critical thinking on sales

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Critical Thinking: What It Is & Why It Matters in Sales

The dictionary definition of critical thinking is “the objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgment.”

The term critical thinking is used to describe a thought process where you don’t accept information at face value. Instead, you are discerning about sources, question underlying arguments, challenge assumptions, and work to more fully understand conclusions.

This ability to analyze information and expand our perspective comes in handy in selling. Here are seven examples where critical thinking counts in selling. 

• Achieving sales quotas
• Time management   
• Finding ways to gain prospects’ attention 
• Conducting efficient discovery meetings
• Linking prospect needs to your solutions
• Invalidating objections
• Negotiating terms to close the sale

Let’s take each of these, one by one, to better understand why critical thinking matters so much in sales.

How Does Critical Thinking Improve Sales Effectiveness?

Consider these seven selling situations. In sales, you’re responsible for each one. But you’re largely left to your own devices to figure out HOW to be effective. Beyond the rote steps and basic training, there’s a secret ingredient that makes some sellers more successful than others. That secret ingredient is critical thinking, and it takes a variety of forms — problem-​solving, objective analysis, sound judgment, asking purposeful questions, decision-​making, nimbleness, creativity, and conflict resolution. All of these are companion skills and natural outcomes to improved critical thinking.

• Achieving sales quotas . There are an infinite number of ways to attack your sales goal. Who will you call on? What will you offer? How will you juggle the pursuit of new business with the opportunities to renew and grow established customers? What cadence will you use in making outbound calls and when will you make them? Even if you have a plan, there are always contingency plans and details of the plan to work through, too. This requires strong problem-​solving skills.
• Time management . As a general rule in selling, the best time management formula is E=O (Effort = Opportunity). You should apply time and effort proportionate to the size of the opportunity. Bigger opportunities deserve more time and effort. But determining the amount of time to spend on any activity requires good judgment. Scoping the size of the opportunity requires objective, logical thinking.
• Finding ways to gain prospects’ attention . There is no magic bullet that will cause prospects to call you back. There are no email subject lines that are guaranteed to get a reply. There simply aren’t copy/​paste ways to appeal to buyers. You have to personalize. To compel a response, your outreach must demonstrate your value to the individual. Wading through information and pinpointing what someone values isn’t easy. It requires sound judgment.
• Conducting efficient discovery meetings . You want to ask questions that pique your buyer’s interest and create meaningful value for the time they spend with you. You also want to qualify the buyer and understand what they need and how you can help meet that need. You want to establish rapport, build trust, differentiate yourself, and advance the sale. And you’d like to do all that in as little time as possible in the discovery call. Being effective and efficient requires strong questioning, listening, and processing skills.
• Linking prospect needs to your solutions . After you’ve gathered information from the buyer, it’s time to link their needs to your solution. You have to create compelling links that make sense to your primary contact, to the decision maker(s), and to others who influence the decision, too. You have to take into account all their decision criteria (budget, preferences, etc). And you have to persuade them that you are the best provider for this solution. This requires an ability to make decisions and influence others as you do.
• Invalidating objections . Pat answers and defensive responses won’t get you very far when buyers object to all or part of your offering. Instead, you have to fully understand their perception. Then you have to respond in a way that is not canned or scripted. You have to respond fully, not just to the portion you’re most comfortable answering. You can’t duck or dodge a price objection, for example. After fully answering the objection, you have to maintain composure and confidently return the conversation back to what the buyer values most. Being nimble and thinking on your feet is required.
• Negotiating terms to close the sale . Collaborative negotiation is the gold standard. In a true collaboration for negotiating terms, all the needs of all the parties will get met. There won’t be any unmet needs remaining. No one gives up anything (that’s compromise, not collaboration). Expanding the zone of potential agreement (ZOPA) only happens when trust has been established and all parties are willing to invest the time and think “outside the box.” This requires creativity and conflict resolution skills.

Critical thinking is a skill that’s worth working on. It will make you more effective in selling and in everything you do.

Overcoming Barriers to Critical Thinking in Sales

Everyone thinks. Everyone has a process for thinking and a preferred approach to thinking. As we think, we access memories of our past experiences, inputs from others we trust, and emotions or gut reactions. We weight those inputs and act on them, each in our own way.

Much of our thinking is a process that’s occurring sub-​consciously. We’re driven by conditioned responses and reactions that come from past experiences, unconscious biases, and emotions. We oversimplify and act before we fully assess a situation.

Our own experience and emotions are the biggest barriers to critical thinking. We become lazy in our thinking because we don’t fully appreciate the value of being intentional and objective. The more we know (or think we know!), the less we’ll evaluate, ruminate, and investigate before acting on information.

This is why so many sellers peak a few years into their careers and then seem to fade. They stop learning and growing. They put too much stock in their own experience and succumb to lather-​rinse-​repeat approaches that no longer serve them well.

