Much has been written about Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Blink, about how to size up others and how we make snap judgments about others based on more than just intuition; it involves a series of intricate decisions based on neuroscience and psychology. Rather than review the neuroscience here I would like to review some applicable examples on how this works on a more practical level. Let’s take the case of a successful sales person who has three rules: 1) treat the customer fairly 2) treat the customer fairly, and 3) treat the customer fairly. It’s no secret that success is built on fairness, equity, and consistency. Customer satisfaction is critical to repeat business and referrals whether one is delivering a product or service. If you focus on your customer and pretend that you are the customer how would you want to be treated?

 

The best managers and sales staff are good active listeners. They are quiet and reserved, do not make assumptions, and let the customer tell them what they want. Let’s suppose you want to buy a new car. You’ve done your homework, have a good idea of what you want to pay; don’t want any runaround or games. Who would you rather deal with—a fast-talking, verbose salesperson who is a “know it all” or a sedate, quiet, knowledgeable salesperson who asks the right questions to narrow down your choice and price range. After all, buying a car is a “business” transaction, not a circus. It should not be a marathon with asking four people above the salesperson who have the authority to make the deal you want.

 

There is no such thing as mind reading—only good listening. Most people will tell you exactly what they want and you can either help them or refer them to someone else who might have a better product-client fit. One doesn’t want to lose a contract or sale, but “service marketing” is a concept penned by Dr. Ben Dean twenty years ago when he got into coaching, and he’s built an entire coaching school based on this simple principle. Essentially, what I mean by service marketing is:

1. Give something of value to the customer.
2. Help the customer achieve what he/she wants for their money.
3. Go the extra mile in terms of service to the customer.
4. Give something extra that the customer doesn’t expect—I call this the “wow” factor.

The above also works in relationships. If the couple is no longer talking to one another it’s hard to make a connection and build intimacy. Communication is the key to building a good relationship in business, with family, or with friends. The “Golden Rule” applies in any situation if you want to be successful.

 

If you walk into a car dealership, look for the following: service awards given by their national trade association, friendly but not pushy sales staff who are knowledgeable and courteous. Look for clean restrooms, free coffee and soft drinks, snack food, reading area, good lighting, a roomy showroom, folks working and not loitering around, professional demeanor and dress, and most importantly, follow-up with the customer whether or not they purchased a vehicle from you.

 

Another concept worth mentioning is “thin slicing” which is what Gladwell refers to as slicing memory chips from the adaptive unconscious that leads to decisions based on experience. If we take the car buying illustration above, the astute sales person will size up a customer based on the last 100 customers he/she has met during their career and look for a “goodness of fit” between the new customer and past customers who have bought or passed on buying a vehicle in the past. It might be their walk, how they approach the sales staff, or how they react when approached by sales staff. Other indicators might be: sticker shock, use of the restroom and snack area, whether or not the entire family came for the car buying experience or just the husband or wife and husband, or wife only. Our brain acts like a binary computer where this information is fed into our frontal cortex and a “thin slice” or “snapshot” is taken of your potential customer and an informed judgment is made (not snap) about how to work with this customer based on customers fitting his/her profile in the past.

 

In summary, correctly applied Gladwell’s theories about how we process information unconsciously can be used to increase sales, turn products into bestsellers, and alter human behavior. The art of deal making is based on the art of listening and using your experience to bring an idea, service, or product to market. Thus, making the sale has more to do with doing your homework than glibly and blindly going down your memorized sales pitch to any customer who walks through the door.

 

This month’s recommendations:

1. Go into a car showroom and notice where the sales staff are; are they milling around nervously, appear calm and relaxed, appear business-like, and how you are approached by them?
2. Look at how a department store floor area is laid out. Does the flow make sense to the customer—e.g. men’s belts by men’s wallets?
3. Walk into any service business and notice the customer waiting area. Is it attractive, informative, and friendly?