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Money doesn’t fall from trees.

This week, we are stepping into your customers’ shoes and looking at it from their perspective.

More importantly…the buying process.

We concentrate so heavily on making sure that we do our part to position ourselves for success on winning opportunities, but we need to flip the mirror around to also look at what the customer goes through to make sure we are aligned.

Every market is different, every customer experience is different. But the more you know your customer, the better you are at understanding where you sit with your customer and getting to a win.

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Customers want strong relationships, trustworthiness, safety, reliability, and to know that you can execute the work required.

Buying isn’t a spreadsheet exercise. From the first price you show to the urgency you create, every choice you make taps into deep-seated biases: anchoring, social proof, loss aversion, status quo bias, scarcity, reciprocity, and cognitive ease.

We are going to explore these 7 biases and how you can pivot from them.

Let’s dance.

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Here is an easy challenge for you to test yourself and your team.

Ask them point-blank, right down every step that your customer goes through in their buying process? What are all the steps that they take to go from needs/requirements → qualifications → procurement → contract?

The government has its own process, Task Orders operate differently than a stand-alone RFP, every private sector has theirs process, the list goes on. Do you know the step-by-step play?

Most people believe they make logical buying decisions. Weigh the pros and cons. Compare features and prices. Choose the best option based on pure reason.

Here's the uncomfortable truth: You don't. Neither do your customers. Neither does anyone.

95% of purchasing decisions happen subconsciously. These aren't flaws in your thinking. They're features. They help you navigate a world of infinite choices without getting paralyzed by analysis.

When you recognize how buyers think and decide, you can position your solutions in ways that feel natural, trustworthy, and right.

This also comes down to how well you know the customer and how well they know you. Here are a few past articles where I dive into this:

It’s Called a Go/No-Go Decision for a Reason - Master It to Win

If You Don’t Know How They Buy, You’re Just Guessing

Why Relationship Selling Crushes Transactional Selling in the Age of AI

Your customers don't evaluate prices in isolation. They anchor to the first price they see and judge everything else relative to that starting point.

When Mars displayed signs reading "Snickers bars, buy 18 for your freezer" instead of "buy them for your freezer," sales increased 38%. Nobody actually bought 18 bars, but that number shifted the question from "Should I buy Snickers?" to "How many should I buy?"

What this means for buyers: That premium option at the top of your pricing page isn't just decoration. It's setting the anchor. Everything else looks reasonable by comparison.

When your customers don't have perfect information, which is always, they look to others for guidance. Reviews, testimonials, case studies, and "other customers also bought" recommendations aren't just helpful. They're decision-making shortcuts.

85% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. Your buyer isn't just evaluating your product. They're evaluating whether other smart people like them chose you.

Losses feel twice as powerful as equivalent gains. Your customers aren't just thinking about what they'll gain by buying. They're thinking about what they'll lose by not buying, or by choosing wrong.

Research from Columbia Business School found that the majority of consumers are loss-averse, but this varies significantly by demographics. The anxiety of potential loss outweighs the desire for equivalent gain.

What buyers are really thinking: "What if this doesn't work?" "What if there's something better?" "What if I waste money?" Address the loss, not just the gain.

Change feels risky. Staying the same feels safe. Your customers have an innate preference for maintaining their existing state of affairs. Even when your solution is objectively better, their default is to stick with what they know.

Status quo bias explains why 58-60% of consumers choose their current option when presented with alternatives, even when those alternatives offer better value.

What buyers need: Not just proof that you're better. Proof that the risk of staying the same is greater than the risk of changing.

Limited availability increases perceived value. When your customers see "only 3 left in stock" or "sale ends tomorrow," their brains don't just process information. They trigger urgency and emotional decision-making.

Neuroimaging studies show that when people make decisions under scarcity, brain regions related to emotion become more active, while regions involved in controlled processing become less active.

When you provide something valuable, information, tools, consultation, or even just exceptional service, you trigger a powerful psychological response. Your customers feel obligated to reciprocate.

The Behavioral Insights Team tested reciprocity-based messaging in job center reminders. Simply informing people that "your Job Advisor has done something specifically for you" and adding a personal touch increased attendance by 145%.

What buyers feel: When someone helps them, teaches them, or gives them something valuable, they want to return the favor. Even when that "something" was freely given.

Your customers' brains are lazy, in the best possible way. They prefer experiences that are simple to process and understand. When something is easy to process, people are more likely to believe it's true, trust it, and act on it.

Research shows that when people experience cognitive ease, they're more likely to believe information is accurate, trust the source, and feel positive about their decision.

What this means: Complex proposals, confusing pricing, and difficult-to-navigate processes don't just frustrate customers. They trigger cognitive strain, which creates skepticism and leads to abandoned purchases.

Understanding buyer psychology isn't about tricks or manipulation. It's about recognizing that your customers are human beings who make human decisions. They're not calculating machines. They're people with emotions, fears, social pressures, and mental shortcuts.

When Google and The Behavioural Architects studied 310,000 purchase scenarios across multiple industries, they found that even fictional brands with zero prior exposure could win 28-87% of consumer preference when "supercharged" with behavioral advantages.

The lesson: Features and benefits matter. But psychology matters more.

Stop thinking like a seller. Start thinking like a buyer. When you understand what's happening in your customer's mind, you can position your solution as the natural, obvious, low-risk choice.

Because that's exactly what every buyer is looking for, a decision that feels right, not just one that looks right on paper.

From new tools, recent trends, and market updates, here is what has been on my mind.

The next time you craft a proposal, design a pricing page, or have a sales conversation, ask yourself: "Am I making this psychologically easy or psychologically hard?"

If you don’t understand it, just imagine how the customer is going to feel.

Make it obvious. Make it easy. Make it human.

These seven biases aren't weaknesses in your buyers' thinking. It’s a glance at how fast decisions are made in a complex world. When you align your approach with these natural tendencies instead of fighting them, something magical happens: buying becomes effortless.

See you next week.