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Critical thinking as a sales superpower.

Over the past few years, our profession has witnessed an exciting evolution. Products and solutions have become more complex, buyers better informed, and this convergence has created a demand for highly skilled sales professionals, not just sales reps who know how to overcome objections and learned a few rebuttals. Modern sales professionals are trusted advisors that can process complicated and disconnected information. In other words, they need to be able to think critically. Critical thinking is an underemphasized skill needed to be successful in modern selling. In this article, we explore what critical thinking is, why sales reps need it, and real-life examples of how to apply it.

What is Critical Thinking?

Critical thinking is more than the ability to recognize a problem. The Foundation for Critical Thinking defines it as, “the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action.” That definition could be included as part of the job description for a sales professional. 

Critical thinking can be misconstrued as growth hacking or data analysis. Using an algorithm or A.I. to solve a problem is not critical thinking. This is why critical thinking is such an in-demand skill for sales professionals. Critical thinking is not something you plug into software for a solution, but something the thinker values and enjoys doing, like finding a clever way to solve a problem. Stanford University states that a critical thinker, in their view, is someone with “a propensity to override suboptimal responses from the autonomous mind.”

The Need for Critical Thinkers in Sales

Most professionals entering a career in sales do not have a scientific background. But if you look at the sales process from finding prospects, discovering problems, and presenting a logical argument that persuades, it is easy to see how critical thinking will improve sales outcomes. Because every prospect is unique, without critical thinking, sales reps will have a propensity to “deliver suboptimal responses.”

Critical thinking is the science behind selling. The key benefits for sales professionals who develop their critical thinking skills are twofold. First, you can sell without anxiety because you know you are serving your clients in the best way possible. Second, because you are selling with integrity you will be viewed as a trusted advisor and hence, sell much more effectively.

The need for critical thinking in sales will continue to grow and only become greater. As sales evolves, it becomes more complex, with change happening faster. Therefore, the ability to generate, evaluate, and present novel ideas will become more in demand, not less. For this reason, sales professionals who develop their critical thinking skills will have greater career opportunities than those who do not. Critical thinking equals job security in complex sales situations.

How Curiosity Impacts Critical Thinking

Critical thinking starts with the premise that, as humans, we are flawed thinkers. This mindset acknowledges we all carry personal bias, irrational thoughts, prejudices, and distortion of the facts. This is not a pessimistic view of the world but one which feeds the thinker’s curiosity to uncover a previously unknown solution. The sales professional who thinks critically is inquisitive and reflective, not a cynic. Without this underlying curiosity, there will be contempt prior to investigation, which is the exact opposite of critical thinking.

Critical Thinking Applied to the Real World

The Opportunity: The following is a real-world example that happened a few years ago with a sales professional in the construction material distribution industry. The rep received an RFQ from a large multinational organization for a construction project in the United Arab Emirates. The project required an extensive material list with large quantity volumes. In other words, it would be the biggest project the sales rep’s company ever quoted. 

The Challenge: Because the opportunity was so big, all the larger industry players would be involved. The rep’s company was a mid-sized national distributor. They were competing against worldwide distributors and even global manufacturers who would likely be competing for this business directly. 

Additionally, because the project was so large, it would take days of sourcing inventory and data entry just to prepare the RFQ (request for quote). The rep’s sales manager thought that winning the project would have a low probability of success. But because the sales rep was new, preparing a large quote would be a good learning experience. The senior reps had seen large RFQs like this before and had no interest in spending days preparing the quote (personal bias, flawed logic) just to lose to the big players. 

Critical Thinking Applied: Because the sales manager didn’t see the project as a total waste of time, he allowed the new rep to prepare a quote. Because the new sales rep was looking at the challenges with a fresh set of eyes, he saw opportunities the senior reps ignored.

The rep discovered during the quoting process that manufacturers would be quoting directly. As the volumes were extensive, no single source was capable of providing all the necessary material. The RFQ stated that all the material had to be at the freight forwarder in New York by a specific date. 

The rep deduced that timing would be the priority over price. Further, the sales rep knew his company would require a wire transfer because international orders mandated cash in advance. This meant his company could receive an additional three percent discount if they paid the suppliers upfront if they actually won the business.  

Outcome: The rep prepared the quote. Instead of quoting the standard 20 percent markup, he only added 17 percent. He considered the size of the order, the number of competitors, and the discount for cash in advance. He submitted his quote and the first call the following day was from the company in the UAE. They liked the quote and wanted to confirm they could deliver ALL the material — which they could. The company sent a purchase order, and the rep sent the wire transfer instructions. 

Once he received the purchase order, the rep went to his sales manager and said, “I’ve got some good news and bad news.” The sales manager asked the rep to elaborate. “We won the UAE quote, but I quoted everything at 17 percent and we have two weeks to get all the materials to New York.” His sales manager smiled and said, “Looks like we’ve got some work to do.”

The result was that the material was delivered on time, and the project turned out to be the biggest order in the history of the company. It also started a long-term relationship with a whale of a client. Had the sales manager and the sales rep not processed all the information, stayed curious , and been creative, they never would have won the business. Due to their thorough processing of available information, they were able to identify weaknesses in their competitor’s solutions. This enabled them to provide their client with a more valuable solution.

In Conclusion

In the real world, money flows to value and people and companies assess value differently based on their current and unique circumstances. When sales reps apply critical thinking to their profession, they are able to uncover hidden values others might have missed. By doing this, they can deliver superior service and position themselves as a trusted advisor. Critical thinking is not a new skill. In fact, it’s a method developed 2,500 years ago by Socrates. The Socratic principle states that the unexamined life is not worth living. For sales professionals, this could be said as the unexamined opportunity is not worth selling.

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Critical Thinking (What Separates Sales Heroes From Zeros)

David Fisher is a sales and networking expert who shows professionals how to harness the power of relationships to uncover new opportunities and make existing business easier. In this episode of The Salesman Podcast, David shares what “critical thinking” is and how it can be a true differentiator between you and your competition.

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Will Barron:

Coming up on today's episode of the salesman podcast.

