Into the Mind of the Seller: Using Neurophysiological Tools to Understand Sales Techniques

Neurophysiological recording techniques are helping provide marketers and salespeople with an increased understanding of their targeted customers. Such tools are also providing information systems researchers more insight to their end-users. These techniques may also be used introspectively to help researchers learn more about their own techniques. Here we look to help salespeople have an increased understanding of their selling methods by looking through their eyes instead of through the eyes of the customer. A preliminary study is presented using electroencephalography of three sales experts while watching the first moments of a video of a sales pitch to understand mental processing during the approach phase. Follow on work is described and considerations for interpreting data in light of individual differences.