We have written a swag of posts that cover aspects of sales and marketing. Some of it has been in-depth, some superficial, some targeted and some general in nature. The common point has always looked at a common theme or action or idea that can be implemented. The information has been largely industry generic but it soon becomes obvious that some advice is better suited to one industry rather than another.
We have purposely tried not to bang on about our own products because sometimes there is nothing that will turn off your audience than an advertorial, especially one that is being presented in an information sharing way…….and this brings us to today’s post.
Rather than concentrate on a marketing or business development theme, this post will instead look at how the brain works and how we perceive information that is presented to us. It is by no means comprehensive, after all, there is only so much that can be conveyed in 500-800 words. What I hope it will do is stimulate the idea that there is much more out there than what we know – we only know what we know. So if I can inspire you to do some additional investigations, even if it is peripheral to your core activities, then I will be a happy man.
Our brains use two systems.
System 1 is fast thinking, impulsive, habitual, and in a hot state. This mode is the one that makes most of your everyday decisions.
System 2 is well intentioned, uses justifications, is well intentioned, and uses past behaviour to formulate rationalisations of future behaviour.
If you ask someone what they will do in the future, they will generally use System 1, when in fact, you want a System 2 answer. Take note that the brain does not behave as you would normally think it should.
When conducting research (feedback is research) you need to be careful to avoid confirmation bias. Confirmation bias is looking for results that support your preferred outcome rather than contradict your views. You will see the term “Cherry Picking Results” used in literature – this is a form of confirmation bias.
If you have expended large resources in a project then this heightens your sense of ownership making walking away from a project much more difficult. This is referred to as “Sunk Cost” and it is your desire to hold out for a return on the investment you have made.
Behavioural economics aims to provide a framework of predictable factors that influence behaviour so you can anticipate what people are likely to do in a given set of circumstances. This is not “cooking the outcome”, but rather building an environment where the results are not influenced by erroneous distractions.
Behavioural economics is also about creating observable experiments rather than self-reported behaviour. This essentially means that you don’t need to ask for feedback, instead you can observe the feedback. A classic example is a food sample. Observe your tester’s reaction rather than ask them what they think. This will give you a truer set of results and go some way towards reducing (or eliminating) confirmation bias.
So what are the talk-home messages?
Make your research include behavioural analysis, drawing on observed as well as (or instead of) self-reported behaviour.
Create safeguards to compensate for you and your teams biases and decision making heuristics, otherwise you will gather incorrect information and ultimately set yourself up for failure.
