You’re biased.

Yep, we said it. You, and everyone else you’ve ever met have preconceived notions of what you believe to be correct or incorrect. These inclinations influence your decision-making process, whether you are aware of them or not. Your customers behave exactly the same way. Have you ever heard of Confirmation Bias? It’s one of the strongest biases you can have, because you don’t know you have it!

Now, all people have biases, and they’re not all bad.  That’s why we say that BuildaTeam is the best web and mobile development solution out there, we’re biased! One of the most common biases is “confirmation bias,” which is how we interpret information in a way that reinforces what we already believe. It’s frequency and power is connected to our addiction to self-worth.  

A great example of confirmation bias is how voters act during a United States Presidential election. The more people read and inform themselves about the presidential candidates, the more they tend to believe their candidate to be the correct choice, not realizing that they are subconsciously biased to absorbing information that furthers their existing stance. Salespeople can also fall victim to their own confirmation bias when they ask clients questions whilst pushing them in the direction of the answer they want to hear, instead of letting the client tell them what they need.

These deeply rooted, subconscious, cultural assumptions drive all purchasing decisions, and reinforce those decisions even after they have made a purchase. Talented Salespeople learn to utilize these subconscious cues to boost their deal closing power. Here’s how:

• 1) Give a Great First Impression:  Successful salespeople focus on giving a great first impression. Your mom may have always told you that a first impression is everything, and that’s never rang truer than in sales. If you’re first impression is stellar, you’ve influenced your prospects to subconsciously continue to look for the positive in you or your product/service. Their brain will naturally seek out reaffirming information to the original assumption that you and your company are amazing.  

• 2) Be Affirmative: Smart salespeople use affirmation messages within the customer journey to foster confirmation bias. By saying positively affirming messages to the prospect throughout the journey, you can subconsciously push them towards greater loyalty. Examples of this are: Our products are exceptional quality, or we have the highest standard in the industry.

• 3) Compliment Your Prospects: By rewarding your potential customers’  micro-decisions with praise as they progress towards purchasing, you can reinforce their confirmation that you’re the best person to work with. Tell them what a smart decision this is, or how impressed you are with the speed they work at. However, be cautious not to be overly flattering and ingenuine.

• 4) Emphasize the positive: Positioning things in a positive light, sometimes even trivial things that the customer wouldn’t even notice can go a long way. Examples: Is your product /service process painstaking, don’t say how hard it is, rather talk about how diligent your team is, or how it’s the most detailed product/service on the market.

• 5) Encourage Customer Reviews: Even after you’ve closed a sale there are ways to use confirmation bias to your advantage. If you encourage customer reviews and sharing post sale, not only will it help acquire new customers, but it will also increase subconscious brand loyalty in the review writer. Think about it this way, if a previous customer spends 10 minutes writing about how much they enjoyed working with you, you better believe you’re going to be top of mind for a while.

Always keep in mind that overdoing any of the above suggestions can put you at risk of sounding inauthentic and that you will not all of a sudden become a mind reading master simply by harnessing people’s confirmation bias. These strategies take some time to become accustomed to and should be tested thoroughly. .Let me know if these strategies have worked for you in the comments below. Best of luck out there.