw: Mastery by Robert Greene
In his attempt to help individuals escape “The Matrix”, Tom Bilyeu, founder of Impact Theory, has a reading list of 25 books which he recommends that everyone read to better understand how they can unlock their potential. I have decided to dedicate myself to reading a book per week for the next 25 weeks, and to review each book antidotally with application to coaching. Let’s enjoy the journey together!
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