Sometime Now

How often have you been asked this question, usually as a rhetorical reply to your own question?

“When will the report be ready?” Is often greeted the reply “How long etc

Let us however, focus on the answer to an original question of, how long is a piece of string? The answer can depend on a person’s perception, interest and what is known as his or her model of the world.

To a Quantum Physicist, A string is an object with a one-dimensional spatial extent. (1)  Hence the answer is measured in micro meters

To a string based musical instrument maker, “A string length is defined by the note that is to be produced”

To an average parcel maker, the length is very rarely exact for the desired use and needs to be cut to length.

This article is not for one moment intended to lead us down the path of “String length Theory”. However, what I aim to show is that whether it is the length of a piece of string or other objects and situations, it is a person’s perception of something that really matters.

Model of the World

This perception is often referred to as an individual’s “model of the world” and can quite often be in conflict with the next person’s perception.

As I look out of my office window, my attention is drawn to the white fluffy clouds in the light blue sky. The smell of the newly mown grass is wafting through my window. This gives me a warm feeling and energises me to work even harder than I am doing (Spot the faster typing – he says jokingly).

The same scene to Bill, one of my close neighbours, spells disaster as his son will undoubtedly start sneezing as his hay fever kicks in.

In this simple example, Bill’s model of the world is slightly different to mine, he loves the clouds and the sky, but the mown grass is not one of his favourite subjects.

What has this got to do with Business?

Move this type of scenario into the business world. Your company may, in your opinion, be selling the best and most useful product or service ever invented. However, do you know how many of your customers, both existing and potential have exactly the same opinion as you?

We all know that selling is about benefits and not about features. How many of you research your potential customers to see if the benefits that you perceive will be of use to the customer, actually feature in her/his model of the world?

After all, unless you can think like your customers, you cannot hope to perceive how the product’s benefits fit into their model of the world.  By this I am not advocating mind reading. I would prefer to leave that side to skilled professionals such as Derren Brown. What I am advocating is asking a series of open but probing questions about the customer’s needs and matching those to the benefits that your product offers.

Get into Rapport

By asking the carefully formulated questions, you can quickly build a picture of how your product will fit into your customer’s model of the world. You will not be surprised to find that it could be different in many respects to yours. This is quite often known as being in, or out of, Rapport with a person. The closer and quicker you can get into Rapport with a potential customer, the quicker you will be able to close the sale.

Quite often, a person’s model of the world is influenced by which of the five senses is most dominant in the way that they receive and thus process information.

The Senses (a quick Guide)

Visual----Tend to prefer to be shown things on offer
Auditory----Tend to wish to be told about things on offer
Kinaesthetic----Tend to have to get a feel for what is on offer
Gustatory----Taste is prominent
Olfactory-----Smell is important

Obviously, most people will have a mix of the senses working for them. However, it is pointless trying to describe a product to a person that is predominantly kinaesthetic using, visual words such as Big, Blue, Fast, Imagine, Look, See etc. It would be preferable to use words such as Feel, Touch, Warm, Soft, etc

The topic of getting into Rapport is such a complex and wide ranging one, space does not permit me to go into more detail.

Did you know?

• Most of us have a mix of representational systems with one being more dominant than the rest. E.g. I love the SMELL of fresh roasted coffee, however that is only because it gives me a great FEELING.     I adore the SIGHT of twinkling stars that make me FEEL calm. Not withstanding the mixture, the vast majority of the population of the UK have a Kinaesthetic bias.
• A Visual person will speak much more slowly than one that is Kinaesthetic, adding detail as he/she constructs a picture of what is being described. They tend to need lots of detail and often think that Kinaesthetic people are dim or stupid.
• Kinaesthetic people may speak very quickly and often skip detail in a description. Kinaesthetic people go with their feelings and therefore think that Visual people are very cold and uncaring.

So, Back To the Piece of String!

I guess the simple answer to the question is the length of a piece of string is very similar to a person’s perception or model of the world. Variable and fits the needs and specific requirements at the time.

(1) Source Wikipedia.com