Buyer Insights

Never Sell a Liberal the Same Way as a Conservative?


conservative liberal road signNever, in all my years in sales, did I ever think I'd write an article on this topic. But recently, I've been reading some interesting studies that show that liberals and conservatives have some real, genetically hard-wired differences. For example:

  • An Italian study showed that negative stimuli is more likely to automatically grab the attention of conservatives as compared to liberals.
  • Numerous studies have shown that differences in threat perceptions are significant predictor of political attitudes. Conservatives perceive more threats and react more strongly to them.

When I apply this data to the field of sales, it leads to some interesting conclusions:

  • If I'm selling to conservatives, perhaps I'd be more successful if I focused on problems, risk-related issues or fears of competitive inroads.
  • If I'm selling to liberals, I might get better traction if I focused on ideas,  what's possible and ways to get ahead of the game.

If what I'm saying is true, then it's possible that we're overlooking the most important sales question of all:

Which TV news station do you watch?

YOUR TURN: Should we sell to liberals the same way we sell to conservatives? Or should we be approaching them differently?  Share your thoughts in the comments section of my blog.

After a successful career in the sales world, writing five books, and speaking internationally, Jill is now tackling an even bigger challenge. She's focused on bringing the "millions in the middle" together to solve some of the biggest issues facing our country and the world. Jill truly believes so much more is possible if we can work together.