๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐๐๐ชฆ๐ชฆ
Have you ever heard of the “๐ช๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฟ?”
Or the “๐ช๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐?”
Bear with me here…
You see, Warren G. Harding, the 29th President of the United States back in 1921, was known for his good looks and a commanding presence. Because of his “appearance,” he was judged to be a good president, at least by perception.
However, the “Error,” or “Effect” is named after him because his administration was riddled with corruption and basic incompetence, leading to the conclusion that his pleasant appearance masked his lack of substance and ability.
So what does this have to do with sales?
Whos’ ever heard the term “pre-judging” in a sales context?
Well, it’s basically the Warren Harding Error happening all over again, but this time, with sales reps “pre-judging” a prospect or an appointment BEFORE they meet them, or before it starts.
They will usually base their pre-judgement simply on appearance (or a particular circumstance, such as being late for a Zoom call).
And it happens ALL THE TIME in sales, especially in the world of in-home selling.
You have a 2:00 pm appointment, drive up to the house, and wow, what a crappy-looking ranch that is! These people can’t have any money…I’m wasting my time!
Sound familiar?
Stop it…judging an appointment or a person BEFORE you meet them, or before the appointment even starts, is a death-knell in sales. As soon as you place any type of judgement on any appointment or prospect, you may as well save everyone’s time and go home.
Why? Because since we have already made judgements on this prospect, we will then conduct the sales appointment based on that judgement, not based on helping or serving. Which usually means taking shortcuts, at a minimum.
And by the way, this is not easy to correct, as the majority of us pre-judge everything, all the time. It’s actually how the brain works.
We as humans, automatically judge everything and everyone, normally before we get to know who they are or what’s really happening.
So the next time you pull up to that less-than-desirable-looking house, or your prospect is a few minutes late, or they look a bit disheveled, default to CURIOSITY and suspend JUDGEMENT.
๐ฝ๐๐๐๐ช๐จ๐ ๐๐ช๐ง๐๐ค๐จ๐๐ฉ๐ฎ ๐ก๐๐๐๐จ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ฉ๐๐ฎ, ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ฉ๐๐ฎ ๐ก๐๐๐๐จ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐จ๐๐ก๐๐จ.
And you never know how much money the owners of that crappy-looking ranch have under their mattress.
