The Cubicle, the Magic Lamp, and the Window of Dissatisfaction

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The Cubicle, the Magic Lamp and the Window of Dissatisfaction

A salesperson arrived at work, poured a cup of coffee, and entered his cubicle to begin the day’s calls. But to his great surprise, something very odd was perched next to his phone - a magic lamp! As he moved closer, he began to make out what was written on a small blue post-it note affixed to the lamp: “RUB ME” it said.

Checking to see that no one was watching, the salesperson began rubbing the lamp briskly. The thickness of the air began to change and within seconds, swirling out from the magic lamp in a haze of purple and green smoke, a Genie materialized, “WHAT IS YOUR COMMAND?”

Working under pressure was nothing new for this salesperson and he quickly replied, “I want to be the world’s best prospector!” The Genie nodded in obedience and granted the wish. Ten years later, the salesperson retired.

Shortly after his replacement inherited the cubicle, he too arrived one day to find the magic lamp. And with great anticipation – he too rubbed the lamp briskly. The Genie appeared and bellowed “WHAT IS YOUR COMMAND?”

The new salesperson, more savvy and experienced than the first shouted, “I want to be the world’s best closer!” The Genie again nodded and granted the wish; five years later, the salesperson retired.

The cubicle was emptied and prepared for the next salesperson to inherit. And sure enough, upon her arrival she also discovered the lamp, read the note, and followed its instructions. The Genie materialized, circled the room, hovered in front of her, and asked, “WHAT IS YOUR COMMAND?”

Instantly, the third salesperson replied, “I want to reach every prospect at exactly the right time!” The Genie smiled, nodded at her, and vanished. That afternoon she initiated—and one week later closed—the biggest deal in her company’s history. She kept closing huge deals for weeks and months on end, shattering all company records. She retired within twelve months.

The Moral? TIMING IS EVERYTHING!

Prospecting skills are important. Closing skills are important. In fact, many skill-sets contribute to a salesperson’s success. But none are more important than timing.

Can you remember the last time you were in front of a highly motivated buyer at just the right time—and the sale almost happened by itself? Was your skill set better than it normally is when you closed that deal? Or was your timing better?

What if there was a process that allowed you to repeatedly get in front of the right person at exactly the right time? What if you could spend most of your time talking to people who are 4-5 times more likely to buy from you than the people you’re talking to now?

This is what SHiFT! is all about. It’s a new way to look at selling. It is about mastering the art and science of timing. It’s about SHiFTing your attention from things like prospecting and closing to things like the Trigger Events that make it more likely that someone will be highly motivated to buy from you.

Selling, like life, is all about timing. This book is about timing and understanding the events that trigger timing (Trigger Events) and harnessing them to close more sales sooner. It’ about mastering the art and science of getting in front of the right person at exactly the right time—which we call the Window of Dissatisfaction™— and then doing the right things when you have timing.

Knowing that Trigger Events result in highly productive sales efforts and deeply loyal customers will help you to close sales sooner and take home a much bigger commission check. Once you understand this timing—and it’s easier than you think—you can learn to take the right action based on the decision-maker’s buying mode.

You can enjoy a much higher close ratio than you’re experiencing right now, on bigger deals that close much more quickly, so you can move on and start selling to someone else more quickly.

The secret to being successful in sales is perfecting your timing. That means getting in front of the right person at exactly the right time. To do that, you must understand the power of something that has a dramatic impact on the sales cycle, which most salespeople don’t spend enough time understanding. It’s called Path Dependency.

Path Dependency

Path Dependency is what happens when decision-makers have done the same thing in the same way for so long that it’s easier for them to keep doing the same things the way they have always done them. Most of the time, when you are selling, this is your competition—unless there is a compelling reason to change and a Trigger Event that makes them want to change right now.

All salespeople face the same competition: the prospective buyer’s predisposition to keep doing exactly what they are already doing. When decision-makers have Path Dependency, the investment of time, money, energy, or attention they’ve already made in something prevents them from taking a different approach. Once we are used to doing something, it’s a lot easier to keep doing what we’ve always done.

Your true competition is not a competitor who

provides a similar product or service.

It’s the path the buyer has become used to traveling. And yet, what would happen if that person decided, for whatever reason, that the Status Quo was no longer sufficient? What would happen if you could get in front of the decision-maker on the day this happened? How would that affect your ability to make a sale and build a rewarding long-term relationship?

If you want to improve your close ratio, you might upgrade your presentation and closing skills. If you wanted to increase your total opportunities, you might upgrade your prospecting skills. If you wanted to increase your deal size, you might target different customers or sell different products and services. But if you want to improve all these things at the same time, you would have to improve your timing.

You could probably use some assistance with understanding and upgrading your timing strategy. This means you will need to SHIFT your focus, and SHIFT your tactics, so that you can SHIFT your results.

You must understand the benefit of finding buyers while they are in a powerful selling window called the Window of Dissatisfaction. Learning to see and sell to those buyers in the Window of Dissatisfaction is not a matter of slightly improving upon something that you’re already doing. It’s a matter of seeing the selling process a little differently than you see it right now, and consistently taking action on what you learn.

This buying mode typically requires a little practice for salespeople to learn to see. That practice, however, could be the best time investment you ever make in your sales career. If you are a professional salesperson, you should know that understanding and learning to see this most important buying mode, the Window of Dissatisfaction, is the key to putting timing on your side.

Think of decision-makers in the Window of Dissatisfaction as unhappy but not searching for alternatives… yet! It is during this powerful selling window, before the decision-maker takes action, that he or she has begun to see different ways to solve the problem. This is where real opportunity can be found. The decision-maker’s buying cycle typically starts long before we start our selling cycle.

The Window of Dissatisfaction is where the decision maker’s buying cycle starts. The Window of Dissatisfaction opens as a result of events that trigger people to forgo their Path Dependency and start thinking about doing something different. Notice, though, that it opens after the buyer experiences a Trigger Event that causes them to leave Status Quo but before that buyer has found the time to start the process of Searching for Alternatives.

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Download the preview chapters of the Trigger Event book

Craig Elias is Creator of Trigger Event Selling™ and Chief Catalyst, Shift Selling, Inc.

He is the Author of the Trigger Event book SHIFT!