We’re Not Happy Until They’re Not Happy


This brilliant insight was offered by one of our attendees during a recent training event and it really makes a strong point about the role of Business Development. People buy, organizations do not! If you can’t put positive stress on your prospect, they may never be motivated enough to resolve their issue.

Understanding how and why people buy is critical for a Business Development Professional. Those who invest in learning behavioral psychology and understanding the basic, psychological motivations that drive people’s actions or behaviors will be at a distinct advantage.

Individuals typically buy to avoid or overcome a negative emotional feeling. Strangely enough, people are more motivated to avoid a negative than to pursue a positive. For individuals, the negative, motivating emotion could be ignorance, fear or aggravation. Getting the prospect to open up, recognize their negative feelings, take ownership of them, and be concerned enough to want to solve the problem requires engaging them in a dialog, gathering intelligence and becoming a confidante.

Helping an individual to realize their frustration and become upset about it (and not you!), takes the art and skill of a true Business Development Professional who can do this in a nurturing manner.

The prospect needs to be aware and unhappy about their situation, and be motivated to do something about it. If you can’t help them become aware and motivated, you don’t have a well-qualified prospect.

The ability to explore a prospect’s unhappy place is the first step to the bank. Without “pain” there is no prospect.