The Reality of Business

Selling Biases: Are You Taking Choices Away From Customers?

• Bob Morrell and Jeremy Blake • Season 6 • Episode 15

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Sales managers & salespeople: Be honest - have you ever assumed a customer wouldn’t go for the higher-priced option so you left it out altogether? 

You might be losing more sales than you think. It’s easy to filter choices for customers based on your own biases or assumptions, often without realising you’re doing it. But when you take the decision away from the buyer, you limit their options – and potentially their satisfaction.

From choosing the “cheap” option on a customer’s behalf to skipping over premium choices because “they won’t go for that”, this mindset is surprisingly common. In this episode, we share real stories (think chocolates, shoe shops, and scruffy car buyers) and explore the seven key psychological biases that influence how salespeople present – or don’t present - choice.

You’ll hear how things like time pressure, financial worries, stereotyping, and disloyal bonding can all affect how we sell, often working against the very outcome we’re aiming for.

Most importantly, we’ll share practical ways overcome these habits – helping you build trust, offer the full picture, and give your customers the confidence to choose what’s right for them.

Listen now for a fresh take on an old problem, and ask yourself, when was the last time you made a decision for your customer?

For more info, free resources, useful content & our blog posts, please visit realitytraining.com.

Reality Training - Selling Certainty

Jeremy Blake:

happy, sunny day to you, bobby greetings from a very sunny east sussex. I hope it's lovely where you are. Oh yes, it is in beautiful box on what will be the warmest day of the year so far. We're looking at 29 degrees somewhere in the UK today. Wow. So, that's nice.

Bob Morrell:

I'm in shorts. Are you Just to give the?

Jeremy Blake:

listener a visual image. I am in shorts and I shall be traveling in shorts later, which I never thought I'd be doing on the 1st of May. But there we are, and tell the listeners where you're traveling to. I'm going to Berlin. I'm going to be doing some nomading in Berlin, so that's fun On the 1st of May in Berlin. By the way, it's a bank holiday, whatever day it falls on, and they have street parties, everyone's dancing in the parks all day on the 1st of May. I think we're missing out.

Bob Morrell:

So you are arriving for street parties?

Jeremy Blake:

Well, I don't know. I'm arriving very late. I don't know whether we'll be street partying. But yeah, nice festive atmosphere, I hope Great and a nice weekend in the beer gardens.

Jeremy Blake:

Yeah, I mean, what's the verse that could happen, oh very good, very good, very good, and actually that is a possible theme of today's podcast. We are looking at an interesting subject which has dogged us as a sales training organization for 25 years, hasn't it, jay? 20, 25, 20, 20, 25 years, 20, 25, 25 years, and it's very hard actually to come up with a term for it. I've actually done some research for what this thing we're going to be talking about is called the mental condition. Well, it is a mental condition because we call it taking the decision away from the customer. Okay, now, we'll come up with lots of examples of that in a minute.

Bob Morrell:

You could also say making the decision for the customer. That's another way of looking at it.

Jeremy Blake:

I've got some others Removing choice, removing choice from the customer Same thing You're making the decision that there is no choice anymore. The term that I've come up with on this is that this is a cognitive bias. It is a brain-based bias which is based on a number of different things and I've got seven things that it could be based on but essentially it is the salesperson's own subjective belief, based on their experience or their own preferences, that makes them do this.

Bob Morrell:

Let us go above and just make it really clear. If you're listening to this podcast and you either lead an organization that is selling a product or a service or you yourself sell a product or a service, what Bob and I are going to discuss is you're into the conversation and let's just say you have a gold, silver and bronze option and the customer is considering these three levels products, whatever and you would say I think the bronze will work adequately for you. I think that's really what you need Now, in whichever language you like, but you have removed the silver and the gold. This is what we're talking about you as the salesperson, or the leader of salespeople, creating some kind of culture where you are taking decisions away from customers. And there's a lot of reasons why you might do it to get the sale in, to speed it up, to get home, to get to the pub, and that list is very long.

