You are likely familiar with the following scenario: You have just had a wonderful experience, a rush of endorphins, driven by an adrenaline release, sends signals of pleasure to your brain. You make a commitment in this moment of euphoria to take some positive action. However, soon after, the endorphins dissipate, the ‘high’ you were feeling succumbs to your normal state of mind, and your back at your desk dealing with the mundanity of daily life dealing with your ever increasing “to do” list. The momentum has gone and the actions you promised while on an endorphin high are no longer a priority. Sound familiar?!
This is referred to as the ‘SnapBack Effect’ and it states that our interest levels peak and our minds expand when we are shown new and innovative concepts. In this moment, we embrace new perspectives and communicate positives. The problem is that when we step back into our daily routine and there is no new or innovating concept to stimulate our mind, our behaviours ‘snap back’ to their original position and the positive momentum disappears.
This phenomenon has important implications in both our personal and business lives, some of which I would like to share with you now...
Personal life (part 1): How often have you committed to doing something in the heat of the moment? You’re with a group of friends discussing doing something (eg competing in an event, travelling together, founding a startup etc) and as everyone becomes more animated and excited, it seems like a fantastic idea. After you are back home, reality hits and you start to realise you can’t afford the time or money involved. You spend the next few days hoping the others have realised the same, and that no-one mentions the idea again to avoid your having to feel awkward..
Business life (part 1): You have made a client pitch and the client is very impressed. They are not only interested for themselves, but they say that there are many introductions they can make and are happy to do so. You leave the meeting feeling great and immediately send a meeting summary with all the requested information. Two weeks later you’ve heard nothing back from the client regarding either your proposal or the promised introductions...
In both these scenarios that SnapBack Effect is at play. It’s not bad or wrong. It’s human. You client is not deliberately ignoring you, and you are not a bad person for feeling differently about the commitment you made. However, neither of these are good outcomes and equipped with our newfound understanding of the SnapBack Effect, there are behavioural actions we can take which will better equip us to navigate such scenarios…
Personal life (part 2): As a rule, humans value consistency of behaviour. We prefer to associate with people who are good to their word and respect our time, and we develop a less positive impression of those who commit to something only to go silent or even worse, disappear. It is incumbent on us as individuals therefore, to manage other people’s perception of ourself if we want to benefit from the value attached to consistency.
By simply adding the sentence “this sounds great, let me think if over for 24 hours before I commit”, you are both acknowledging the suggestion, and buying yourself time to allow the endorphin rush that you are experiencing to subside so that you can make a rational decision before committing. While this is easier said than done as discussed in my last blog #97, Creating Behavioural Change, with practise we can develop new habits and change our behaviours.
Business life (part 2): Early this year I was delivering a two day workshop in London to one of the world’s largest conglomerates. One of the participants approached me during one a break and said “this is amazing, I want to introduce you to my clients, for sure I’ll introduce you to Google and Meta, they need to meet you.” Of course I was delighted, I passed him my card and sent a LinkedIn connection request. I followed up with him a few times over the coming month and as you can probably guess, I never received those introductions. Google and Meta have still never heard of me!
This is not an isolated example. I am often approached after speaking at conferences by audience members still high on endorphins (that I induced!), making sweeping statements, all with the best of intentions, about how they want to work with me, only to never be heard from again.
My first reaction was to place these people in the “inconsistency” bucket with all the negative ramifications that ensued. I made this mistake literally for YEARS until I realised what I am writing for you now. By realising this is nothing more than the SnapBack Effect at work, and that people are not intrinsically unreliable, they are simply busy and have other priorities, we can adopt a more productive approach…
While there is no guarantee what I am about to suggest will work, it will increase your odds of getting the person who made the commitment to actually following through on it...
You have likely heard the phrase “strike while the iron’s hot!” and that is what we need to do in such situations. While the subject is experiencing the endorphin high, make sure you extract (i) sufficient contact information from them so you are able to follow up directly and personally (WhatsApp is better than email), and (ii) a timed agreement when “X” will happen (X may be a follow up call, an introductory email etc) a then follow up politely to ensure the agreed timing is met. If after 3 attempts you’ve had no joy, mark it down as a ‘SnapBack Casualty’ and remain polite and professional, recognising it for no more than it is; an endorphin rush that meant well but on which you missed capitalizing this time.
If you take on board what you’ve read in today’s blog, the last of 2023, it will revolutionise your pipeline development and capacity to close deals. What better way to start 2024? I’ll be taking a week off from writing for new year, but look forward to being back on Sunday 7th January in blog #99! Happy New Year!!
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