Sales & Marketing Integration Analysis: Decision Making Styles
How Do You Make Decisions: Fear or Hope?
Someone once asked me what it is that makes me choose to work with one client versus another. In sales terms, he wanted to know what my "qualifier" was. I think more in terms of disqualification, so it was a tougher question to answer than I antcipated. Plus this was a situation where he wanted to be my next client, my alarm bells were going off in my gut.
And so I gave him an answer that, at the time, was really more of a test to see where his head was at.
"Decision makers and company cultures that are motivated by hope, and not fear."
Not an easy thing to come by these days; or as I have heard some analysts say, "...in these post-recessionary times."
Blah, blah, blah.
I gave that answer because what I ultimately wanted to know how long his buying cycle was. If he had a longer cycle, needed to cost compare, check with countless people (ie: put off making tough decisions); then his natural tendency was to make decisions because of fear.
I am an optimist. I am also a realist. Unfortuntately, the downside of that combination I very little patience for excuses, valid or not.
Smarketing Tip of the Week: Make a Decision Already!
If you are a regular reader of this blog, then you probably already know that we are big advocates of THINK. Have a plan, or at the very least a hypothesis to test before you starting doing a whole lot of stuff without a guidemap.
But that is only the first step, and not even the most important. (Just the smartest!) DOING consistently is. If you can't even start by making a decision quickly and efficiently, you are going to constantly struggle with 21st century business growth.
There is your speed, and then there is internet speed. Real time. Ready... or not.
The Message of Hope
It is never too late to do something. A decision delayed is a decision made to say no to the opportunity.
What is stopping you from starting right now?
Photo credit: Harri de Ville. Click image to visit accredited site. 