In my last post, I discussed the communication problems that arise when a person who thinks one way speaks to a listener who thinks in a completely different way.  The person doing the talking is presenting the kind of information that is important to him, but he doesn’t get his message across because what’s important to his listener is something entirely different.

I also talked about how incorporating Whole Brain^® Thinking into your sales process helps you identify how your prospects think so you can present the information your prospects need to hear to say, “I’ll buy!”  Now, I’d like to share some examples of how people and companies I know have used this information to increase sales, repair dysfunctional teams, and improve (or even save) personal relationships.

Have you ever been discussing an idea or explaining something to someone, and – no matter how eloquent you were – had the feeling that you weren’t being understood? 

Getting People to Embrace Change

As a business owner, you know that the business world is ever changing and you must adapt to the new environment or die. You may see the need to change and see all the benefits to change, but your people may not. Even worse, is that they may resist the change. To many, change equals uncertainty and that leads to fear. Humans like consistency and situaitons that are predictable.  The Whole Brain Model can be an effective tool to help your people plan for change and implement change.

Is your selling strategy based upon building solid relationships through the sales rep's likeability factor? If so, you are getting a declining return on the sales rep's ability to get new business or even maintain existing customers. Most sales reps are very high in the red or relationship quadrant. (Whole Brain Thinking) (Herrmann) They have good people skills and can win others over (WOO ability) quickly. The strategy behind WOOing is that they are trying  to build trust. The assumption is that if someone likes me, they will trust me.

The likeability sales strategy or relationship selling tactic is breathing it's last breath. In today's business environment, the majority of decision makers don't have time to discover if they like you before they know  what value you offer. Today's decision maker does not have the time for building interpersonal relationships (red quadrant) unless there is an obvious value to be gained. The traditional relationship selling model of being liked first assumes the likeability factor will then lead to the opportunity to show value.

How well do you know your customers? If your first response to this question is to begin spouting off sales facts and figures, the answer is, "Not well at all." Purchasing data may tell you about a customer's business and buying behavior, but it says nothing about who they are and what makes them tick.

Three... two... one... we've got a new product launch!

Or do we?

 The truth is, most new products don't succeed.

"Always be closing."

These are the "wise" words spoken by Alex Baldwin's character in Glengarry Glen Ross, the movie about what happens when a sales training professional is sent to motivate four real estate professionals.

The line has become ubiquitous in business, revered by young sales people and frequently repeated by people who don't really understand how to sell.

In reality, however, the phrase should probably go the way of the rotary telephone, smoking cigarettes on international flights and fighting in hockey. It's just not appropriate anymore.

schism
/'s(k)izem/
noun
a split or division between strongly opposed sections or parties, caused by differences in opinion or belief.

If you have a schism on your sales team, it's time to start asking yourself a few simple questions:

• Do you dread coming to work?
• Are you tired of the bickering and back-biting between colleagues?
• Is your company's bottom line suffering because of all the bad blood that exists among members of your sales team?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, it's time to huddle up, call a couple of trick plays, and get your team members together on the same page of the playbook.

Has a member of your sales team ever returned from a customer call frustrated that they didn't "click?" While you may chalk it up to a difference in personalities, your salesperson isn't far off the mark. It's the failure of two brains to "click" that causes the disconnect in communication.

Whole Brain Thinking involves the understanding of how the brain takes in, processes and communicates information. Implementing the whole brain thinking process can be an incredibly effective way to increase your sales' team cohesiveness and can result in:

• Better internal team communication
• Shorter and more effective meetings
• Improved customer service

...just to name a few of the benefits.