How to Trust Your Gut And The Magic of Intuition In Sales

Have you ever wondered why the phrase “trust your gut” is so popular in sales and business?

In sales, a big part of success is knowing what to do…

But what do you do when knowing what to do just isn’t that clear cut?

Think back to 2020 when the pandemic hit the world and almost overnight changed how we did business, especially for those of us in sales management.

How much of your everyday life was mostly filled with just making stuff up?

Perhaps never in your career have you had to rely on intuition than during such a life-altering, worldwide event.

But so many of us, even in relying on our intuition, lack confidence. We may get scared that someone is going to see right through us and figure out we’re faking it.

This is something lots of people struggle with and it actually has a name: Imposter Syndrome.

Imposter Syndrome is when you have the irrational fear that others are going to find out you’re not as good or as knowledgeable or as talented as you appear to be.

But the keyword there is irrational. It’s an irrational fear.

It’s a potential problem that I can sum up in the form of a question: How do others see you under the pressure of making a snap decision?

Now, your intuition is more of an asset than perhaps you realize.

That is, if you use it properly.

All that stuff that you were worried about when you were making stuff up on the fly? Turns out, that was exactly what you were supposed to be doing.

And more than that, you’re probably better at it than you realize!

Let’s get into the psychology of how intuition works.

The World Is Too Confusing

Look, you know this already. Our minds are a confusing place and there is too much data, there’s too much information to process, and we simply don’t have time in a moment when a quick decision is really demanded to find all the information we need — let alone sort it all out.

And that’s where intuition comes into play.

That intuition triggers some strange things in your brain. And, more importantly, in your gut.

Here’s a scenario:

You’re coming home from dinner and when you go to the front door, you discover it’s already ajar. When you start walking down the hallway, what happens? Well, you have this heightened sense of awareness. And you’re wise to be on that alert.

The reality is everything is probably fine. There’s a 99% chance that there’s a very logical explanation for what’s happening.

But that intuition is alert to the 1% and that intuition is going to keep you alive.

The Secret To Making Quick Decisions

In moments where quick decisions are necessary, the mind helps us by relying on a powerful, mental trait: our ability to see patterns.

Every past interaction that you’ve ever had is characterized into memory. There’s some sort of image in the brain. All our experiences from the past fit into our mental patterns.

So, in a sense, intuitive decisions are based on data. The data that’s stored in your experiential brain. Furthermore, it’s not just psychological; it’s physiological.

The Physiology of Intuition

When we come across something that requires action, there is a physiological change that takes place in our brain and in our body.

Because there’s so much going on in our brains at any given time, the brain uses this small region called the insula, which helps to identify what needs to be focused on in that moment while also pulling from our past experiences. When messages from our neurons are sent in the brain, they also go to the gut, which is what causes a gut feeling.

So you see, gut feelings aren’t just a term. They’re a real, bona fide scientific term, which is actually: somatic markers. They explain how something feels right or wrong.

Creative Problem Solving

Somatic markers don’t just apply to assessing danger but are also relevant for creativity — like creative problem-solving. Isn’t that what you’ve been doing since the start of the pandemic? Figuring things out and trusting your gut?

The science writer Steven Johnson puts it this way: “Innovation is the result of accumulated hunches over time; it’s what happens when we let personal experience collide with environments that bring out creativity.”

See — intuition is not a bad thing. It is a very important thing! If you deny your intuition, you’re gonna make poor decisions.

The truth is, intuition is often more right than it is wrong. Why?

Because it’s not about making stuff up. It’s about categorizing data and looking back on all of your experiences.

A Warning

I want you to be more confident about trusting your gut and intuition and making decisions, but I should warn you about something.

Sometimes our need for comfort overrides our intuition. More than that, our desire for comfort may push us to make the wrong move, even providing us with stories for why we’re justified to go against our gut.

So how can you get around this?

With an easy question to ask yourself: Who benefits?

Who benefits from this decision? If you’re the only person that benefits, it might be the wrong decision.

Instead, when you think you’re following your intuition (or wonder if you’re leaning more towards your comfort addition), then test it with data. Pause to go and find some data to see if it backs up your initial decision, and then ask the “Who benefits” question. Finally, seek out a group of wise thinkers to help you if you really get stuck.

Now look, your intuition is stronger than you think, so give yourself a break. Keep doing what you’ve been doing and what those around you need you to do.