Control your sales environment or face jail time

By Scott Sambucci | July 3, 2012

When you’re blasting through your daily calls, it’s impossible to know the psychological state of everyone you’re calling. For me, I’m often calling into trading desks on Wall Street and deep into the bureaucratic morass of the big banks. But… when you can control this state, you should.

In Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman describes a study of Israeli judges and their predilection for awarding parole to felons. Turns out they are much more likely to do so after lunch.

The Economist summarized these findings in their April 2011 article - "The science of justice: I think it's time we broke for lunch..." (http://www.economist.com/node/18557594)

This is not to say you need to ship pizzas and deli trays to your prospects before every sales call, but certainly consider their physical state of mind when you’re calling. This seems to contradict what you hear from the old time sales trainers (“There’s never a bad time to make a sales call!”) I agree when your prospecting and seeking advances.

But, if you’ve got a big onsite meeting or web demo with the decision committee, think twice before scheduling at 11:30am or 3:30pm. Maybe push for an early AM demo not only because everyone still feel good from their coffee and bagel during their morning commute, but you’ll also have them fresh before the daily fires crop up and distract their attention. Besides, if you’re pitch is a good one, you’ll inspire everyone that today is going to be a tood day.

(Note: I’m considering applications of his economic principles to the sales process. Lots more to come on this front…)