Fear of Loss Trumps Desire to Win
It rarely fails - I am coaching one of our sales counselors through a negotiation, only to recommend a negotiation point that strikes fear into my counselor. Not just "I don't think that will work, Stephen." kind of fear - no - I'm talking sweaty palms, dilated pupils, "I don't want to get shot", and "I'm-going-to-be-so-broke-my-three-year-old-will-have-to-go-to-community-college" kind of fear. Why is that? Because the closer you get to realizing a sale or a deal, the more one fears losing it. However, we homosapiens are funny creatures, because this phenomenon goes way beyond sales, it's true for all aspects of our lives. It is our nature that anything that we care about, we want to keep. At the very least, we wish to stake our claim in what we already have firmly prior to evaluating other options. This is why a high school senior may really want to ask out the head cheerleader, but will keep his current date UNTIL he gets a fi...