Jeremy Blake:

Let's give a couple of simple examples. Many, many years ago we were going to the south of France for some work and we were on a plane heading south and you were sitting there and listeners may not be aware that you are a bit of a chocolate guy, not a bit and the trolley came along and there was a selection of chocolates available, from your standard Kit Kats, twixes, those sorts of things, all the way up to what I think anybody would term a luxury item, godiva chocolates. And you had the little menu out and you were looking at the different things that were available and she came along would you like any snacks? And you held up the thing and you said what are these Godiva chocolates? And she looked at you and said, oh, they're really expensive. Here you go have a Twix. And threw you a Twix. Yeah, yeah, okay, why can't I have Godiva chocolates? And she looked at you and said, oh, they're really expensive.

Bob Morrell:

Here you go, have a Twix and threw you a Twix?

Jeremy Blake:

Yeah, okay, why can't I have Godiva? I mean, anyone knowing you or even looking at you could probably make an assumption that Godiva would be your starting point. You would prefer to go up from Godiva, I think?

Bob Morrell:

Yeah, you know I had already made mental connections between Bambury Cross, a naked lady riding the horse. I was wedded to getting a connectivity with Godiva and that was denied me the individual judging by appearance.

Jeremy Blake:

Now, I did a lot of research into what that is. We can all remember times where maybe people have judged us by our appearance. When we go into a shop or a car showroom or something like that, um, we don't look our best and the person serving us judges us accordingly. What this is. What is is a superficial judgment based on how you look. I think that probably a third of sales that are missed are probably missed because the salesperson was rude by making a superficial judgment of that individual and the individual thought right, I'll take my business elsewhere.

Bob Morrell:

Yeah, I mean the other one, that which I really want to make the point early on in this conversation. It is detrimental to the success of you and your business by doing this. Yes, and I can tell you the story of how a small shoe shop in Buckingham eventually folded. They sold a very small range of men's shoes and a very small range of ladies' shoes and did repairs. I think it had been there for something like 70 years and I would go in there and try and frequent it to buy shoes a bit like the fast show, isn't it? Get my shoes in Winslow. You remember this story, don't you, bob? I said, hi, I need a, do you not? No, I need a pair of black shoes. And she said, yes, we stock two brands in the black shoe We've got Churches and Lokes. And she looked at me and went I'll get you some Lokes. What size Now? The Churches, I think even then, were 220 a pair and the Lokes were about 65 quid.

Jeremy Blake:

No lokes would have been about 100.

Bob Morrell:

I don't think they were then 75, I seem to remember yeah. Okay, now I did it. I bought the lokes because I tried them on. They fitted. Why couldn't I have the churches? And this is pre-Prada days when they bought them. But that's another classic. As Bob said, assumption based on me, I was even wearing a suit, ridiculous, superficial judgment.

Bob Morrell:

If you continually sell your bronze packages and we work on this mindset with clients we say, if you're standing on a podium table, everyone in this contact center, everyone on the field sales, get on the podium. How many of you are bronze sellers, silver sellers and gold sellers? That entire culture of that store was selling bronze, which means the average order value is reduced, which means the profitability, the margin and so on.

Jeremy Blake:

Because, as we know, if you're selling bronze you must sell volume and in a small market town, the volume of lokes and churches going out there was not enough they needed and I I'm just so pleased that we're sticking with the middle class analogies, because that's really I've got one, that I've got one that's slightly, slightly less middle class, okay, please. Um, so I used to work with a chap who was very smart during the week at work, but at weekends he would kick back and just dress very scruffily because he thought I don't need to make the effort. And he got a back and just dress very scruffily because he thought I don't need to make the effort. And he got a job and he was given a car allowance which allowed him to go and buy a car rather than have a company car. So he walked into his local I won't say who, it was a local dealership of a major car brand and they did exactly what you've just described. They took one look at him and he inquired about this car that was there.

Jeremy Blake:

And they did exactly what you've just described they took one look at him and he inquired about this car that was there, and they made it very clear that they didn't think that he was able to buy this car and that they didn't want to spend time serving him, based on exactly how he looked. So he said okay. So he then left that dealership and went four miles down the road to another dealership of the exact same brand that were a few miles further away from his home. He then went in and bought the car from that dealership. Six months later he took his car to the nearest dealership for a service because it was just more convenient, and the exact same salesperson came up to him and said excuse me, sir, I'm just wondering why you bought that car from the one that was four miles away rather than us. He said yeah, I'll tell you exactly why. I didn't buy it from you. Because when I came in here you were really rude to me and judged me by the way I looked, and that completely put me off.