David J.P. Fisher:

The ability to take in information and do something with that. When we think about critical thinking, it's usually there's a problem, we need to solve it. And critical thinking is the skill we use to decipher all that information and then do something useful with it.

Hello Sales Nation, I'm Will Barron host of The Salesman Podcast. The world's most listened to B2B sales show. If haven't already, make sure to click subscribe. And with that, let's meet today's guest.

Hi, I'm David J.P. Fisher. Everybody just calls me D. Fish. I am a speaker, author and coach. I've written eight books, including the bestselling Networking In The 21st Century: Why Your Network Sucks And What To Do About It, and Hyper Connected Selling. If you want to find me, I'm online, davidjpfisher.com

What is Critical Thinking? · [01:12] 

On this episode of the show with the legend that is David, we're looking at the structure, the process, the methodologies of using critical thinking to not just give better outcomes and more value to our potential customers, but to demonstrate the value as well, to demonstrate process that we're going through to do all this work for them. So they know that we're working hard, and we can use it to differentiate ourselves from the competition. So with that, let's jump into the conversation. Before we get into the practicalities, now we can practise and learn it, what does critical thinking actually mean?

“The ability to take in information, and do something with that. When we think about critical thinking, it's usually there's a problem, we need to solve it. And critical thinking is the skill we use to decipher all that information and then do something useful with it.” – David J.P. Fisher · [01:51] 

It's a great question. We could come up with so many different definitions of it. But I think a very simple working definition, is it's the ability to look at some information, some data, and really parse through it, figure out what's really going on. Then based on your diagnosis, make a recommendation about a possible path forward. So just the ability to take in information, and do something with that. When we think about critical thinking, it's usually there's a problem, we need to solve it. And critical thinking is the skill we use to do cypher all that information and then do something useful with it.

Is there a Difference Between Critical Thinking and Just Pure Common Sense? · [02:10] 

Is there a difference? I don't know, this might be too nuanced to break down, but is there a difference between someone who is incredible at critical thinking and someone who has just good common sense?

Wow, I think you're right, it's a little nuanced for, but I think that when we look at common sense, it is almost this intuitive, critical thinking. A lot of what we think about it as critical thinking, is the ability to look to the future and figure out possible consequences and decide, “Well, maybe that's a consequence I do want, or one that I don't want.” The people we think who have common sense are good at just intuitively going, “Based on all of the information I have, I don't think I should tell my significant other that I don't like her haircut.” It's something like that. Critical thinking is maybe the intentional or deliberate use of those skills when you're faced with a situation or a scenario.

So I think I'm pretty good on the common sense front, especially with business stuff, for whatever reason. My dad has run small businesses in the past, so probably some of this filters down and conversations over over tea. I was just chatting with you before we clicked record, of I'm taking the accounting side of the business more seriously now, because it's the first time in four years that there's been any revenue to actually do any accounting on.

It's a big thing.

Critical Thinking Processes and Its Difference to Following Your Gut · [03:55] 

Yeah, so common sense comes somewhat, I wouldn't say naturally, like it's a God-given talent, but it's a gut feeling. I know when something sounds, looks stupid, that isn't going to work, and when something peaks my interest and I go, “Okay, I could investigate this further.” So if that's your gut feeling and we can leave common sense to one side for the rest of the conversation. If common sense is your gut feeling, is there a process to critical thinking is there, “Here's a problem, here's the potential solution.” If there is a process, how do we go about looking into the problem and uncovering what is actually useful in a potential fix or scenario to go about getting to our outcome?

“When we become experts in an area, we are actually able to make decisions that are good, without actually having to consciously go through a process.” – David J.P. Fisher · [04:31] 

Yeah, that's a great question. I think you actually have keyed in on something there with the idea of a gut feeling. Sometimes our gut feelings are just the emotional resonance that we can put onto a situation. But I think for a lot of us, when we become expert in an area, we are actually able to make decisions that are good, without actually having to consciously go through a process. So like you said, you're great at business. I've seen this happen a lot of times where somebody is a great business person. Again, they've got a great gut, great intuitive sense for business, but other parts of their life are a mess, and they have no common sense whatsoever. It's just that they don't have that process. I think when we look at critical thinking, yes, there is absolutely some processes that we can put in place. Some skills we can work on.

I think the first, is understanding that we need to have as much information as possible, but also we need to not wait to have all of the information. So you'll see often people who don't want to make a plan, or don't want to make that first step until they know everything, and they're never going to know everything. So they get stymied and they get stuck. So I think that when you look at the critical thinking path, it is really about being deliberate, going, “Okay, do I have enough information? Then based on that information, do I have previous scenarios, previous experience in this situation that I can apply?” I think there's something to be said then for, and we've talked about this before, but empathy and relationships, “How does that information actually play out in this scenario? I'm working on?” Meaning yes, the VP of HR, the VP of marketing, the VP that I'm trying to sell to might be telling me X, Y, and Z.

But I actually know based on conversations with that person, and also maybe some other conversations, there's something else going on. So understanding that. And then it's what I would say is the creativity, and maybe there's the wild card, which is maybe you have some different experiences. You've shared the story before about walking into a surgeon's surgery, I guess, and talking about boats, because that's what the surgeon was really into. That's how you built that rapport. So yeah, there's this whole process. Then there's the diagnosis and going, “Hey, I think we should do this.” Then there's getting the customer or potential customer to agree to it. So this is, there's some complexity here. This is not just A, B and C, but that I think when you put some deliberate intention on that process, you can definitely see better results.

Why is Critical Thinking Important? · [07:10]

So I want to get into the deliberate intention in a second, but why do we want to be able to do this? Why is critical thinking a differentiator for us, versus someone who perhaps has common sense, can go in, maybe has a little bit of industry experience and then go, “Oh, I guess we should be doing X, Y, Z.” How can we deliberately do this? And potentially, or if we do deliberate do this, does it add more value to the end user as a result?

You just touched on it. It's really about value. In some ways I wish we could stop saying the word value altogether.

The Acceptable Replacements For the Often Overused Word in Sales “Value” · [07:46]  

Well, let me ask you this. I'm sorry to take you off your train thought, but is there a better word than value? Because I feel value doesn't mean anything, it's lost its meaning. Because I've had sales managers say to me in the past, “Just add more value, make more calls.” And that doesn't mean anything.

