To Change or Not to Change (Or Why You Always Go to the Same Italian Joint)

A good friend of mine has a collection of exactly four restaurants she “likes.” That new restaurant with all the buzz, the five-star ratings on Yelp (see our previous blog on social proof), and the great review from the food critic? Not interested. That quaint local joint with the full parking lot? Pass. It’s not because she’s tried them all, heard bad things, or any other informed basis. Rather, she knows what she likes and knows she can get it at one of these four restaurants. She’s also been disappointed—like most of us—many times in the past when venturing outside this carefully chosen group.

Most of us can relate to what’s going on here. Psychologically, it’s known as the status quo bias. As a sales professional, I’m willing to bet you run into this (often hidden) objection in your sales cycle all too often. So, what is this bias all about, and how can you, as a sales professional, displace the status quo with your product or service?

WHAT IS THE STATUS QUO BIAS?

The status quo bias is a cognitive bias based in emotion whereby people have a preference for their current situation and are against actions that may change what they’ve been doing. Boiled down, one might say, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Researchers William Samuelson and Richard Zeckhauser coined the term in their 1988 academic article Status Quo Bias in Decision Making. The article presented their research findings showing that, when given a choice between sticking with the known versus trying something new, people are more likely to stay the course. This bias negatively affects your prospect’s ability to make an informed decision because they likely have an ingrained preference for stability over change which can prevent them from objectively judging their options.

Professor Christopher Anderson further researched the science behind status quo bias. He characterized status quo bias as a “decision maker’s inflated preference for the current state of affairs.” This distinguishes situations in which the status quo is, objectively, the best option from situations where the decision maker’s inflated preference makes them less likely to make a change regardless of the pros and cons.

From a B2B sales perspective, we need to acknowledge this bias not just when we are trying to beat out or replace a competitor, but also when we are “competing” against the prospect simply doing nothing—i.e., the status quo.

YOUR BIAS HAS BIASES

Professor Anderson’s article identified three influences that lead to status quo bias:

• Preference Stability: The longer you’ve been doing something, the more likely you are to keep doing it or to make the same decisions over time.
• Costs of Change: Changing the status quo, in the real world, often entails transaction costs that can be avoided by maintaining the status quo.
• Anticipated Regret/Blame: If it doesn’t go well, the person will regret the decision and/or get blamed by those above them for the negative outcomes that arise from the decision to make a change.

According to The Decision Lab, there are two primary causes of status quo bias, as identified by social psychologists. The first is other cognitive biases—namely loss aversion and regret avoidance. The second is to avoid being overwhelmed by too many choices.

Loss aversion is the idea that the psychological pain we suffer from a loss or negative experience is greater than the pleasure we experience from an equal gain. The pain we feel from losing a $100 bet is not equal to the joy we feel when we win $100. Loss is more intense. Similarly, just the idea that we may regret something later impacts our decision-making. While making a change might logically make sense, the emotion attached to regret can keep us doing what we’ve been doing.

Making a decision, in any context, is not always clear-cut. This problem can be even more challenging when someone is faced with many different choices and limited time and information. In this scenario, you might hear something like “I just don’t have time to look at all these vendors” and more often than not, this person is going to stick with what they already have.

If you think back to our friend with the rotation of four restaurants (that’s right, she’s your friend now too) we can easily see how these two concepts could play into her bias for the status quo. A bad meal at a new restaurant equals wasted time and money along with the regret of missing out on one of her favorites. And with what seems like ten new restaurants opening every week around DC and Arlington, who has time to figure out which one to try? 

FIGHTING THE STATUS QUO

In August 2022, German researchers conducted a literature review in which they identified 13 so-called countermeasures to status quo bias. Five of these countermeasures stood out as being particularly relevant to B2B sales.

1. Manipulate the default. Don’t disparage your competitor but a little FUD—fear, uncertainty, and doubt—never hurt anyone.
2. Rephrase the problem. Reframe the prospect’s thought process away from the risk-aversion mindset to the opportunity mindset.
3. Tell success stories. There’s nothing like delivering for others to help convince your prospect of your ability to do the same for them.
4. Increase the perceived value of the change. Again, reframe the change as an opportunity.
5. Provide additional information and resources. Well, duh, but in case this one didn’t jump out at you.

Those of you familiar with Maestro Group’s DRIVE Information Gathering Framework already know the importance of identifying the status quo. To overcome it, you need to uncover the second level of “I”—the impact of doing nothing. A great way to get at this information during the discovery process is to ask, “What happens if you don’t make a change?” In many cases, this will reframe the prospect’s thought process away from the risk-aversion mindset to the opportunity mindset.

If your prospect can’t identify any negative consequence on their own, explore some of the most likely pain points in your industry through your follow-up questions. The goal could be thought of as helping them move away from the fear of change to the fear of missing out on the opportunity to solve a problem, grow their business, or otherwise discover new opportunities. Nothing wrong with a little FOMO in the sales cycle!

One typically useful area to explore is how innovation drives growth and ultimately profits. Most people will agree that innovation is necessary for a business to succeed. You can also point out that while avoiding risk is not an inherently bad idea, reflexively rejecting new solutions will leave your prospect unable to adapt to changes in their business or in the larger competitive marketplace. Ultimately, the perceived benefits of a new or alternative solution should outweigh the perceived costs of change if you want to overcome the status quo bias of your prospects.

When faced with status quo bias in your deal, it’s key to turn the old adage, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” to “If it ain’t broke, don’t get fixated.” Every good thing runs its course—whether it’s a change of chefs at your favorite Italian joint or a once-state-of-the-art piece of software. Help your prospects understand that doing what they’ve always done without regard to innovation and growth only sets them up for stagnation.

Need to overcome the status quo in your pipeline? Reach out at mastery@maestrogroup.co for more information on training, coaching, assessments, and more.