Jeremy Blake:

So I bought it elsewhere so there you go, classic example of how you can miss a sale by judging absolutely, but it's also happening in the volume areas.

Bob Morrell:

Um, you know, behind a bar, someone says you've got a lager. They just pull the tap of the lowest price lager rather than maybe allowing the customers to do it. So I also think that it's pertinent to discuss this now, because we are on projects right now and a lot of people we're working with are saying it's a tough economy, we're living in a challenging economic climate, cost of living crisis, all these terms. Well, you are exacerbating that. If you continually go out selling your bronzes and you will actually earn less. The company will turn over less, and a lot of it is your mindset, and that's what I want to sort of explore. The thing that I could say at the outset, based on choice and I've got a nice little study from Stanford is that if you make the choice, you will feel more satisfied and loyal and with a sense of control.

Bob Morrell:

You mean the customer makes the choice.

Jeremy Blake:

The customer, yeah.

Bob Morrell:

You, you, as the customer.

Jeremy Blake:

Because if the customer makes the choice, they will be in more control.

Bob Morrell:

And more satisfied because I haven't done it. And the bit I want to major on is the perspective is not yours as the salesperson, it's the customer's perspective. And yet, as we know from our work, we spend a lot of time talking about how the perspective of the salesperson, the customer service person, the sales leader, obscures the vision and they can't believe that someone else might want this, afford this, and so they remove that decision so I've all.

Jeremy Blake:

I've also got um, seven reasons why a salesperson does it would do this. Great, let's have those. So the first reason is time. Okay, it is short-termism. So I'm focusing on closing sales rather than understanding needs, which actually you could put the whole of sales training into. If you understood more needs, you would sell more. If you're not bothering to understand the needs and you're just focusing on closing, you're not going to be able to offer the full range of stuff you have because you're going after a sale range of stuff you have because you're going after a sale.

Jeremy Blake:

And also, time is believing that if you take away the decision from the customer, that will save time in making a sale, which maximizes your time to do more sales. So there's that thing about if someone's going to take a long time over this. I haven't got time for that. I've got a target to hit. I'll go after more short-term sales options. So time is the first one. That links to number two. Really, which all of that time stuff is really about laziness Laziness of not wanting to engage in the conversation. I can't be bothered, I'll go for the easiest sale. Now, number three is really tough, but we have to say it Racial stereotyping.

Bob Morrell:

Which is judgment, but on a deeper level, yeah.

Jeremy Blake:

Yeah, you just look at an entire race of humanity and think, oh, they're never going to buy.

Bob Morrell:

Or a regional accent, absolutely, or anything. We've experienced this, yeah.

Jeremy Blake:

Yeah. Then you've got number four, which is manipulating the customer because you have a target to hit. So there's five different options, but I'm being targeted on this one, so I'm just going to offer you that and not give you the choice of the others. So that's manipulation. Now, number five is one we've talked about a lot and it's our big thing disloyal bonding. Yeah, okay, it is. It is me going. Look, you don't need any of these other things. Let me put my arm around you metaphorically and become your friend and sell you this thing, because it's easier and I'm lazy and all those other things. But I can now do it in a disloyal way, which makes you think that we are conspiring against my organization in some odd way. Number six is superficial judgment by appearance, which we've just talked about, and seven is really the hardest one of all. You are actively conning people and that's why you take the decision away, because by conning them, you know that this choice they're making gives you the biggest advantage.

Bob Morrell:

Well, I won't say who, but do you remember I was with an organization where we were paid on the volume of sales, not the value of sales? Oh yes, they did a three-month whatever you want to call it drive and said look guys, we're up against it. We want to float. We need customer numbers, not profitability. We'll pay you this. And one woman in my team sold the lowest priced thing, yeah, yeah, and her bonus was more than the value of what she'd sold Absolutely Brilliant.

