Welcome back to part two of this blog!
Just a reminder…you can find the original episode of Women Your Mother Warned You About referred to in this blog here and the original article discussed here.
To continue our conversation, let’s move on to how pigeons and “cat string theory” are applicable to sales. The second sales lesson Michael shares with us is “master intermittent reinforcement.” He points back to a study conducted by B.F. Skinner where he found if he rewarded pigeons consistently, they only complied part of the time. However, if he varied the rewards, the pigeons became completely consistent with their compliance. Keith relates this to the reward becoming expected, almost an entitlement instead of a reward.
A great example of intermittent reinforcement is a practice my company does in relation to “Call Day.” We have call days every other Wednesday in an effort to emphasize the importance of making our calls to generate new business. This is an expected activity for the entire sales team as part of their job. However, about every third call day, management will link a reward to the activity. This may be a reward to the person who makes the most calls for the entire day or it may go to the person who makes the most calls in the morning session and then the afternoon session. It varies. The caveat though is the winner will not receive his or her prize unless the entire team makes their minimum calls. This practice emphasizes the reward is not an entitlement, but must be truly earned.
What in the world is “cat string theory” and how does it relate to sales? Mystery (read the article to find out who Mystery is!) talks about this in The Game. Picture a cat with a string dangling over its head. As long as you keep the string out of reach of the cat, it will remain interested, batting and trying to get the string away from you. The moment you let the cat have the string, it is no longer interested in it.
Gina and Keith relate this to keeping your sales prospect interested. Do not just drop your product in front of your potential client without creating some interest first. Create a “push-pull” dynamic to engage your client. For example, Gina talks about her client who she told “I’m pretty sure you can’t afford me.” This automatically created a pattern interrupt and the client immediately responded with, “Wait, let’s talk about this!”
The final sales lesson Michael related to the pickup artist is “engage in relentless experimentation.” Keith refers to a book titled “You Can’t Learn to Ride a Bike at a Seminar.” This embodies this sales lesson perfectly. Read the books, gain the necessary knowledge, but at the end of the day, get out there and skin your knees! In order to figure out what works best for you in sales and in life, you need to put yourself in different situations. Be willing to fail forward.
I can relate to this personally. I was in a career for twenty years I did not love, but when I found recruiting and sales, I found my passion. Next, I explored different ways to build my recruiting chops to find out what worked best for me to build my book of business. I am still experimenting (working on my personal brand and hosting a podcast), and will continue to evolve my sales persona throughout my career.
Gina and Keith give a great example of how to get started with your own experimentation. Don’t be afraid to ask for the business; don’t be afraid to ask for the referral. You will get no’s, but eventually you will get to a yes. Gina said, “The more you fail (receive a no), the more innovative you become.
This is one of the best podcast for sales tips I have listened to in a while. There is so much meat for your sales career and for life in general. Be sure to listen to this episode at least twice!
This blog is way longer than I had intended. I broke it into two blogs, but still did not cover all the lessons. Be sure to read and listen about “create the perception of autonomy” and “focus on self-regulation.”
Happy Podcasting!
