7 Surprising Cognitive Biases All Salespeople Need to Know to Close More Deals

As a salesperson, you probably like to think of yourself as a rational, logical thinker. You present compelling facts, figures and arguments to your prospects and expect them to weigh the information objectively to arrive at a sound decision (in your favor, of course).

But here‘s the thing – that‘s not how people, including your buyers, actually make decisions. As much as we like to see ourselves as fully rational creatures, the reality is that humans are deeply irrational and prone to all sorts of cognitive biases that influence our choices, often without us even realizing it.

A cognitive bias is a systematic error in thinking that impacts judgments and decisions. Cognitive biases are like mental shortcuts the brain takes based on past experiences, preferences, emotions, and innate human tendencies. While they can occasionally be useful, biases often lead to poor, irrational decisions.

For salespeople, understanding and leveraging common cognitive biases can give you a massive advantage in nudging prospects toward a purchase decision. By tuning into your buyers‘ irrational tendencies, you can present your pitch and offer in a way that naturally compels them to act in your favor.

Here are 7 of the most important cognitive biases for salespeople to understand and use to boost their close rates and sales success:

1. Bizarreness Effect

The bizarreness effect refers to our tendency to remember strange, surprising or unusual information more easily than expected or common information. That‘s why urban legends and conspiracy theories are so sticky compared to plain facts.

To leverage this bias as a salesperson, don‘t be afraid to lead with an attention-grabbing story or statistic to make your message more memorable. For example, "Did you know that the average office worker spends 4 hours per week on repetitive data entry? With our automation software, you can get that wasted time back to focus on profit-generating activities."

The unexpected framing helps you stand out from other reps pitching the usual benefits like saving time and money. Just make sure any bizarre fact you use is actually true and relevant to your offering!

2. Empathy Gap

The empathy gap is a cognitive bias that makes it difficult for people to predict how they will behave in an emotional state that is different from their current one. If you‘ve ever gone grocery shopping while hungry and ended up with way more junk food than you intended, you‘ve fallen victim to the empathy gap.

In sales, this bias often manifests as prospects underestimating the pain and problems caused by their current situation. A buyer might be frustrated with their existing software, but in a calm moment looking at your solution, they struggle to imagine just how much that frustration is costing them day after day.

Effective salespeople use emotional contrast to bridge the empathy gap. Paint a vivid "before" picture of the daily annoyances and energy sucks the prospect faces, followed by an "after" vision showing how much easier their life could be with your solution. Anchoring their calm state to their frustrated state motivates action.

3. Halo Effect

The halo effect refers to our tendency to assume that because we like one aspect of something, all other aspects must be equally likable and positive. It‘s why attractive people are often assumed to also be kind and intelligent.

For salespeople, the halo effect means your personal likability (or lack thereof) heavily colors how prospects perceive your offer‘s value. If you make a great impression, buyers naturally assume your product and company must be great too. But if you come across as annoying or untrustworthy, they extend that negative association to your offering.

Building rapport and demonstrating genuine care for your prospects as individuals, not just potential sales, is crucial for leveraging the halo effect. Prep for calls by researching their interests and role, and always look for ways to be helpful first, even if it doesn‘t immediately benefit you.

4. Optimism Bias

The optimism bias is our general tendency to overestimate the likelihood of positive outcomes and underestimate the likelihood of negative ones in our own lives. Entrepreneurs fall prey to the optimism bias when they assume their startup will succeed, even though 90% fail.

In sales situations, prospects often have unrealistically rosy assumptions about their current trajectory. Sure, they‘re experiencing some problems now, but they optimistically expect those issues to just resolve themselves or at least stay stable, without investing in a solution.

As a salesperson, your job is to respectfully highlight the risks and costs of inaction and spur the buyer to take control of their own fate. Ask questions like: "If you continue with the status quo, where will you be in 1 year? What about 5 years?" and "What will it cost your business if this problem continues or gets worse?"

At the same time, keep the optimism bias in mind when describing the expected results and timeline of implementing your offering. Buyers often underestimate the effort required on their part to achieve success. Be realistic about what it will take so you don‘t set expectations you can‘t meet.

5. Hyperbolic Discounting

Would you rather receive $100 today or $120 a month from now? How about $100 today or $1000 a year from now? If you‘re like most people, you‘d take the quick payout over the larger but delayed one. This tendency to steeply discount the value of future rewards is known as hyperbolic discounting.

The hyperbolic discounting bias means buyers are often reluctant to invest in something that pays off in the long run because they overvalue near term gains and costs. As a salesperson, you want to shorten your prospect‘s mental time horizon as much as possible.

Emphasize the immediate benefits of moving forward – how will their day-to-day life and peace of mind improve right away? If possible, reframe your pricing in smaller chunks ($200 per month sounds more palatable than $2,400 per year) or offer a payment plan so buyers don‘t have to part with a big lump sum all at once.

6. Sunk Cost Fallacy

The sunk cost fallacy is the irrational tendency to continue investing time, money or energy into something simply because we‘ve already invested significantly in it, even when cutting our losses would be the most economical decision going forward.

The classic example is refusing to abandon a doomed project at work that you‘ve already sunk countless hours into. In sales, the sunk cost fallacy often appears as prospects feeling obligated to keep using a subpar tool or stick with a bad supplier relationship because of how much they‘ve already paid for it.

Salespeople can leverage the sunk cost fallacy in their favor by getting buyers to take a series of small actions and commitments during the sales process. Little sunk costs like agreeing to a meeting, filling out a brief survey, or starting a free trial get prospects increasingly invested in the outcome and more likely to rationalize a purchase to avoid having "wasted" all that effort.

7. Ambiguity Effect

The ambiguity effect is a cognitive bias where people prefer options with known probabilities over ones with unknown probabilities, even if the known probability is lower. In other words, we‘d rather take a bet with a 50% chance of winning than one with odds anywhere between 25-75%.

From a buyer‘s perspective, sticking with the status quo feels safer than taking a risk on a new solution, even if that solution would likely produce better results. As a salesperson, your mission is to reduce ambiguity and perceived risk as much as possible.

Arm your champions with case studies, testimonials, and statistics demonstrating your track record of success with similar customers. Where possible, offer contractual guarantees and make the purchasing process totally transparent and frictionless. A confused buyer never buys, so overcommunicate and eliminate any ambiguity that could deter them.

Use Cognitive Biases to Sell Smarter

The human brain is a funny thing. For better or worse, we simply aren‘t the rational agents we like to imagine ourselves to be. While cognitive biases often lead us astray, smart salespeople can actually harness these quirks of human psychology to influence and persuade buyers.

As you engage with prospects, put yourself in their shoes and consider how they are likely processing and responding to information through the lens of their cognitive biases. Present your solution in a way that leverages rather than fights against their irrational tendencies.

Of course, this doesn‘t mean manipulating or deceiving your buyers – cognitive biases are no substitute for actual product value and an ethical approach. But by combining a genuinely great offering with a strong understanding of human behavior, you‘ll be amazed at how many extra deals you can close.

So the next time a deal unexpectedly falls through or a prospect leaves you scratching your head, don‘t just get frustrated – get curious about the cognitive biases that may be influencing their perception and behavior. Understanding the irrational mind of your buyer is key to unlocking your full potential as a sales professional.