Bob Morrell:

The thing I thought I'd share with you is I mean, just steering from that is too many choices. Too many choices derails the customer's journey as well. So if you, you know, that's slightly sort of playing with it If you've got a number of choices, some salespeople think if I remove those choices, I'll still get a sale because they're going to be bombarded. So if I shorten that Now, what are their names? Leeper and Stanford. I think I've got their names correct. I'll check that in a second. Hold on, check my notes. I'll go back to that. A couple of Stanford people. You'll love this. They ran something with Jam and something with essays. So the first thing with jam was they created two stands. One stand had six choices of gourmet jam and the other stand had 24 choices of gourmet jam. When the customer was provided with those, which stand sold more jam, the one with six choices or the one with 24? Six, yeah, by a staggering 27% higher in sales.

Bob Morrell:

And the thing about that is, I think some salespeople think there's lots of choice here. I'll take the decision away, reduce it down and push it, whereas actually six there's way more than gold, silver and bronze in six. Now the other weird thing is they based it on essays that you could buy. So you'd buy an essay as an academic essay and you could use that as a learning to improve your own essay. When they reduced the amount of essay titles, not only did they sell more essays, but the quality of the essays that the students then wrote were higher. So rather than you can look at all these essays you can buy, oh, flip, don't know where to start.

Bob Morrell:

Now the point being is that you often, I think, think there's so much choice here, I'll reduce the choice down. That is correct scientifically that a reduction in choice helps. But where you then have overstepped your mark as a salesperson is you've removed all of the flipping choice and so you've no longer got that customer enjoying making the choice. The spinoff of that that I thought was interesting. Do you know when we used to? We have salespeople sometimes who are training and they say one of the methods I use is I say I use that brand, or I drive that car, or I've got one of these myself.

Bob Morrell:

Yeah, Elmer Wheeler discovered that if, for example, there was a higher brand or a lower brand of lipstick or whatever it was a consumer product and you said that you used it, you're also reducing the choice of the customer because you've now said that you use it and if they don't like you and see themselves, they're not going to buy it.

Jeremy Blake:

So you're actually stating a preference, reducing choice so actually that's a little bit of um more superficial judgment, where the salesperson says, oh, I, I've been there, it's really really good. Now you might be thinking, well, I'd hate to go on holiday, meet somebody like you. I mean that might be thinking well, I'd hate to go on holiday and meet somebody like you. I mean that might be the thing that crosses your brain and it's that thing about. Again, we are in a. Everyone thinks that class has gone. It definitely hasn't. We're all members of various classes and we judge people still in that way quite often. And it's an odd thing, isn't it? It's an odd thing that we would try and bond in that way. Again, it's another form of bonding, but not necessarily an effective form of bonding.

Bob Morrell:

No, and do you think that they look like you, or a bit like you? So if you say, you drive this one too, imagine you're buying a car yeah, I've got this car as well, oh, okay, I mean, that's the last thing you'd want.

Jeremy Blake:

No, no, absolutely right. Actually, what you would like more would feed your ego, better would be the person to say I'd love to be able to have that. Yeah, I'd love to be able to. I would love that then you. Then that increases enthusiasm, but that would diminish me in the eyes of the customer and I don't want to do that because I've got a big ego. No, that's it.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, yeah you're listening to the reality of business created by Reality Training the minds behind the five principles that power so many successful sales models today. These principles deliver consistency and certainty in your sales approach. Discover how we can help you sell more at realitytrainingcom.

Bob Morrell:

So let's talk about money for a second, and we'll talk about the money that a consumer might have or, of course, the money that might be in a company's bank account. Now, I think lots of B2B salespeople don't research the company they're selling to to see how wealthy they are, profitable they are, how much money is in their bank and, of course, it is the job of the buyer to say it's expensive. It's the job of the buyer to say we're looking at other options. It's the job of the buyer to say, gosh, that's a lot, we were looking to invest less. So I do think you need to research the funds of the business.

Bob Morrell:

But also, do you want to have a guess, bob, at what the ONS, the Office of National Statistics, released at the end of 2022, which is the gross disposable household income in the UK average Per year or per month, per year, per annum and household household? Okay, so there could be two people in there. There might be another elder, child, working brother, whatever, but the gross disposable household income, the UK average, it's the highest in London. I'll tell you that next. But what do you think it is? Is it something like 35K? No, it's less than that. Oh, the gross disposable? No, it's £22,789. However, you're spot on. You go into London, it's 32,330 quid?

Jeremy Blake:

There you go Okay.