“When we provide value for someone, it's giving them the tools to make a better, faster, more effective, more efficient decision than they would have without our input. And that doesn't mean giving them more information.” – David J.P Fisher · [08:45] 

Yeah. Is there a better word than value? I don't think there is. What I'll say, is it's like love, it's like freedom. It's a word that encompasses so many different ideas and it would take too long for us to try to parse out 20 different words. So we just say, “Hey, I love my dog. I love my wife. I love my job.” Even though those are three very different things, and we just work with it. I think we have to use value for right now. Although now you've given me a project, I'm going to think about that one. But what here's why I do think value often gets, here's what I think we usually mean, or that we need to mean in this context, is that when we provide value for someone, it's giving them the tools to make a better, faster, more effective, more efficient decision than they would have without our input.

“Where I think we have a challenge in the sales world is I would argue that 20, 30 years ago, providing information helped people make better decisions, because they didn't have access to it. Now they do.” – David J.P. Fisher · [09:07] 

That doesn't mean giving them more information. Where I think we have a challenge in the sales world, is I would argue that 20, 30 years ago, providing information helped people make better decisions, because they didn't have access to it. Now they do. So where does critical thinking come in? It actually allows us to walk into a scenario with a potential customer, they've got all the information they could possibly want. They've had a bunch of sales people come in, give their pitches, but they're actually not further along towards making a better decision.

So what critical thinking allows us to do, is say, “All right, Mrs. Prospect, you've shared that you've got these challenges. I have this information about the industry and about our products. I've also talked to another customer who instituted our solution and they got these results. So let me put those all together, and have some conversations with you. Then also knowing that, Hey, you might need to be able to get some approval for budget. I was just thinking creatively of this solution that you might be able to put this on a certain line item.” In my opinion, that's value. It's not, “Here's our brochure. Here's a blog article.” It's, “Let me help you make that better decision.”

Is Critical Thinking in Sales Comparable to Consultative Selling? · [10:27] 

Is, again, without using another huge sales cliche, is this what a consultant does? So not a consultant who's trying to sell consultancy, but someone who's been hired, is that what we're trying to emulate here, of, “I'm going to do all the brain work. I'm going to do all the research. I'm going to find the pieces of the puzzle that are missing. Here's this potential solution,” that hopefully is our product. If it isn't, “I'll guide you, I'll give you the first step on the pathway, alternatively.” Is that again, without using this cliche consultative selling, is that what we're aiming for in this process?

Yeah, let's use the cliche of consultative selling. I think that's where we're going. The reason why A, the consultative sellers always seemed to be the most successful, whether they were doing it deliberately, or just that's who they were as a person. They were having success, they were getting engaged with their clients, they're doing good business. But I also think when we look at what technology is doing, for most of the 20th century human beings were better at being machines than machines. Now machines are better at being machines than humans are. So if you want to talk about just the routine delivery of information, the routine outreach, AI, predictable algorithms, all these cool things, they can do really good stuff. If you're trying to compete on that level with a machine, you're going to lose as a salesperson.

But what machines aren't good doing yet, and hopefully won't be for a while, is this creative side, which again has some complexity, but also some messiness. One of the things that can be really challenging, is that when you're a salesperson doing consultative, or consultative selling, depending on your preference, if you walk into a buying committee that has 4, 5, 6, 7 people, you can't put just an algorithm into that. Because the goals of that committee might change within a week. It's the human capacity to roll with the punches, to understand the nuances, that's where the value is. That's how you stay employed, and that's importance.

Critical Thinking Skills Derived from the World of Academics · [12:35] 

Is there a way to do this, and I'm using this word hesitantly, academically? As in, if someone had been to business school, they'd done whatever degree or extra degree, or they'd done an MBA, they would know the different matrices of the Ronald [Jenkins 00:12:57], Matrices of four ways to add value of whatever it is. I'm becoming more interested in this, because some of them are actually really useful and we're teaching some of them in the sales school. I'm getting reports to people going, they're selling to a CFO, perhaps they have an MBA, you talk on this level with them, not knowing that they're into all this nerd stuff as well, the nerd side of business, and immediately you are elevated above everyone else in the room when you're having these conversations. So I'm hesitant about using the word academics.

I don't know how much value academia has for sales, entrepreneurship, marketing, other than I guess … I don't know. I think this is a conversation for another time, something I'm pondering in myself. But is there a way to use the academic side of things? These matrices, these structures, these ways of building an argument even, if we get away from business and get into linguistics. Is there a way to use all of this? As a writer, I'm sure you're aware of all the linguistics side of things. Is there a way of doing all of this to build a succinct, almost executive briefing for a potential buyer, as opposed to a typical sales pitch?

Yeah. So to be a 100% straightforward as I answer this question, I am a huge nerd. I have, the funny thing is you figure out that your parents are smarter, the older you get. And when you're an 18 year-old kid, you don't think your dad is smart at all. The one thing I listened to my dad tell me when I was 18, he's like, “Go to, when you go to college, get a liberal arts degree, and learn how to think. You could apply that to anything.” I was like, “Okay, fine.” And I got a history degree, and I've told people over and over that having a history degree makes me a much better business person because of this, yes, there's this disdain for academic. Why? It's information, it's tools, it's skills. Yes, you don't want to get buried in that. But I think sales for too long has been owned by the bros, the hustle, grind, it's just, get out there, and it's, “Hey!”

The used car salesman is the stereotype, isn't it?

Yeah, exactly. But I mean, even definitely in B2B, you see this in tech sales all the time right now, and there is, I would never say, just hire a bunch of nerds to run your business, but right now the nerds are running the world. So let's be careful before we dismiss it completely. I'm always a big fan of taking whatever you can from any discipline and bringing it into your practise. So there's the hustle, there's the psychology, the social skills that are inherent in the past of sales. I think you're right, bringing in different methods and tools from academics, whether it's finance, and going through spreadsheets. Whether it's behave psychology, which is huge these days.

