The Wedge: The Scientific Selling Power of Yes, No and Maybe

My dad was a fighter pilot. He flew a P-47 Thunderbolt, one of the heaviest fighter planes ever built. The aircraft was equipped with eight 0.50-calibre machine guns, four per wing, which were an absolutely devastating combination.

The Thunderbolt carried 10 five-inch rockets or a 2,500-pound bomb. It was a beast of an airplane, and I’m proud my dad flew it.

Just after my dad died, I was walking through an airport and saw a book in one of the stores that I just had to get. The title was “Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War.”

Forty-Second Boyd

Boyd went to the Flight Weapons School at Nellis Air Force Base and not only performed well, he rose to the top of his class. Upon graduation, he was invited to become an instructor pilot at Nellis, and it was there he was given the nickname, “Forty-Second Boyd.”

The Flight Weapons School at Nellis Air Force Base was to the Army Air Force what the Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOP GUN) Top Gun School is to the Navy; only the best pilots in the world are invited.

Boyd had a standing bet with any pilot that showed up at the Flight Weapons School: “Let’s go up, you start off on my six-o’clock (rear end) and within 40 seconds we’ll have reversed positions and I will have shot you down.”

According to the book, he never lost and only got tied once.

He Never Lost; He Was Only Tied Once

Personally, I found that amazing. When questioned, “How do you do that?” he responded with a simple answer. He said when in aerial combat (a dogfight), for every move, there is a counter-move. And for every counter-move, there is a counter to the counter. The point he was trying to make is this: He believed that when flying a jet airplane in combat, doing loops, rolls, moves and counter-moves, that anything and everything that can happen is highly predictable.

So predictable, that he knew what he would do in advance. He couldn’t be tricked.

In his aerial-attack-study guide published in 1964, he said:

“In discussing fighter-versus-fighter combat, it is evident that many pilots believe there are an infinite number of situations and solutions in a given tactical encounter. Such is not the case! The field in which a fighter pilot must operate is three-dimensional and finite. The size and shape of the field is determined by the pull of 1G gravity and the performance limitations of the aircraft and its pilot.”

A Quick Interpretation

Let me try to interpret what he is saying and then apply it to our world of selling.

The first thing he said is this: most pilots believe that the number of situations and solutions in combat are infinite. Boyd said it is finite, and because it is finite, it is predictable. If a pilot becomes a student of the capabilities of the aircraft (i.e. weight, thrust, turning radius) and a student of potential moves and counter-moves, then the pilot will beat his or her competitor.

What does that have to do with the title of this article, “Sales Gamification, the Scientific Selling Power of Yes, No and Maybe?”

Many salespeople believe that the number of situations and solutions when dealing with a prospect are virtually infinite. I believe it’s finite.

When you ask your prospect a question, their predictable and categorical answer will fall into one of three buckets — yes, no, and maybe.

If you would take the time to write out your questions and their answers, you’ll see the patterns. When you write out their “yes” answer, their “no” answer and their “maybe” answer, then your corresponding next question, your sales call becomes highly predictable.

I call that sales gamification.

To date, I’ve done this with a number of my classes, where we cover the wall in butcher paper, we get out the markers and write it all out. It’s a dialogue decision tree. It works best when you have a defined sales process with a beginning and an end and defined steps along the way.

The resulting level of confidence derived from this scientific approach to selling as compared to the unprepared, unarticulated guessing that most producers do is amazing.

Imagine, as a relatively new producer, that you could write out the dialogue of the buyer and the seller. Ultimately, you could play either role in a sales call. It’s that predictable.

Confidence: A Feeling Driven by Knowledge and Skills

There are a lot of leaders, managers and coaches that tell you to “fake it until you make it.” It’s about the stupidest advice ever given.

Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy and Jason Day are not fakers. Stephen Curry, Lebron James and Kevin Durant are not fakers. Cam Newton, Tom Brady and J.J. Watt are not fakers.

These guys have a knowledge of the game they play that is unbelievable.

Use Jordan Spieth as an example. Ask him the carry distance of any of his clubs and see what he says. Ask him to draw out every hole of the Masters, with distances, slope, creeks, lakes and the elevation of the tee box, and you won’t be disappointed.

Ask any of these guys how much time they spend practicing to develop their skills, and you won’t be disappointed. They are freaks when it comes to working on their skills. Their knowledge and skills lead to extraordinary confidence.

If you want to be great, you’ve got to work at it.

Now you have a method, inspired by “Forty-Second Boyd” using “Sales Gamification and the Scientific Selling Power of Yes, No and Maybe” to build your sales dialogue, step-by-step and word-by-word.

Master this, and I’ll see you at the top of the leader board.