Bob Morrell:

Now there are lots of people in sales who have a lower disposable income, yes, and therefore believe everybody else has a lower disposable income, can't see the value in what they're selling, and so on and so on. And we used to do this wonderful acting, didn't we, where we'd say, have you got a torch and broken into their house and looked at their bank statements? You know, do you know? Are you their ifa?

Jeremy Blake:

and they'd go well no, but you see, the other side of that is that if you have a mistaken belief that, um, most people are on the same as you or less, yeah, okay. Don't you occasionally treat yourself and get yourself some nice chocolates or book a nice are on the same as you or less, yep, okay. Don't you occasionally treat yourself and get yourself some nice chocolates, or book a nice holiday, or buy a better car or whatever it may be? Don't you occasionally push the envelope of your spending because you want certain things and you look at a potential customer and think there's no way they'd want to do that? How do you know You're making that decision in advance and I think there's no way they'd want to do that?

Jeremy Blake:

How do you know You're making that decision in advance? And I think that's the other thing where you might be going through a terrible time. You might have huge debts, you might have huge financial strain on you and your life and, through some kind of osmosis, you just assume that everybody you speak to is in the same boat. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And it's really hard not to think that when you are under a lot of pressure.

Bob Morrell:

But the truth is not everyone is.

Bob Morrell:

And it isn't just pressure. So if you think about people who have a very fixed mindset and see the world only as it continues to be, they don't believe that they can change for the better, they don't believe things will improve. They don't believe that they can change for the better. They don't believe things will improve. They don't have hope. Often they believe other people must feel the same way they do, and so, at extreme levels, salespeople with severe challenges or illnesses mental health illnesses will really struggle because they may be very low and therefore coloring their thinking. So that's why they might get completely stuck in a rut, and it's the effort to get out of the rut is harder than just staying in it. So what is the remedy?

Jeremy Blake:

I think a simple remedy is this Until someone tells you otherwise, always assume that everybody you speak to can afford everything you're selling.

Bob Morrell:

And I can add to that, and I can add to that the belief you have. What evidence have you got to support it? Yeah, so when you have a belief, there are two beliefs. One is a hypothetical fact or a hypothetical belief. The other is a practical one. So the hypothetical one is I believe they can't afford it. If your brain says, therefore, they can't, the other part of your brain says now get the evidence that supports your belief. Have you got a bank statement? Have they said it? What is the evidence?

Bob Morrell:

And so the fact is that the brain is always struggling with hypothetical facts and they're believing them to be true. What you have to then say is please provide the supporting evidence that you did that. So if you're a leader listening to that and they said, well, I sold them the bronze version they could only afford, you say great, what evidence did you have back in that decision that they shared with you so that you knew they couldn't afford the silver? Yeah, that decision that they shared with you so that you knew they couldn't afford the silver, yeah, yeah.

Jeremy Blake:

well, that's the same thing as in sales management in general when, um, you say, how's your month going? Oh, everyone's terrible, everything's bad, everything's awful. You know, you've had two bad conversations and it just colors everything. And I think sometimes that's another thing where a trend that's in someone's brain becomes a fact and if you're another salesperson, the same team, having a tough month, you'll leap on that bandwagon and go oh yeah, yeah, it's really tough at the moment because it takes the pressure off, because it's external, external forces that are making you behave in this way.

Bob Morrell:

Yeah, it also links to your communication style. If you're quite passive, you will let the customer run it and you'll go okay, yeah, yeah, I understand. Yeah. So you're passive, if you're aggressive, you'll go no, this is absolutely fine for you and you're arguing they probably won't buy. It's that balance of being assertive, isn't it, and going. I hear what you're saying, but this is right. Yeah, um, you need this, yeah. And I think you've got a number of aggressive sales people who are going oh, rubbish, no one wants this, I can't do this. How dare you tell me to do this, do you not, do you?

Jeremy Blake:

not think also. Perhaps there's also this thing about people. If you stop believing in your product and your service, if you stop believing in it fundamentally, then actually you don't really care about it. You just want to get this box ticked and move on to the next one and therefore, that's going to affect any belief that you have and the way that you sell it with a level of belief.

