What politicians can teach us about the art of selling

Brain science can explain why some voters can be swayed with money and alcohol. Businesses can use this information to drive changes in consumer behaviour and choices. (illustration by Suneesh K.)

The recent elections in West Bengal and other states showed us how politicians market themselves to the voters. The techniques politicians use to woo voters are sometimes useful for businesses too.

The fortunes of any one party are so unpredictable that every politician tries
whatever is best for him (mostly it is a he in Indian State or Central elections), given the circumstances. There may be a national positioning of a party but each region requires different tactics.

What companies would like is a more stable and predictable outcome from their marketing efforts unlike what we see in politics. For instance, no one really expected the landslide victory in West Bengal by the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC). What companies can learn from such nimble-footed tactics of politicians is the ability to adapt to a changing and
volatile marketplace.

In elections, generally people are not decisive about any candidate. This causes the uncertainty amongst candidates. If there are hot issues such as a riot, crisis, assassination or scandal, the outcome is pretty certain. Else people struggle to figure out what the right thing to do is. In most rural areas, all it takes to get a vote is Rs 500 and a bottle of liquor. Interestingly, all these behaviours can be explained by brain science. People have the best motivation to take a decision when it helps their wellbeing or survival. Kerala gave a historic mandate to the left front because of its social welfare schemes during the pandemic. Citizens are more motivated either for avoiding a major risk or to get mega gains.

If you look at sales, this is precisely the same. For instance, if a prospect is
indecisive about a new or different product or service, it is a tough thing for a sales person. Just as in an election, in order to make people make a change from an existing situation, a sales person will have to make them see their current situation and explain why a change is needed. The Narendra Modi government came to power the first time precisely by pointing this out – and they did it very well.

In a company, sales people need to seek out opportunities and then convert them to a pipeline of orders. Essentially, they need to get potential customers to say “Aye” to three questions: Why they should change, why them and why now. Sales people need to be proactive in order to ensure the yes answer to the above questions. They need to use something that will shake the existing thinking. Remember Newton’s first law?

One of the best ways to do this is by way of showing them the burning platform. Stagnant sales, shrinking markets, demanding customers, rising costs, and so on. They need to change not because they are doing the wrong things but because the new changes in the market place demand them to change and adapt new ways. This is positive and will get the sales person the attention he or she wants. Of course, the sales person needs to show the exact changes that will impact the prospect and will help them in some way. Most sales people make the mistake of pushing the services or products instead of leading the prospect to your solutions.

Most sales people want to present themselves as coming from a great company, especially in the B2B sector. On a first call it is always wedding-day best face. No one wants to be in the bad books on first meeting. People like to make the customer like them. So all talk will be goody-goody. But this is not going to swing a deal their way. No employee is fired for missing on an opportunity no one has seen. But people lose their jobs for missing out on a risk that will cost the company a lot more. Therefore it is not easy for a buyer to risk going for a new supplier when things are not yet broken just because of good impressions.

It is not at all beneficial therefore to barge in with your product benefits and showing the buyer your differentiators when he is not even thinking of changing status quo. Good sales people know what goes on in the brains of buyers. They know that it is not good to go that distance without getting the buyer primed for change. Which is why more than 70% of qualified leads do not result in a solid sale. This is not enough for a company to drive growth. The sales force need to improve the conversion of the qualified leads to at least 50%. This cannot happen without first making the prospect to consider changing.

So how can the sales process be modified to drive better conversion? As a
process, companies should do a thorough research on the industry they are selling to and understand the trends that are shaping it. Do not send a questionnaire to prospects to understand their critical problem issues. Most prospects will not share this information if they do not think there is a need for a new supplier. Remember, most customers have pain points but they are not as big as to initiate a change of existing methods or supplier. What a company needs to do is bring out its point of view, given the market, industry dynamics and the possible issues that may be facing companies in general.

The best way is to dive in with case studies and white papers where your solution has helped others, possibly similar companies, but avoiding educational route on your solutions. You need to make their current problems bigger than the problem of changing from status quo in order to start discussing specific solutions.