The Invisible Game

Chapter 12What Buyers Think and How They Make Decisions

There is a difference between a choice and a decision. A choice is the option that remains after someone applies a quintessential System 2 process: using a set of objective criteria systematically to eliminate alternatives. In contrast, a decision requires a judgment call, either because the application of objective criteria does not yield a clear result or because those criteria are too numerous or too tedious to review and weigh individually. Decisions invariably involve System 1 or ideally a blend of System 1 and System 2.

In today's world, objective product and service differentiation is harder than ever to achieve and maintain. Clear-cut choices tend to be the exception. Most commercial choices have way too many aspects for a normal human being to take into account. This makes it essential for salespeople to understand how and why buyers make decisions. Gaining that understanding represents a different kind of challenge for salespeople who are normally trained to lead a buyer to the best choice rather than to influence the buyer's decision.

Professional purchasing people, however, will not be easy targets for emotional appeals. Many of them will have well-honed procedures and processes designed to serve as lines of defence against subjective arguments that could influence their decisions. These defences make the salesperson's challenge more intricate, but certainly not insurmountable. The buyers' learned defences ...