Bob Morrell:

Well, I take that further. If you're in a room not in a room, you're in your house, you're walking along wherever, you're listening to this and you don't believe in what you're selling or representing as a business, you've got to get out, because you are never going to get across the value. As Zig said, enthusiasm the asm is. I am sold myself, yes, and I believe in it. And if you don't, oh then how are you going to get across that feeling to customers?

Jeremy Blake:

Well, also, if you don't, that's where we come back to our old friend act as if You've got to act as if you do in front of a customer. Yeah, have a level of enthusiasm. I think a lot of sales is acting because many people sell things they don't own, that are never going to work and that are not for them to buy. And but if they can act with a level of enthusiasm that shows that's worth you having, then you're more likely to buy it. If you are indifferent about your product and service and trying to sell it and you then sit there and wonder why you haven't sold very much, it's because of your indifference and it's because of your um not believing that what you're selling is worth the money. That's the simple reason why you won't have sold as much.

Bob Morrell:

Now something that's quite interesting. If you think of many businesses that have shareholders returning whatever money to the shareholders, they will have some of this going on deep-rooted, where, culturally, some of the selling is done to shift assets. In a store or online, it could be a pallet full sale items. Marketing gets involved. We need to shift the numbers, we need to hit the end of the month, we need to deliver shareholder value and the only thing they're interested in is numbers and profit. What's particularly interesting is if you look at the UK ICS, the UK Institute of Customer Service the top four businesses that are at the very top, often year in, year out, have no shareholders. They are independently owned, which means the integrity is higher. They sell what they want.

Bob Morrell:

I don't know if you want to have a guess at those businesses, what the top four are. They sell what they want. I don't know if you want to have a guess at those businesses what the top four are that don't have shareholders. That are the top four in the UK for customer service integrity and I give you a bit more of a hint the number one business gives the people working there who probably don't see themselves as salespeople, but they are. They can waive up to £ pounds per customer and they don't sell anything. When I tell you they are, that costs 500 pounds. Um, we'll have a stab at what one of the companies would be. And remember, we're talking about customer service and it is selling. But john luther, but it's not. Yes, they are fourth, so there's three above them. Okay.

Jeremy Blake:

It's hard to think of large companies that aren't public Two are banks, oh, okay.

Bob Morrell:

But, they're not shareholder-owned banks.

Jeremy Blake:

Well, is that people like Coots and no?

Bob Morrell:

no, no, these are mass, they're mass enterprise oh.

Bob Morrell:

Nationwide, yep, nationwide is third Very good, and the other one is another bank is Starling, oh, nationwide, yep, nationwide is third very good, and the other one is another bank is Starling, oh, yes, yep. But number one is Timpson, of course, of course. And I had that experience where, when he told me what it would cost to do my car battery, I said wow and I went. Okay, I went in, did my shopping because they're next to supermarkets, came out and he said I was thinking about that, you thought that was high value, just give me X. And he reduced it by half.

Jeremy Blake:

So he has discretion within his thing. They have discretion up to 500 pounds.

Bob Morrell:

Great, now it's a 15 pound battery. He ended up saying do you know what? Pay half if you're not happy, that's fine. And so I'd gone back for my shoes and things and I'd just carry on buying.

Jeremy Blake:

But also that's understanding the power of a decent brand, a bit like Apple. Can you name three other key and shoe repair businesses? No, no.

Bob Morrell:

So there you go. There are independents. There is one, a very good one, in Stoney.

Jeremy Blake:

But name three of three more chains that don't exist. So there you go.

Speaker 3:

Well, very interesting subject so there you go.

Bob Morrell:

Well, very, very interesting subject. And I mean, as you say, the remedy is not to do it. But just telling you not to do it isn't going to fix you, no, which is why you've got to really work at this. I don't think you know. Listen to this, make notes. If you've got some belief blockers in you and some biases, as bob was saying at the start, you're going to have to work on those, because you're not going to be able to repress this part of you. That just stops the decision.

Jeremy Blake:

Absolutely Now. This is a subject we're going to be returning to again and again because it never seems to go away. It's been around the 25 years that we've been doing this, so we'd love to hear from listeners if they have an experience with this as well. So thank you for listening. We will see you on another, the Reality of Business, very soon, but in the meantime, thanks very much. Cheers for now, bye.