Zoom In: Micro Behaviors. Zoom Out: Big Impacts

“The micro makes the macro.” That’s from Derek Cabrera, of the Cabrera Lab at Cornell, talking about systems behavior. Cabrera is a leading authority in the systems thinking world, who is working to apply the rules of systems logic to world problems large and small.

Last year, he and I partnered to use data from our sales platform to answer questions about complex sales. The way he thinks about systems problems, and the tools he’s built, have a very direct impact on how we think, providing insights that we use to create a better product for you.

One of the tools in the Cabrera toolbox is the “zoom in/zoom out” tool where you get in close to a particular situation, and then zoom out to see how it impacts and is impacted by the larger systems around it. Using this tool, we can begin to see where sales teams are leaking energy ineffectively, and where they can apply small behaviors for big results.

This has major implications for how we think about day to day activities.

Your Sales Team’s Micro Behaviors Matter More Than You Think

Every day, your sales team comes into work and begins their routine. That routine may include many very important activities, all of which you track in your sales system. Making phone calls, following up with emails, and researching prospects.

Those behaviors also include many micro behaviors you may not even be aware of. How much time they spend developing their skills, what they talk about with prospects before they talk business, and which questions they ask. How they’re having those conversations, whether they’re skipping steps or stakeholders in the process, whether they’re contacting prospects based on strategy or vibes.

These micro behaviors seem minor on the surface, especially if the person is still making sales. But they add up more than you think. It’s kind of like health decisions. On a daily basis, you make many small choices: What you eat, how much and in what ways you move your body, how many coffees you drink, whether you have pastry after one meal, all your meals, or none of your meals.

From day to day, none of these behaviors means very much at the micro level. But when you look at a pattern across a year or more, you can see the macro impacts they have. Excess weight, low muscle tone, unhealthy organs, physical strain, chronic pain and fatigue, and all the cascading effects of those issues.

Now, apply the concept to your sales team. A daily habit of making easy calls instead of more valuable ones, jumping to a presentation too soon, or talking more than they listen on calls adds up. Apply that across your entire sales team, and you could be losing millions every year to small leaks you don’t even know exist.

The Same Thing Happens on The Customer Side - And That’s Where Opportunity Lives

While you’re busy zooming in on your sales team’s behaviors, take a minute to consider the customer-side behaviors too.

Many sales opportunities end in inaction, not because inaction is the best choice for the customer, but because they are afraid of taking a risk. Most people consider inaction to be safer and lower risk than action, but often the opposite is true.

If your sales team can quantify the cost of inaction, the customer is much more likely to move rather than stay still.

Most deals aren’t lost to direct competitors, but to no decision, due to overwhelm and fear.

It’s worth it for your sales team to zoom in on the micro behaviors and the small obstacles that the customer’s systems are enabling, then zoom out to show them how expensive it is to continue as they have been. Then you can also quantify the value of removing the micro obstacles and enabling healthier micro behaviors using your offering.

Conclusion

Imagine two people, both of whom are told by their doctor that their blood pressure is too high and if they don’t lose 150 pounds and lower their heart rate, they’re going to run into significant health problems. 
One of them has no idea how to do that, and feels powerless and overwhelmed by the scale of what they’re being asked to do. So they do nothing.

Another understands that the micro makes the macro, and decides to make small changes in their daily behavior. They skip the dessert after meals and switch to sweets twice a week instead, choose a salad for one meal a day, commit to ten thousand steps a day, and start weight training two times a week.

Then, to amp up their results, they see a nutritionist to suggest additional tweaks in their daily consumption, and they hire a physical trainer to help them optimize their workout.

At the end of a year, the first person, who was overwhelmed by the size of the necessary change, is back in the doctor’s office receiving the news that they need surgery and significant intervention to avoid dire consequences.

The second person has lost 60 pounds, has good muscle tone, a healthy heart, and continues to drop unhealthy weight and gain strength toward their optimal health goal. The doctor praises them and sends them home with a clean bill of health and encouragement to continue what they’re doing.

It’s the same in complex B2B sales. Most lost deals aren’t lost to direct competitors. They’re lost to no decision at all, due to overwhelm and fear. But if your salesperson can show the customer how their micro choices directly impact their macro picture, quantify the cost of inaction, and guide them through the change process in a way that is not overwhelming, they will win more deals. And help more customers.

What are some small behaviors your team engages in every day that have a negative impact on the big picture? And what are the small behaviors that lead to more wins? Can you get them doing more of the latter and less of the former? And how will that affect your bottom line?