I mean, all these ideas and tips and tricks, we're learning are all from clinical psychologists, over the last couple decades. Heck, I think one of the best things a salesperson can do is improv training, like improv comedy. Because in fact, you learn critical thinking super fast in that setting. So I, yeah, don't dismiss some academics. I think, as you said, if you can walk in and show, not necessarily that you got to brag about, “Hey, I read this book and I use these big words.” It's, “Hey, I've got another tool that we can to help you make a better decision.” I mean, they're going to listen to you and that's the biggest first step, I think.

Yeah. And as I say, I'm hesitant using the word academics, perhaps this is a reflection on me, and to be clear, I've got a degree in chemistry in one of the best schools of chemistry in the UK, in Europe. So I'm a huge nerd. My dissertation, I'm a published scientist. I've got a dissertation in computational chemistry-

How to Highlight Your Critical Thinking Skills and Prove to a Buyer That You’re Better Than the Competition · [17:29] 

… I tagged on the end of someone else's work, PhD, who's now a professor. But I'm a huge nerd on the back of this, but I'm still somewhat hesitant to use that word, academic. So maybe why? I don't know, maybe I need some psycho analysis on that front, to suss out why. But what I'm getting at, is there a way to, other than use critical thinking to come up with an idea and then share the idea verbally, or on a slide or presentation? Is there a way to either document this into a document, which you can use this methodology of thinking to separate yourself from the competition?

Or is there a way to present this? Is there a way to, without ramming it down your potential customer's throat that you are brighter than everyone else, and you've done a bit more work than anyone else? Because clearly that looks amateurish or on you if you're trying to show off. Is there a way to present all of this thinking and data in a succinct way that people can consume? Or is the sales presentation, as we know it the pinnacle of sharing data?

Yeah. Okay, so that's an interesting question. Here's what I would say. There are a number of, let's call them, critical thinking modalities out there. I think it depends a little bit on what you're selling, how technical you're getting. Are you selling to engineers? Are you selling to marketing people? Are you selling to VP of HR? So the exact modality you use, I think will vary. It can be as simple as a Google search, “Critical thinking methodology,” “Critical thinking models.” There's a bunch out there. I think you're right, if you can figure out one or two that works for you, I think that's a good first step.

“Here's the problem with sales presentations. I think most of them are structured well, but we get lost in thinking that the way we're going to sell people is just by hitting them with a bunch of information.” – David J.P Fisher · [18:58] 

Beyond that, I think it is at least just the conscious effort that you put in, to move past just the I'm … Here's the problem with sales presentations. I think they're actually, most of them are structured well, but we got lost in thinking that the way we're going to sell people, is just by hitting them with a bunch of information. Versus we're going to use the sales presentation, for example, to actually take them through these critical thinking steps, that I've gone through, and I'm going to help you see this as well.

The Perfect Sales Presentation that Highlights Your Entire Critical Thinking Process and Positively Influences Buyers · [19:24] 

So how does that look? There might not be an answer to this. I don't know. How does that look practically?

Will, I always love you, for years you've been like, “I've got a question. There's a no answer, but I'm going to ask you anyways.” So cool, cheers.

Because there might be answer, I'm not sure. As you know, I'm no expert in any of this, but how does that look practically then? And we'll come off presentations in a second, David, but is this, because I think a presentation is a good way to outline this whole critical thinking process, is this, we would define a problem? Basically what I'm getting at, is should we as a sales person, is it our job to give them the end results and that's it? Or is it our job to be capable of talking someone through a consultative process that leads us then to a conclusion? Do people want to just know, “Buy our product, do this for six months, and here's the results?” Because people are busy, is that all people want? Or do professional buyers, the C-suites, all these high level executives that we are hopefully dealing with, do they want to know how we've come to the conclusions that we've come to?

Oh yeah. So I think the answer in this case, or at least my first guess, is that it is both, if you have the answer, this is where then your human ability to understand the relationships and what's happening in this scenario, the way they're playing out. If you have that person, who's like, “I'm busy, is this going to help me save 15% on my delivery time? Great. We'll get you, you're hired.” Having that and that confidence to be able to share that, is important. But I think long term, you're going to be much more entrenched if you have the chance to share, “Hey, here's how we came to these solutions. Here's the problems we identified.”

I think of, for example, these more complex sales, where companies … There's a great story of in the Walmart headquarters down in the United States here, there's actually different nodes for delivery companies like UPS and FedEx, where they're actually entrenched into Walmart and helping to deliver stuff. They're not losing those contracts anytime soon. In the same way, if you can at least be able to have that conversation, say, “Here's how we walked through and got to these answers,” then you're going to be, here's the word, valuable person. You're not going to lose the contract in six months, because you've shown that you're worth having around.

I guess, because I'm visualising this as if I was doing it. We're, and we'll probably talk about this off-air in a minute, but we are going to be selling the sales school to sales leadership, as alongside the audience and everyone else that jumps in there as well. The premise of that is to drive more revenue, of course, because one sales leader can buy it for a 100 sales reps, but also so that I can practise everything that we're talking about, because I can really no longer sell the ad space on the podcast, because it's sold out ahead of time. So I want to start engaging with sales leaders. The audience are going to have a good laugh at me doing this, because I think it might be, Will Sells Wednesday, and every Wednesday upload a video of me just hounding the phones, and then doing all this, and sending emails, and sending out packages.

So that might be a YouTube show to come, tied in with the podcast and everything else we do over at salesman.org. But with that side, I'm just trying to visualise this. It seems like a good opportunity if we can demonstrate that we have a methodology. If you're dealing with one of the big accountancy firms, you're not just buying an accountant, you're buying their methodologies, their ways of doing business and their network and everything else that they bring along.

Win More Deals by Presenting Prospects with a Document that Highlights Your Critical Thinking Process · [23:00] 

I feel like if we had, even if it's a five step process, and it's what we're doing with common sense and what we're doing with our gut feelings anyway, if we can have that one page for each of this, and this gets sent over on nice paper, printed professionally, with decent letterhead and all that kind of stuff, and a handwritten note on top. That goes out and maybe this is towards the close, or if you're like me, and there's a tender process for selling to the NHS, anything over, I think, it was 80 grand go to tender, even if you knew you going to win the business. A document like this that goes through all the critical thinking will have a tonne of weight when it lands on someone's desk, versus a quick email or a proposal that's been spammed together by the competition.

