We make decisions based on our emotional brain, not our rational brain. Changing behavior (e.g. sales) isn’t about dumping the largest amount of features on the prospect – its about finding alignment between what you believe and what they believe – the “why” of what you might do together.
Life is just more interesting because of TED. I’m a TED addict. Why? Because no matter what the topic covered in 18 minutes it always makes me think and almost every time my mindset is in a different place at the end of 18 minutes. What impact does TV have on our thinking? (never mind, topic for a different time and place). By the way, I don’t own a TV so you can guess what I think about the tube and what it’s doing to our collective consciousness.
If you’ve read any thing I’ve written, you probably know that I’m on a constant rant against using feature lists to explain a product, sell a product, or compare products. I have always felt passionate about this, but up until now I didn’t know exactly why – then I watched this TED video and like a great camera lens, everything came into focus.
Here’s the synopsis of what Simon Sinek communicates during his talk: there is a pattern happening with phenomenally successful companies (e.g. Apple, etc…), they don’t sell the “what?” (RAM, processing power, screen resolution) or the “how?” (great engineering, incredible industrial and user interface design, etc…) they sell the “WHY?” – they sell what they believe and we buy those products because we believe what they believe. The amazing thing about this Golden Circle (as Simon calls it) is that it exactly matches how our brain makes decisions.
We don’t make decisions based on the “what” or the “how” – we make decisions with our limbic system not our neocortex (where we process facts and figures). If you’re trying to influence behavior (isn’t that what all sales is?) by presetting facts and figures – you’re targeting the wrong part of the brain.
“People don’t buy what you do; they buy WHY you do it.”
Absolutely brilliant, so simple and simultaneously profound – it will take a long time for me to fully integrate this idea. Think about the “why” and how it fits into your business? If you asked your organization for the answer to “why?” what would they say? How many different answers are there? Do any of them go above the level of “making a living, paying the bills, etc…”? If you’re selling what you believe – maybe its time to examine your beliefs as a method for improving your sales?
Jennifer, this is a phenomenal post. It will take me a while to digest what this truly means but the idea is a lightning rod for CEO’s still working, like me, at the task of reinventing a tired 40+ year old company into something that has relevance in today’s market. We need a “WHY” that resonates with the customer’s “WHY”. What a concept!
Keep working this…you had me at the “WHY”!
Wayne,
I’m with you – it will take some time for this to sink in, its literally at the core (lots of layers to pass through for total digestion). Relevance and resonance is about “why” and the world is spinning around 24/7 talking about the “what?” and the “how?” I was at a dinner party last night and we were discussing politics (dangerous) and when you apply this concept to that topic you understand why NONE of it is based on facts/rational thinking – its all emotion. That’s why the people who have mastered the art of appealing to people’s core emotions (bypassing the rational brain) have such a loyal following. They can continue to trade in fear and hate without talking about any solutions and stay relevant (for all the wrong reasons).
Jen
Great post, Jen… thanks for sharing it!
-steve
Thanks Steve – I had to write about this because thinking about it in isolation is a waste of time – sharing it with others and hearing their perspective is when the idea really gets embedded. I was on a call yesterday and the prospect (whom I’ve never met) asked me why don’t you tell me what you do? I said how about I start with “why I do it?” I don’t even know where that came from but it felt so natural and it worked so well. I got off the phone and realized I had made a real connection with this person that was memorable. What else can you hope for in an initial call with a prospect?
Jen
Jen, I read your blog and response last night – excellent as always – and then read an editorial in the WSJ this morning about Steve Jobs. A great line – Jobs “created wealth for millions of people by building products that hundreds of millions didn’t know they wanted until Apple created them. There’s a lesson here about economic growth and its sources.”
I believe some in our industry have figured this out by offering products, usually personalized, that didn’t exist even a few years ago. The rest of us need to take advantage of the innovation that is available to us and bring new ideas and products to market, or we will simply fade away!
Howard – its fitting (purely by accident) that this post coincided with Steve Jobs stepping down. He has never been about the what or the how – he’s been fanatically about the “why” for his entire life. Never after a popularity contest or making a quick buck or taking short cuts or being easy to work for but a constant and consistent focus on the why. That is SO HARD to do these days because our culture, our market (do something every quarter or die mentality), our shrinking attention span, all pull you in the other direction. He stands up against that pull and the best thing about it – he’s rewarded himself, his company, his shareholders, the IRS, the world. Not an easy path, not a path for everyone, but I’m so thankful he stuck to it because I use his products everyday, all day because I believe what he believes! ;-)
Jen
Jennifer,
This post absolutely rocked! Thanks big-time for the inspiration. I know Graph Expo is only a few weeks away, but I think that you’ve just caused me to review, edit, and fix some of the marketing materials that we had ready to go!
Jason
Jason – so thrilled that
1) you read my stuff
2) it helps your business
3) that I get to put stuff out there that fascinates me and find my tribe who gets psyched about the same things – I feel very blessed.
Jen
Jennifer,
Super inspiring video and Simon will be on my watch list. The print industry is the epitome of selling the “what” instead of the “why” and Simon’s simple formula is what’s needed for the paradigm shift to happen. It seems so obvious once you think about, but its amazing that we all still need to be slapped in the face with the basics to get it. This was a really nice dose of inspiration for the day.
I’m a first time reader of your blog but now that I know that we believe in the same things, I will be keeping up with you. See…Simon’s formula works! :)
Brian
Brian – first time readers welcomed!
I had the exact same reaction to this video, I played it 3x before I actually got it because it seemed to freakin simple to be true. I buy Apple products because I believe what they believe. I buy organic fruit because I believe what organic farmers believe. The facts and figures aren’t going to move my decision either way – only my beliefs in the “why”
Jen
At this point, I think it’s easy to say that about Apple and Steve Jobs with all of the history to look back on.
Unfortunately, I think often times we don’t know “How” to sell the “Why”, so when we try to, the customers/prospects just end up saying “What’??
—
Mike King
mking@prismetechnologies
Michael,
Brilliant comment. The idea of this video is easy to grasp, executing on it – not so easy. If it was so easy then we’d all be doing it right? What if you don’t know what your company/product stands for? What if you don’t have a killer story like Steve Jobs has of being the founder with an epic come back story etc… What if you’re just a guy with a job as a product manager for a product you think is pretty cool but not life changing? That’s where most of us are – but I do think no matter where you are there is something that you can be passionate about. I’m passionate about small businesses and local economies. Print happens to have a lot of small businesses who operate in local economies – so I can bring my passion to my work. I’m also passionate about really good software which is what I’m talking to people about on most days. Steve Jobs has a story where his full passion was in total alignment with the company he created, so you’re right he’s an easy analogy.
Jen