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Floods, Fear and Prospects
How our emotions affect our
decisions
It's a record at 40 feet, it may
go to 41 or 42 and at 43 we're screwed!
That's the jist of many conversations
here in the Red River Valley as our quiet
Red River swells to 3-4 times its
size.
Observing how people react in
such situations can give us some good
insight into how they make choices and
decisions. By the way, this applies to
decisions in stressful situations as well
as buying and business decisions on a
daily basis.
In this article I'll share
observations about several people and how
they made choices under stress. It is
amazing how I see the same behaviors in
business decisions!
A couple in
their late 20's have a new house and two
toddlers and are 10 blocks from the Red
River. They can see the sand bags, the air
boats and dikes going up and the
neighborhood across the highway is
evacuated. The
husband is busy sand bagging and his
employer is one of the utility suppliers
which means he is on emergency call
24/7.
After four days of no work, no
husband and more activity outside her
window, she has had it! Forget the house,
forget everything we own I want out of
town! A
completely understandable
reaction!
Then the unfair question to the
husband; What is more important, the
house or your family? Of course it upsets
him yet he understands it comes from
frustration and fear. To his
credit he is controlled and continually
comes back to "Let's talk it out before
we act on this."
My friend
lives in a lower level condo unit along
with several older ladies. We have to move
out, we have to evacuate, what if we flood!
Several of us indicate to them we are in the
best place in town and have never flooded.
To no avail, they are not sold. Countless
discussions about sewer plugs, moving
furniture to the upper condo units or
getting sand bags delivered are the focus of
discussions.
The city comes out with the just
in case evacuation plan. It has the city
map color coded into eight areas. The
first seven color coded are the areas
that would be flooded at 42 feet with a
large unnumbered white area in the
middle. This white unnumbered are is
where the others would evacuate to. Guess
who's condo is in the white
area!
Finally after viewing the maps
and facts, (condo's lowest level is 45-46
foot) having several plumbers indicate
that plugging the sewers and toilets is
unneeded at this location, the
conversations finally die down. Yes we
did plug several of the lowest floor
drains just a precaution.
Key
points:
In both of these situations
the threat is real, the question is what are
the real chances of the event actually
happening?
In the first example it is very
real, a compromised dike would most
likely take the basement and surround the
house. They had already moved everything
to the upper level and plugged all the
drains in the lower level. The sump pump
is in place and working. What
they do not know is the elevation numbers
at their house. So it
is unknown what the result of a dike
break at 41 or 42 foot would result
in.
Another friend of mine is in the
same area as the young couple, but across
the highway closer to the river. He knows
his new house has an elevation of 42 foot
at his basement floor. They plug the
drains; move everything to the upper
floor and leave to stay at their mother
in-laws ten miles away. The outcome is
known, the house would be surrounded by
water and inaccessible, yet with minimal
damage if the dikes did go. Amazing
how some factual information and
reasoning changes one's
choices!
1.
So much of the reaction and choices being
made by many of the people involved is
based on fear of the unknown.
2.
So many of the people involved are
utilizing comments and statements from
uninformed sources as the basis for their
conclusions.
3.
So many focused only on the negative
outcomes or worst case scenario, some
even made the outcome more severe than it
could be.
4.
The support system of a husband or
partner was missing and caused more
fear.
5.
The lack of time to communicate and "talk
it out" added to the growth of
fear.
6.
The more Fear talk that took place, the
more intense the Fear became.
Now all of these are real
feelings and emotions and yes I
personally have lost property though
flood, fire and wind. So yes
we cannot ignore these emotions and have
to deal with them in order to help these
people make sound rational choices. When
one can do this the results are a much
calmer situation and better choices and
alternative plans.
Prospects:
Yes, your business prospects and associates
also go though similar emotions in decision
making!
As a professional salesperson we
need to be aware of this and be willing
to help our clients sort out their
thinking and feelings when making choices
and decisions. This is another point to
ponder if you think all buying is about
your product and price!
Here are a few key points to
apply:
1.
Be willing to ask open questions that get
the client talking about the feeling side
of the decision. This is not an
interrogation or put down approach.
"Where did that stupid thinking come
from?" would not be
appropriate. "I'm
sensing some strong feelings here, would
you share them?" would get you a great
deal further.
2.
Continue the open counselor questioning
until the client can identify the source
of the fear or emotion. This
may require multiple questions and
approaches so keep at it. Once this is
understood most fears or emotions
disappear or are greatly
reduced.
3.
Once the source is in the open, then
factual information now means something.
Prior to this, facts simply create
reactance and push back. Be specific and
have evidence such as the city map to
back up your facts.
4.
Ask what the contingency or backup plan
might be based on this new view and
information. Help them create the backup
plan so they are confident it will work
if needed.
5.
Reassure them they are making good sound
choices and clarify the actions they will
be taking and when.
6.
Indicate how you will support them and
their choices and actions. These
six steps are the "Talking It Through"
process.
It's very interesting how often
I have taken clients through this type of
process in getting a sale. They were
resistant or hesitant for some reason and
this approach helped them through their
decision process. It can
work for you as well!
For those of you who still
insist that selling is about your product
and price, try selling the idea they are
safe to a home owner with a twenty foot
sand bag dike in their back yard based on
product and price!
Push the envelope and move
forward!
Harlan Goerger
© Harlan Goerger
3-2009
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