“Step number one, your industry research. You have to stay up to date on what's happening in your industry. Number two, how your solutions are helping solve the challenges in that industry. The third is then your discovery, and actually using discovery as a methodology to figure out what's really going on with those customers. So those could be calls, emails, whoever you can get a hold of to figure out how are the problems at this company connected and relevant to what's happening in the industry. Then fourth, and by the way, this is similar to a sales presentation. Fourth is connecting the dots and saying, not just, “Hey, we can solve your problems,” but, “This is why.” And I think if you can put that why in, that's that missing piece often. Then the fifth step is here's our suggestions about how you're going to move forward.” – David J.P. Fisher · [24:14] 

Oh, absolutely. So that's a really good point. It's funny, I was talking to somebody the other day, who was going, “Oh yeah, I don't really like to listen to sales speakers and authors, because they're not selling.” And I'm like, “How do you think we get gigs? We're selling every day.” Here's the five steps. One, I would say you do the … And this is riffing off the top of my head, but I think it could work. Step number one, your industry research. So you have to say up to date on what's happening in your industry. Number two, how your solutions are helping solve the challenges in that industry. The third is then your discovery, and actually using discovery as a methodology to figure out what's really going on with those customers.

So those could be calls, emails, whoever you can get ahold of figure out how are the problems that this company, how are they connected and relevant to what's happening in the industry. Then fourth, and by the way, this is similar to a sales presentation. Fourth is connecting the dots and saying, not just, “Hey, we can solve your problems,” but, “This is why.” And I think if you can put that why in, that's that missing piece often. Then the fifth step is here's our suggestions about how you're going to move forward. Does that make sense?

It makes total sense. This is, and I'll type this up in the show note to this episode as well, over at salesman.org, but I feel, and I'm processing this myself, because if I want to get in touch with a VP of sales, for example, or CRO, CSO, whoever it is, clearly they're busy. And there's a lot of sales enablement products and services that have SDRs, that are spamming the heck out of them, that if they have an account that already with multiple pieces of software, for example, they're already getting multiple emails a day with updates and all this kind of stuff. There's a lot of data being driven on the back. So these individuals are difficult to get hold of, but if I could do what you just described, which I think a lot of marketing teams will probably have this for the organisation of, “This is what we got. This is what we do. Here's some industry insights. Here are what we have done internally to connect the dots.”

If we could do this for an individual account, say like I was prospecting Salesforce, but obviously we work for Salesforce, and we've got a good relationship with them. But if I was trying to proactively sell this to the sales team, if I could talk about all these different steps for Salesforce, as the incumbent supply in the industry, the, everyone obviously is competing against Salesforce in the enterprise space. They own the market. We can talk about the strength we can use to talk about the academic side of things. We can do a SWOT analysis with strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats. This, and maybe this isn't a physical document like I made out before, but maybe this is email number two.

Or we'll get on the phone on Wednesday, here's a bit of prep I've done beforehand, which enables you to one, it's going to give you a kick in the ass not to miss the call, because you can see how much research we've done and they're going to be excited for the call to take place. But two, it again aligns you as an expert in the space. If you are talking about all of this, from the salesperson's perspective, you're connecting the dots of your customers and the organisation that you're trying to break into. Perfect if you're working with Salesforce and HubSpot or whoever, and some other direct competitor. Or me, I sold, one of my biggest accounts to medical devise sales, was Bradford Hospital, it's right by Leeds Hospital.

The Benefits of Demonstrating Critical Thinking and Giving Industry Insights to Buyers and Prospects · [27:35] 

Literally I'd get all the insights from Leeds, and I'd go over to Bradford, because I like them better, and they spent more money with me. I would say, “Leeds are doing X, Y, Z.” And I'd give them the insights and I'd lead with that. But I'd always do this vocally. I feel like there is a way to document this down, whether it's an email, whether it's a formal piece of paperwork. And again, this critical thinking, and doing all these steps beforehand, rather than just going off my gut, which might get to the same conclusion. I think there's just value in demonstrating this.

Yeah. I think you're you're right, that idea of demonstrating. What I was thinking as you were speaking, is so many sales people these days, especially in the social media, social selling space, are told, “Share content, put your message out there.” I talk about being a sales Sherpa in Hyper-Connected Selling. One of the ways you do that without being annoying, is by giving this information to them. Like you said, “I was just over at your competitor, here's some of the stuff I heard they were doing.” Whether or not you say them by name is fine, but that becomes … Even a LinkedIn article, a LinkedIn post, an email. I love the idea of having those emails dripping out with actual usable information. Whether or not the customer imbibes all of it, that's up to them. But yeah, as you said, they're going view you as somebody, “Hey, I'm going to, when Will emails or calls, I'm going to pay attention. When Will emails, I'll actually open the email.”

How Much of What Salespeople Do Behind the Scenes is Taken for Granted by Buyers? · [29:00] 

And this is something I'm constantly thinking about, because you can obviously overshare. But how much of what we do is perhaps taken for granted by buyers. If the answer is a whole bunch, then should we be going out of our way to demonstrate what we're doing behind the scenes? Because I feel like the answer is a lot of the stuff that we do, is just taken for granted.

Yeah, a lot is always taken for granted. Showing what's happening behind the scenes does give you a little more value. It says, “Hey, I just didn't make this stuff up before I walked in your office. I'm actually thinking about you when you're not around.” But go back to that idea of consultative selling, what's the biggest difference, I think, between a consultant and a salesperson, is that a salesperson gets to the end of that page and goes, “Hey, do you want to work together?” I mean, there is that sense of asking for the relationship, asking for the business. I think that can be the biggest shift. So yeah, definitely sharing, “Hey, we put some thought and energy into this.” Because so many of your competitors, not the people watching and listening to this, but all the other people are just pounding the pavements, not thinking about things, they are just showing up, sending a bunch of emails, giving a bunch of calls, not providing any of this. So the moment you can distance yourself from those people, that's a big value-add these days.

