Page 59 - Selling the Invisible: A Field Guide to Modern Marketing - PDFDrive.com
P. 59
Familiarity breeds business. Spread your word however you can.
How Prospects Decide: Using the Most Recent Data
Now, what do you do against a competitor who is more familiar to your prospect
than you are—someone who simply is taking up more space in your prospect’s
brain?
You try to take advantage of another bias of people: the Recency Effect.
The IRS understands this principle very well, too. Every March, the IRS
plants in papers across the country the story of a huge tax evasion prosecution.
(In his valuable book Influence, Robert Cialdini points out that the IRS-planted
stories have become so common that the Chicago Tribune headlined its 1982
story “Annual Tax Warning: Twenty Indicted Here.”) That recent information
makes it easier for people to decide not to take phony deductions.
Companies that often present competitive pitches know how the Recency
Effect works. These companies—at least the smarter ones—do everything
possible to be the last company to present. It’s the home field advantage in many
service industries.
There are several ways to take advantage of the Recency Effect; they could
fill a chapter by themselves.
The essential point is that you should always take advantage of this effect,
with a follow-up that is as well conceived and powerful as anything in your
presentation.
This is not the time to sound predictable and only slightly enthusiastic.
Do that, and a shrewd competitor will say something stronger and more
effective—and grab the business.
Take advantage of the Recency Effect. Follow up brilliantly.
How Prospects Decide: Choosing “Good Enough”
Two years ago, I lost in a presentation for a client for whom I was clearly the
superior choice. No one within two time zones knew as much as I did about the
client’s industry. No one had more success generating business in that industry.
My competitors had no business pitching the account.
That’s just what I thought. And unfortunately, that’s just what I
communicated.
