Change the Sales Curve

Change curves are a powerful tool – I think they ought to be taught at school since few people are well equipped to deal with all the challenges that relationships present. Change curve stem from how people behave when they experience a shock such as an unexpected death. The typical stages are something like Shock, Denial, Resistance, Exploration and Acceptance.

Many of these stages are common to sales. The cold call is where you'll hit Denial or Resistance. “We don’t need that”. “The problem isn’t that serious – we don’t need to fix it”. Using the change curve can help you in sales. By understanding where your prospect is on the curve, you can tailor your message and help progress the sale towards Acceptance.

Change curves don’t solve all problems – just like real life some people can get stuck on the curve for example not being able to accept and come to terms with a death which happened 20 years ago. 

So don’t expect all your sales to be magically turned around. Change curves can help you look at the sale from a different perspective - you'll be working on the sale not in the sale!