In short, we are our own biggest barrier to critical thinking. To move past barriers, we first have to acknowledge them. They include:

• Resting on your laurels  and becoming complacent. The truth is what got you here won’t get you there. What worked in the past isn’t necessarily the best approach for the future.
• Operating in an echo chamber  and listening, primarily, to the same sources of information over and over again without accessing and fairly considering other perspectives.
• Valuing efficiency over effectiveness.  Making more calls and making them faster won’t produce more sales. To be effective, you may have to slow down and become more skillful in your approach.
• Flying by the seat of your pants.  An odd phrase that means making it up as you go along, not having a plan. Lots of sellers prefer this approach. While it’s true that you need to be nimble, it’s also true that a well-​reasoned plan is essential.
• Overindulging emotional responses.  Emotions are one data point. They should be considered. They should not be the sole determining factor in making decisions.
• Over-​relying on logic.  Being objective and rational is important. Being emotionless and ignoring the emotions of others isn’t effective. There’s a balance you need to strike.
• Not thinking for yourself.  Thinking is hard. It’s much easier to accept the prescribed narrative or repeat the talking points you’re given. But selling is a human-​to-​human experience, and that means opting out of thinking isn’t going to work well.

Next Steps for Developing Critical Thinking Skills in Selling

Most importantly, though, to build your critical thinking skills, you’ll want to focus first on what prevents you from being objective, open-​minded, curious, and evaluative. Assess your responses in all parts of your life. Work to more frequently challenge the assumed norms and accepted approaches. Question information that isn’t fully explained and doesn’t make sense. Don’t let yourself be swept along in a current just because it’s easier. 

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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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Do You Have The 11 Critical Sales Skills All Successful Salespeople Have?

Do you know what separates the most successful salespeople from everyone else in sales? There’s no single silver bullet in sales, but there is a secret sauce . And I’m about to share the 11 key ingredients. Think about it: A very small group of top-performing salespeople today outearn and outsell virtually everyone else in sales—many times over. Many of these superstars even out earn their company CEOs. As a sales strategist, I get to work with these top salespeople and see exactly what they’re doing in today’s marketplace. This brings us back to the secret sauce I mentioned before: It’s made up of the same sales skills and approaches across industries, shared by all top performers in sales. People who share these critical sales skills consistently win much larger sales than their counterparts, time and time again. In this video, I’m going to show you the 11 critical sales skills all successful salespeople have —so you can see if you have them too. Check it out:

Sales Skills Video Summary:

Sales Skills Tip #1: Engage prospects to discuss their business challenges.

That means the difference between top performers and bottom performers has everything to do with how—and how often—salespeople engage prospects about their challenges. Sounds enough, right? Our study found that top performers are much more effective at engaging prospects to really dig into their business problems. If you want to be in that top tier of salespeople, you absolutely must master this critical sales skill. You can’t just be thinking about how to sell your product, but you must also be thinking about how well you’re understanding your prospects’ top challenges. Are you looking at the big picture? Are you positioning your offering in terms of its real value to the prospect—i.e., how it will help solve top challenges? At the end of the day, you’re not selling a product or service. It’s the ultimate sales skill to understand that what you’re really selling is a solution to the prospect’s biggest challenges.    

Sales Skills Tip #2: Come off as a real human being.

This probably goes against what you’ve been taught over the years, in terms of how you should present yourself to prospects. Most salespeople are taught to put on a cheerful, high-energy, excited, and enthusiastic face in selling situations.

In reality, one of the most important sales skills is just to be yourself. Top sales performers behave in a way that’s just real. It’s authentic.

I recently came across a video of an artificial intelligence algorithm pretending to be a real person on a phone call. It sounded so real that I could hardly believe it. What I noticed was that the AI algorithm didn’t sound perfect. It said “um” and “ah” and paused and made natural-sounding mistakes while talking. This is what made it sound so real. So be imperfect. Be authentic. Be yourself.

When salespeople come off as truly real, normal human beings, prospects are much more likely to actually engage with them in conversation.           

Sales Skills Tip #3: Appear as the distinct expert.

Sales skills tip #4: don’t push prospects to buy..

When these salespeople start getting pushback from prospects as to why they shouldn’t buy, their response is to push back even harder. The reality is that top performers don’t push their prospects to buy at all. Instead, they address any objections up front. They big deep to understand why the prospect might not want to buy in the first place, and address any concerns the prospect has. They get these objections out of the way early on by asking great questions and taking on the role of a trusted advisor. This approach is one of the most critical sales skills to have in today’s selling world. By asking questions instead of dictating to the prospect why they should be, salespeople are able to get a full picture of what the prospect needs—and then craft the solution that makes sense.

Sales Skills Tip #5: Consistently add to your pipeline.