For sure, and just to double down on this, I'm sure you get emails all the time, but I don't know whether I've been mentioned somewhere, or because I've talked about revenue numbers of the sales school on another podcast recently. I don't know what it is, but in the past month or so, I've been getting a tonne of inbound, which is good, because I get to see it and have a chat with different sales people, getting a tonne of inbound LinkedIn messages, emails, whatever it is, and it all started all of a sudden because, so I'm assuming something has leaked, or been shared or I've been put on some list somewhere.

And no one is doing anything like this. No one is reaching out being, “Hey, I see that you are clearly you're using the revenue from the podcast to grow this. So our service might make one cheaper, or more effective,” or this, or that. It's always the same generic blend, unfortunately, an email from an SDR that has zero value, zero critical thinking has gone into it. Perhaps this is a good way to wrap up the show than, David, is a good rule of thumb then that if we're sending an email, and there has been no critical thinking behind the email that we've sent, there's probably, it's not unreasonable to assume that there's zero value involved in that email as well?

“If you've put zero effort into sending the email, they're going to put zero effort into responding to it.” – David J.P. Fisher · [31:31] 

If you've put zero effort into sending the email, they're going to put zero effort into responding to it. So yeah, I think that's exactly right.

Because if you playing that game, you're just hoping that they have had a really unfortunate meeting, where they've taken a good rollicking, or they've lost some money, or someone's left the business 10 minutes before. That's your only shot if you are sending emails like that, right?

Yeah, that's exactly. It's like being on a dating website and just hoping that you've just gotten the timing perfect and somebody just had a bad breakup. Versus actually going, being proactive with your outreach. So yeah, taking a little more time and effort does take more time and effort, but the results are much more powerful.

How Useful is Implementing Critical Thinking Into Everyday Sales Processes? · [32:19] 

So final thing on this, and I don't know where we'll go with this question and I won't ask this to everyone that comes on the show, but we know each of relatively well now, so I'm sure you'll have an answer for it. But I think a lot of the issues that I have selling, personally, come from trusting my gut, and so just jumping into things, burning the bridges and going all in. Which can be a positive thing, can be a be a negative thing.

I also have cognitive distance that I'm a pretty good salesperson. So I can perhaps skip this step, or I'm good at building relationships, so I don't need to do this or that, because I can make it up later on the line. One thing that I do all the time, is I will rationalise something because I've seen an outcome that I want to get to, and I'll rationalise that I'm the right person to do the job, or that we can do X, Y, Z, no matter what. I've just got strong self belief that we can, me and the team that we built, can do whatever we need to do to get the job done. How useful is implementing critical thinking into our day-to-day sales and business lives, to perhaps negate some of these psychological potential barriers that we all have, of over-rationalising things, or essentially cognitive dissonance [inaudible 00:33:30].

“A healthy dose of critical thinking in sales and in all parts of our life can, at least, if they don't prevent all the problems in the future, they at least prevent the bigger blow-ups.” – David J.P. Fisher · [34:15] 

Yeah, we're all psychologically rationalising our lives every day. The challenge is that's not a sales thing, that's a human thing, but you are absolutely right. Putting these processes into place are a powerful way of maybe avoiding some of the pitfalls. I do a lot of this work when I'm working with business owners who are also salespeople. As a sales person, we go, “Oh, I can totally sell.” And as a business person, you go, “Well, do you really have the market penetration? Do you really have the value proposition? Let's think this one through.” A lot of times then they pull back a little bit. So I always think a healthy dose of critical thinking, definitely in sales, but in all parts of our life can, at least, if they don't prevent all the problems in the future, they at least prevent the bigger blow-ups. So it helps not only in your sales processes, but also in your internal talking to yourself, that internal sales process.

That's exactly what I wanted to hear, because I know every time I screw up, both in or out of business, is because I'm running at a brick wall 500 miles an hour, when you can go round, or under it, there's a better solution. I have to stop, take a minute, and just … I use my journal. If I'm struggling with a problem, if I'm getting pissed off at my girlfriend, if I'm annoyed at someone else, I'll just sit and write in my journal, and go, “Oh, it's my fault, isn't it?” Every time, 100% of the time.

Got beat up at jiu-jitsu the other day. Guy was being a bit rough. I was just like, I saw him beat someone else up, not literally, but be more rough than what he should have been with someone of our level. I watched him beat someone else up, I should have not rolled with him. I should have gone with someone else. It was like, the decision was mine, but I was adrenaline [inaudible 00:35:28] in the moment. As a tool and tactic, I find journaling, just writing down in a notepad just to get it out of my brain has a lot of benefits for me.

I journal almost every day. I'm with you.

David’s Advise to His Younger Self on How to Become Better at Selling · [35:58]

Good, and the audience should do as well. I think it's incredibly useful and I get all my best ideas out of it. Again, it helps me reflect on the fact that 99% of the time, it's me being an idiot, as opposed to someone else, if I'm really annoyed or whatever it is. Well, with David, we've covered a lot ground on this one, mate. I want to ask you one question that I ask everyone that comes on the show. You've answered it about 47 times now, and I'm going to ask it you again. That is, if you could go back in time and speak to your younger self, what would be the one piece of advice you'd give him to help him become better at selling?

I think I've said something similar to this, but enjoy life. There's always a time to work hard and I, there's a time and place to work hard, but life is an amazing experience. Not all of us are promised tomorrow. So work hard, and not play hard, but go try experiences, try new things, meet new people, life is short. So don't waste it.

Parting Thoughts · [37:47] 

Let me ask you this, and you don't need to go into it if this is too personal, but you've had something to celebrate recently, and you can elaborate on that if you choose to, but how has that given you perhaps a kick in the ass, and how has that got you excited and ready to double down on things?

