“Consistency Bias”
What is Consistency Bias?
The belief that ones past actions, thoughts, or feelings are the same as they are now. Allowing our current impressions color our memory of a past impressions.
Business Relevance
This bias supports the typical claim of “I’m happy with what I have”. Often, a business prospect will gloss over their existing negative experiences such as cumbersome conversion process, long hold times for customer service, or lack of reliability if things have been going well recently.
Difficulty
Sometimes, the only determining factor in avoiding this bias is the timing of your call which is unpredictable.
Everyday Application
Consistent follow ups and “check-ins” can effectively counteract the Consistency bias. If you happen to catch a prospect in a downswing perception of their relationship with their vendor, your chances for engaging a conversation about your unique value proposition increases.
Recognize when there are major outages, design flaws, or current issues that occur with your competition. Use those talking points and industry research to position and time your calls to be most effective.
“I’m not sure if you heard about the recall/security breach/outage lately but I when I read about it I thought of you. I want to remind you that my company provides XXX.”
“I’m reaching out because I wanted to make sure you remember that I’m still here for you if there’s anything you need.”
Citation
| Cacioppo, John (2002). Foundations in social neuroscience. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press. |
