Pre-judgement
Pre-judgement can be a dangerous habit. Unfortunately we are all guilty of it to some degree or other. Whether we realise we are doing it or not, we often not only make quick judgements in our own mind, but also we voice them to those close by, rapidly harvesting negative feelings about our chosen subject. How many times have you found yourself saying “so and so is a really decent bloke, but I wasn’t sure about him at first. I thought he was up his own arse.”
Some of you may have used different terminology, but the fact that you pre-judged that person and you were proved to be wrong, demonstrates my point. Cynicism can creep into your tone if you are not careful and it will become apparent, when you meet the customer, that you are not interested in them. This will confirm their opinion of you, as you were also being pre-judged to your detriment, before you met.
Imagine a group of three sales people standing near the entrance of a dealership, chatting among themselves and occasionally looking out of the window. A car slows down and drives onto the forecourt, creeping along at a snail’s pace.
“Here we go, look at this goon.” John sneers, pointing to the car, which has seen better days.
“What’s he doing? Seeing how much everything is before he gets out of his car? It looks like he has been to the moon and back in that thing.” Ken joins in.
“Hang on he is stopping.” John confirms.
They all watch briefly before Andy returns to his desk, deciding without saying a word that he doesn’t want to get involved. Ken is going on about how he can’t believe this arsehole has parked his car right in the middle of the forecourt, among all the cars for sale.
“I know, what a prick! We should get a price board with £99 on it and ask him if he wants us to sell it for him,” John sniggers, almost wetting himself laughing at his own joke.
Ken laughs along, adding “Yeh, or tell him the Bargain Car Centre is down the road.”
The prospective buyer is wandering round the forecourt now, looking at the choice on show, occasionally looking towards the window, watching the body language of John and Ken. He feels uncomfortable that they are watching him, although he does want to change his car and needs some advice. He continues to walk round and spots a car that he has been considering. He takes a quick look and is impressed enough with the condition to want a look inside.
John advises Ken, who has been distracted by the receptionist, that the knobhead has settled on his old demonstrator. He can’t help but inform Ken and Lucy (the receptionist) that this guy has got champagne taste with lemonade money, to which Ken responds by suggesting the guy is a big hitter with a little bat.
As the customer starts walking towards the dealership to ask for the keys, so he can have a better look, he sees Ken pointing and laughing, obviously talking about him with his colleague. With anger building up inside him, making him feel flushed and irritated, he decides to give it a miss and strides back towards his car.
Just before he gets back to the forecourt Andy appears with a notepad, heading towards the car next to his, noting the registration number and price. Standing a few yards away, as the buyer gets back to his car, Andy catches his eye and offers to help.
“I was just going, didn’t think anyone was interested.” The buyer proclaims.
“I’m sorry you feel that way, I am certainly interested. Come inside and I will get you a coffee or refreshment.” Andy grovelled.
“Ok, coffee sounds good, white with one sugar please.” The more relaxed customer agreed.
As a result, Andy sold Brian (the prospective buyer / arsehole / knobhead / big hitter with a little bat) Ken’s old demonstrator and earned a twice as much as normal for doing so, much to the bemusement of Ken and John.
The other scenario would be for the customer to leave unhappy, as is often the case. I prefer the former scenario as it demonstrates the significance of separating yourself from a group only concerned with negativity. By leaving them to it and keeping an eye on the customer, you will have an opportunity to pounce. He should be more receptive to you because he has bad feelings about the two pointers in the window.
Being of sound mind, Brian naturally prefers to buy off someone who doesn’t sneer and laugh at him, while he also gets to prove the point that he can indeed afford to buy this product, despite the condition of his current mode of transport.
He has been pre-judged by John and Ken, maybe even Andy too, but Andy keeps his thoughts to himself and watches a common scenario unfold. John and Ken are left wondering where they went wrong. They did have a good laugh, but now feel like they should have had that deal, because they saw him first. No doubt they would return to their desks to lick their wounds and promise themselves they wouldn’t let this happen again.
The good news is that pre-judgement is not necessarily a bad thing, if you don’t let it interfere with the way you handle yourself in front of the customer. Just because you have pre-conceived ideas about someone doesn’t mean you have to show it. Take up the challenge of seeing if you were right and more often than not you won’t be. Relax, take an interest in a potential buyer and see what happens. If you keep your mind open you may be surprised.
As well as sales people pre-judging customers, you also have customers pre-judging sales people. Having experience in this field I can tell you that it is as if you can read their minds. Quite spooky, really. It is possible to read the eyes. A distracted look into space tells its own story, as does a roll of the eyes, or a look down the nose, with head held high. Everyone is guilty of this kind of behaviour.
The main difference is that the customer can pre-judge without any major consequence, because they are the ones spending their cash. This gives them the upper hand of course, but it is a sales person’s job to turn their negative misconceptions into a positive and trusting perception of you. Although it’s not always that easy, the feeling generated when you first see the nod of agreement to what you are saying or the sight of folded arms opening up and relaxing, is what keeps us going. Without realising it you will sense the changes in body language and automatically increase your efforts in persuasion.
An already disgruntled customer may pre-judge by thinking disparaging thoughts and here are some of the more obvious ones to spot, just by looking at someone’s actions and expressions:
· Look at this guy, looks like a right know-it-all:
o Pouted lips; sideways smirk; slight pause in step
· Oh no, here we go, a sales person:
o Roll of the eyes; quick change of direction; hand clutching keys
· Leave this to me, love (whispered to partner):
o Tap of partners arm; moving in front of partner; stern look straight in the eyes
· Better not show any interest:
o Evasive posture; looking down; using phone as distraction
· Nice one, I can get some information:
o Looking at you in desperation; half raising an arm then realising they look stupid, you’re not a waiter; pointing at a car to attract your attention
As people use risk analysis to determine every action in their lives, it is easy to see why we pre-judge so often. The way we use risk to answer our concerns is twofold. Initially our subconscious mind comes into play; without conscious thought we get a feeling of emotion linked to the act we have just encountered. This feeling is generated very quickly and affects our pattern and train of thought, the extent of which is related to how strong these feelings are. They can leave you with a sharp ache in your gut, hence the term “gut feeling.” Your heart will beat faster and may even race; again, this all happens pretty quickly. Once the panic subsides your head will try to interpret and control your thoughts, adding some rationality or logic, or at least trying to. The head is providing conscious thought and usually takes its time to decide your opinion. Indeed it may never truly decide. The gut feeling still remains and often affects your conscious thoughts, whether it is right or wrong. “It’s doing my head in” – a classic statement provoked by an indecisive head arguing with the gut.
The brain is pre-programmed this way and has been for thousands of years, so there is no way to negate the thought process of your subconscious; only to diminish the potential harm by considering how your brain operates. It will also be proved right on plenty of occasions, leaving you thinking you are psychic for sensing something with that gut feeling, with your subconscious mind saving you from embarrassment or regret.
It goes back to proving the customer wrong. If you sense you have been wrongly pre-judged, increase your efforts to convert the customer rather than just walking away. If you cannot be bothered, then you will be watching your money walking straight into someone else’s pocket, or worse, straight out of the door.