Yeah, so we're having our first baby in a couple months. We've got a little boy coming, so that's pretty exciting. I waited a little longer life to do that, but it's going to be a lot of fun. And you know what? It is a wonderful kick in the pants, where for me, two things that have happened, one is I've always run a business that could take care of me and my wife. Well, and now there's a third person, who you can't just say, “Hey, you know what, maybe we won't eat as much today.” So that has been wonderful. But honestly, the other thing that's come through my mind a lot is the idea of modelling. My son will learn from me osmotically as we go through life together and am I being the kind of person that I would want him to be when he's an adult? So that's been a really cool introspective opportunity for me as well.

Amazing. Well, that's probably a show for another time. Modelling, I guess we never really talked about that on the podcast before. It's something that I do regularly, and it's when I have a specific person I like to follow in this regard, and in this thing. When I do social media, perhaps I don't want to emulate them, but I want to do it like this person, for example. And there's probably a whole rabbit hole of places to go with that. But with that David, tell us a little bit about the books. I feel, and we touched on Hyper Connected Selling. But tell us a little bit about the books and where we can find out more about you as well?

Well. Yeah, so I do have a lot of books available, including Networking In The 21st Century and Hyper-Connected Selling. Find those on this little website called Amazon, just either search my name, David J.P Fisher, or those titles, and they'll pop up. You can find me on to Twitter, @dfishrockstar, LinkedIn, linkedin.com/iamdfish I-A-M-D-F-I-S-H. More than happy to connect with you, answer any questions I can. And my online home is davidjpfisher.com/salesman podcast. That's a landing site just for everybody joining us today.

Perfect. Well, I'll link to all of that in the show notes of this episode over at salesman.org. And with that, David, want to thank you for your time, your insights as always. This was a real interesting topic for me, to be introspective of my lack of critical thinking, and how it leads to most of my disastrous business and personal problems. But with that, mate, I want to thank you for again, for your insights and joining us on the show.

Always a pleasure, Will,

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What are critical thinking skills?

How to develop critical thinking skills: 12 tips, how to practice critical thinking skills at work, become your own best critic.

A client requests a tight deadline on an intense project. Your childcare provider calls in sick on a day full of meetings. Payment from a contract gig is a month behind. 

Your day-to-day will always have challenges, big and small. And no matter the size and urgency, they all ask you to use critical thinking to analyze the situation and arrive at the right solution. 

Critical thinking includes a wide set of soft skills that encourage continuous learning, resilience , and self-reflection. The more you add to your professional toolbelt, the more equipped you’ll be to tackle whatever challenge presents itself. Here’s how to develop critical thinking, with examples explaining how to use it.

Critical thinking skills are the skills you use to analyze information, imagine scenarios holistically, and create rational solutions. It’s a type of emotional intelligence that stimulates effective problem-solving and decision-making . 

When you fine-tune your critical thinking skills, you seek beyond face-value observations and knee-jerk reactions. Instead, you harvest deeper insights and string together ideas and concepts in logical, sometimes out-of-the-box , ways. 

Imagine a team working on a marketing strategy for a new set of services. That team might use critical thinking to balance goals and key performance indicators , like new customer acquisition costs, average monthly sales, and net profit margins. They understand the connections between overlapping factors to build a strategy that stays within budget and attracts new sales. 

Looking for ways to improve critical thinking skills? Start by brushing up on the following soft skills that fall under this umbrella: 

• Analytical thinking: Approaching problems with an analytical eye includes breaking down complex issues into small chunks and examining their significance. An example could be organizing customer feedback to identify trends and improve your product offerings. 
• Open-mindedness: Push past cognitive biases and be receptive to different points of view and constructive feedback . Managers and team members who keep an open mind position themselves to hear new ideas that foster innovation . 
• Creative thinking: With creative thinking , you can develop several ideas to address a single problem, like brainstorming more efficient workflow best practices to boost productivity and employee morale . 
• Self-reflection: Self-reflection lets you examine your thinking and assumptions to stimulate healthier collaboration and thought processes. Maybe a bad first impression created a negative anchoring bias with a new coworker. Reflecting on your own behavior stirs up empathy and improves the relationship. 
• Evaluation: With evaluation skills, you tackle the pros and cons of a situation based on logic rather than emotion. When prioritizing tasks , you might be tempted to do the fun or easy ones first, but evaluating their urgency and importance can help you make better decisions. 

There’s no magic method to change your thinking processes. Improvement happens with small, intentional changes to your everyday habits until a more critical approach to thinking is automatic. 

Here are 12 tips for building stronger self-awareness and learning how to improve critical thinking: 

1. Be cautious

There’s nothing wrong with a little bit of skepticism. One of the core principles of critical thinking is asking questions and dissecting the available information. You might surprise yourself at what you find when you stop to think before taking action. 

Before making a decision, use evidence, logic, and deductive reasoning to support your own opinions or challenge ideas. It helps you and your team avoid falling prey to bad information or resistance to change .

2. Ask open-ended questions

“Yes” or “no” questions invite agreement rather than reflection. Instead, ask open-ended questions that force you to engage in analysis and rumination. Digging deeper can help you identify potential biases, uncover assumptions, and arrive at new hypotheses and possible solutions. 

3. Do your research

No matter your proficiency, you can always learn more. Turning to different points of view and information is a great way to develop a comprehensive understanding of a topic and make informed decisions. You’ll prioritize reliable information rather than fall into emotional or automatic decision-making. 

4. Consider several opinions

You might spend so much time on your work that it’s easy to get stuck in your own perspective, especially if you work independently on a remote team . Make an effort to reach out to colleagues to hear different ideas and thought patterns. Their input might surprise you.

If or when you disagree, remember that you and your team share a common goal. Divergent opinions are constructive, so shift the focus to finding solutions rather than defending disagreements. 

5. Learn to be quiet

Active listening is the intentional practice of concentrating on a conversation partner instead of your own thoughts. It’s about paying attention to detail and letting people know you value their opinions, which can open your mind to new perspectives and thought processes.

If you’re brainstorming with your team or having a 1:1 with a coworker , listen, ask clarifying questions, and work to understand other peoples’ viewpoints. Listening to your team will help you find fallacies in arguments to improve possible solutions.

