Social Proof

The concept of social proof is talked about quite a bit by sellers, marketers, sales coaches, and executives. We all have a basic understanding of what it is, but we don’t often spend enough time reflecting on how to execute on it in a way that is influential with our prospects.

It is human nature to want to be one of two things; either a trendsetter, or risk averse. Being a trendsetter means that you are a tastemaker and others are following your choices. Being risk averse means that you would like to know the outcome of everything before trying it. The drive to be perceived as a trendsetter is strong but it is very heavily related to personal goals and visible manifestations of social currency like style and taste. This means that when it comes to a business setting, this drive can become a bit more muted. At the same time, risk aversion becomes more dominant in business settings because people’s careers are held dearly, and the potential of losing face, or losing status, or even losing a job is seen as very traumatic, and rightfully so. For these reasons and others, risk aversion becomes a dominant factor in decision making in the business world.

Since people cannot see the future, and cannot understand how decisions will work out, the only way to make any reliable, or seemingly reliable decisions based on an understanding of how things may work out in the future is to look at similar situations and understand how they turned out in the past. We have been conditioned to look for comparable scenarios in order to judge our own, so the idea that someone else going down a path similar to the one we are considering had success with a specific solution or failed with that solution is going to inform us very heavily one way or another.

Buyers will say that they want something custom and brand new. Asking for something new and custom sounds desirable, and it also sounds good in a professional setting so it can be sued as a tool by the asker to improve internal status. In other words, “Hey guys, look, Im making the vendor bend over backwards for us, look at my negotiating skills”. However, what the buyer really wants is that you be completely dedicated to them and think about their problem exclusively. They don’t really want a custom and new solution, they just want you to treat them like they are unique. The reason for this is what was explained above; trendsetting takes a back seat to risk aversion in business settings.

That is why they all ask for case studies. They want to peace of mind that what they are about to buy has been tested, and works, and will not surprise them. They want to be able to tell everyone at the buying organization about the cool new thing they are doing without assuming any of the risk of doing a cool new thing.

Sound unreasonable? Sure it does. Is it solvable? Sure it is. Your decision maker, in a one-on-one setting needs to have risk assuaged, and your larger group settings need to convey excitement and newness. But more importantly, there is one mechanism that can bridge the gap between both, and should be used consistently but smartly, and that is social proof.

Talk about other clients who are similar to them. Talk about those clients’ problems so that they can identify with those clients and their problems. But here is the key; don’t talk about the solution. Talk about the client. Talk about how you consulted them on the issue and the desired outcome and how that was fulfilled. Don’t talk about the details of the solution. Sure, if you get asked a question about it, answer it, but then move quickly back to situation, problem, outcome and value.

When you talk about the solution, you are telling the client that they are not getting something that is custom built for them. Sure, they know that, and they even want that, but when you call attention to it, it gets talked about and your decision maker loses the ability to talk about the great new thing that they are doing. However, when you talk about the situation, and the problem and the consultation, you help your client identify with someone who has solved the problem, and you increase your own value as an advisor who can help them navigate. When you talk about the outcome and the value, you help your client envision a world that is better than the status quo so that they can get excited about a solution, while at the same time you are helping assuage worries about risk.