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You are here: Home / Blog / Make better sales decisions.

Make better sales decisions.

June 23, 2014 By maurasf

There are going to be times when you sell when you have to make quick decisions.  Of course you have two ways to decide.  You could very carefully analyze the information you have and make a thorough, logical decision.  That might take you time. It also might not be the best way to decide.  You could also pay attention to your gut and make a gut decision.

How do you know when to go with your gut and when to conduct a careful analysis? The careful analysis is not always the best way to decide.

Why? Because sometimes there is simply too much information to analyze quickly.  Your logical brain (prefrontal cortex) gets overwhelmed with information and basically gets immobilized.  What good is it if you can’t make a decision?

I’m a student of the brain. I know. It sounds a little odd.  Learning about thinking is something I enjoy.   I just finished reading this blog about the brain and decisions.  The point I took away from reading the blog is that it is clear when you should use your gut to make a decision and when you should use logic.

Here’s the answer:

How do you know when to use your gut? Roughly speaking, if you are making comparisons based on few features, you should use your rational thinking abilities. You should analyze the available data. If there are many features, you are better off using your gut.

Where is the cutoff? Think about telephone numbers. The local ones are seven digits. There is a reason for that.  It’s the same reason for when you should go with your gut. Here’s what is in the blog:

Seven plus or minus two “items” has been proposed by psychologist George Miller. When we have to deal with more items, we take shortcuts. We count in “scoops” instead of counting the pieces of candy. These shortcuts are the source of many thinking errors. These are for another day. For now, a rule of thumb: if you are dealing with more than seven variables, browse through, relax, do something else for a little while, then go with your gut.

So the next time you have to make a decision in sales, count the variables. More than 7–go with your gut!

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Filed Under: Blog, Sales Strategy

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About the principal

Would you take auto mechanics classes when you buy a car? Maura did because she wanted to be able to work on her car. She takes that same approach to selling. She can show you how to get below the surface of selling to learn why and how different strategies work. She will show you which skills to implement that will shorten your sales cycle and increase your sales. She was Mobil Oil's first female Lubrication Engineer in the United States and one of Chevron's top 5 salespeople in the country. She knows what works for sales.

"I would recommend your work to other sales organizations who want to get better results from improved selling strategies."
Jamey Rootes
President
Houston Texans

Sales Expert at Allbusiness.com

Selling is the easiest job in the world. Just ask anyone who is not in sales. Read Maura’s ideas on “more brain…less mouth” selling to make your selling easier and more successful.

Maura’s Allbusiness blog posts

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