6. Schedule reflection

Whether waking up at 5 am or using a procrastination hack, scheduling time to think puts you in a growth mindset . Your mind has natural cognitive biases to help you simplify decision-making, but squashing them is key to thinking critically and finding new solutions besides the ones you might gravitate toward. Creating time and calm space in your day gives you the chance to step back and visualize the biases that impact your decision-making. 

7. Cultivate curiosity

With so many demands and job responsibilities, it’s easy to seek solace in routine. But getting out of your comfort zone helps spark critical thinking and find more solutions than you usually might.

If curiosity doesn’t come naturally to you, cultivate a thirst for knowledge by reskilling and upskilling . Not only will you add a new skill to your resume , but expanding the limits of your professional knowledge might motivate you to ask more questions. 

You don’t have to develop critical thinking skills exclusively in the office. Whether on your break or finding a hobby to do after work, playing strategic games or filling out crosswords can prime your brain for problem-solving. 

9. Write it down

Recording your thoughts with pen and paper can lead to stronger brain activity than typing them out on a keyboard. If you’re stuck and want to think more critically about a problem, writing your ideas can help you process information more deeply.

The act of recording ideas on paper can also improve your memory . Ideas are more likely to linger in the background of your mind, leading to deeper thinking that informs your decision-making process. 

10. Speak up

Take opportunities to share your opinion, even if it intimidates you. Whether at a networking event with new people or a meeting with close colleagues, try to engage with people who challenge or help you develop your ideas. Having conversations that force you to support your position encourages you to refine your argument and think critically. 

11. Stay humble

Ideas and concepts aren’t the same as real-life actions. There may be such a thing as negative outcomes, but there’s no such thing as a bad idea. At the brainstorming stage , don’t be afraid to make mistakes.

Sometimes the best solutions come from off-the-wall, unorthodox decisions. Sit in your creativity , let ideas flow, and don’t be afraid to share them with your colleagues. Putting yourself in a creative mindset helps you see situations from new perspectives and arrive at innovative conclusions. 

12. Embrace discomfort

Get comfortable feeling uncomfortable . It isn’t easy when others challenge your ideas, but sometimes, it’s the only way to see new perspectives and think critically.

By willingly stepping into unfamiliar territory, you foster the resilience and flexibility you need to become a better thinker. You’ll learn how to pick yourself up from failure and approach problems from fresh angles. 

Thinking critically is easier said than done. To help you understand its impact (and how to use it), here are two scenarios that require critical thinking skills and provide teachable moments. 

Scenario #1: Unexpected delays and budget

Imagine your team is working on producing an event. Unexpectedly, a vendor explains they’ll be a week behind on delivering materials. Then another vendor sends a quote that’s more than you can afford. Unless you develop a creative solution, the team will have to push back deadlines and go over budget, potentially costing the client’s trust. 

Here’s how you could approach the situation with creative thinking:

• Analyze the situation holistically: Determine how the delayed materials and over-budget quote will impact the rest of your timeline and financial resources . That way, you can identify whether you need to build an entirely new plan with new vendors, or if it’s worth it to readjust time and resources. 
• Identify your alternative options: With careful assessment, your team decides that another vendor can’t provide the same materials in a quicker time frame. You’ll need to rearrange assignment schedules to complete everything on time. 
• Collaborate and adapt: Your team has an emergency meeting to rearrange your project schedule. You write down each deliverable and determine which ones you can and can’t complete by the deadline. To compensate for lost time, you rearrange your task schedule to complete everything that doesn’t need the delayed materials first, then advance as far as you can on the tasks that do. 
• Check different resources: In the meantime, you scour through your contact sheet to find alternative vendors that fit your budget. Accounting helps by providing old invoices to determine which vendors have quoted less for previous jobs. After pulling all your sources, you find a vendor that fits your budget. 
• Maintain open communication: You create a special Slack channel to keep everyone up to date on changes, challenges, and additional delays. Keeping an open line encourages transparency on the team’s progress and boosts everyone’s confidence. 

Scenario #2: Differing opinions 

A conflict arises between two team members on the best approach for a new strategy for a gaming app. One believes that small tweaks to the current content are necessary to maintain user engagement and stay within budget. The other believes a bold revamp is needed to encourage new followers and stronger sales revenue. 

Here’s how critical thinking could help this conflict:

• Listen actively: Give both team members the opportunity to present their ideas free of interruption. Encourage the entire team to ask open-ended questions to more fully understand and develop each argument. 
• Flex your analytical skills: After learning more about both ideas, everyone should objectively assess the benefits and drawbacks of each approach. Analyze each idea's risk, merits, and feasibility based on available data and the app’s goals and objectives. 
• Identify common ground: The team discusses similarities between each approach and brainstorms ways to integrate both idea s, like making small but eye-catching modifications to existing content or using the same visual design in new media formats. 
• Test new strategy: To test out the potential of a bolder strategy, the team decides to A/B test both approaches. You create a set of criteria to evenly distribute users by different demographics to analyze engagement, revenue, and customer turnover. 
• Monitor and adapt: After implementing the A/B test, the team closely monitors the results of each strategy. You regroup and optimize the changes that provide stronger results after the testing. That way, all team members understand why you’re making the changes you decide to make.

You can’t think your problems away. But you can equip yourself with skills that help you move through your biggest challenges and find innovative solutions. Learning how to develop critical thinking is the start of honing an adaptable growth mindset. 

Now that you have resources to increase critical thinking skills in your professional development, you can identify whether you embrace change or routine, are open or resistant to feedback, or turn to research or emotion will build self-awareness. From there, tweak and incorporate techniques to be a critical thinker when life presents you with a problem.

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Elizabeth Perry, ACC

Elizabeth Perry is a Coach Community Manager at BetterUp. She uses strategic engagement strategies to cultivate a learning community across a global network of Coaches through in-person and virtual experiences, technology-enabled platforms, and strategic coaching industry partnerships. With over 3 years of coaching experience and a certification in transformative leadership and life coaching from Sofia University, Elizabeth leverages transpersonal psychology expertise to help coaches and clients gain awareness of their behavioral and thought patterns, discover their purpose and passions, and elevate their potential. She is a lifelong student of psychology, personal growth, and human potential as well as an ICF-certified ACC transpersonal life and leadership Coach.

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