To Sell is Human: Post #6--Clarity

Clarity: Clarity is the ability to help other people and ourselves see things in a new and fresh way, thus seeing issues previously unseen.
a.    Problem Finding vs. Problem Solving: Helping others focusing less on problem solving and more on problem finding is vital. In a surprising experiment with artists, researchers found that artists who focused less on what to paint (problem solving) vs those who thought about how to produce a good drawing (problem finders) had dramatically different results. The problem finders produced better art in both the short term and long term—and far more stayed with art for years to come.  The get-in-done artists did not do as well. In fact, successful sales people today ask better questions “…uncovering possibilities, surfacing latent issues, and finding unexpected problems.” They advise less and listen more.
b.    Finding Your Frames: Social scientist Robert Cialdini has discovered the concept of contrast in his prodigious research on influence. Pink discusses several different frames. The less frame…if people have fewer choices, they tend to buy more; otherwise, it’s a sort of choice fatigue. The experience frame…people get more pleasure from buying experiences than things. We can savor the experiences much longer. So, selling the experience (i.e., just think of the places and friends you can visit with your new car) as opposed to the object itself boosts sales.