This is the most beautiful summation of a top-performing mindset. Maybe for you it’s adding three opportunities each day, or one a day. Figure out what number you want to add to your pipeline each day, and commit to it. Don’t leave the office until you reach your daily goal. How many opportunities do you need to be adding each and every day to your pipeline in order to ensure that you’re going to hit your numbers? Get very clear on that. How many meetings do you have to set? Think about consistency. Be more like the tortoise who’s just taking one step at a time as opposed to that hare who’s running here, running there, and going in all different directions. Take consistent steps each and every day.                

Sales Skills Tip #6: Be willing to sell higher up.

This is one of the sales skills that takes confidence more than anything else. Top performers simply have the guts to sell higher up within an organization. That doesn’t just mean calling on the CEO, but it also means selling to bigger opportunities. It means selling to bigger companies. It means creating big opportunities by going big. Average performers tend to hit lots of singles or doubles so they’re just piecing together a living. Top performers are going for those bigger opportunities. Big opportunities take just as much work as those average opportunities or those smaller opportunities, but the reward for those bigger opportunities is so much bigger. So, this is both a mindset and a tactical shift. What are you doing to make sure that you’re selling higher and higher up the ladder to make bigger sales and sell bigger solutions?       

Sales Skills Tip #7: Dialogue over monologue.

But there’s some new data out there that gives us some insight into how and when we should be asking those questions and talking to our prospects. In particular, top performers do a lot more dialogue than one-way monologue, especially in the presentation phase. In the discovery phase, we all know that we have to be asking questions. But we see a big shift when we get into the actual presentation phase: average performers tend to go on monologues. They just start talking and talking and talking for extended periods of time, presenting the features and the benefits of their product or service. On the other hand, top performers continue that two-way dialogue, even in the presentation.

This is really profound. Top performers have a lot more “speaker switches” in the presentation phase. Each time we switch who’s speaking in a conversation, that’s a speaker switch. Top performers are engaging their prospects throughout the presentation with questions for more of a back-and-forth conversation.                                

Sales Skills Tip #8: Understand the upside value.

There’s an important distinction between telling a prospect the ROI for your solution versus helping the prospect actually do their own math and come up with the upside value. Top performers ask questions that basically bake in the upside value of their solution. Let me give you an example. Let’s say you work for a marketing company, and you’re selling a marketing solution. You’re talking to the prospect and you’re asking about marketing challenges. The prospect says, “We feel like our brand’s not out there enough and we’re not getting as many leads as we’d like.”

A lot of salespeople would respond, “Well, our solution can help you get more leads, which will lead to an ROI of blah, blah, blah.” Instead, a top performer replies, “Help me understand. If you are able to get as many leads as you want, what would that lead to in more business?” Now, the prospect is actually doing the math in his or her head, saying, “Huh, well, we’re at the leads that we’re at right now, and if we’re able to get this many more, that could be a couple of million dollars in additional business.” Time out. This is exactly what we want to get to. We want to get prospects to do that math, to understand what the real value of the solution is—not the value of your product or service, but the value of the overall solution. The value of your solution is now intrinsically tied to that exact number. Understand the upside value.         

Sales Skills Tip #9: Talk budget later in the process.

Recent sales data that shows that top performers are actually discussing money and budget later in the sales process than average and bottom-performing reps. Average and bottom performers are typically talking money and budget much earlier in the process. This means they’re coming out with a price pretty early on, while top performers only talk budget later in the discovery process.

Top performers are building value throughout the conversation. They’re asking questions, understanding challenges, understanding the upside—and then they’re discussing budget later on. Now, if you’re familiar with my selling system, if you’ve read any of my books, if you’ve gone through any of my programs, you’ll understand that that’s exactly what I’ve been teaching for years. The newest sales data supports this same approach: Top performers are talking budget later in the process.

Sales Skills Tip #10: Don’t fight objections.

They’re getting it all out on the table. They’re understanding why the prospect’s saying that and then they’re just going right back into the discovery process. This is a huge distinction between top performers and everyone else. Everyone else is going in they’re fighting the objections. Don’t fight the objections.            

Sales Skills Tip #11: Discuss next steps.

This is so simple, yet far too many salespeople aren’t doing it to the degree that they should be. The data shows that top performers are spending more time in the sales process specifically discussing clear next steps. I’ve been teaching this for years and we’ve always known anecdotally that works, but now the research shows a clear distinction between top performers and everyone else: Top performers spend a specific amount of time, typically later on in the conversation, on discussing exact clear next steps.

So, there you have it. Now you know 11 critical sales skills all successful salespeople must have. I want to hear from you. Which of these ideas did you find most useful? Be sure to share below in the comment section to get involved in the conversation.

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Get instant access to our free sales training:, why prospects push back on price, give 'think-it-overs,' and ghost in sales until they meet a sales superstar who is following these 7 simple keys, about the author marc wayshak.

Marc is is the best-selling author of three books on sales and leadership, including the highly acclaimed titles Game Plan Selling , The High-Velocity Sales Organization and his forthcoming book, Sales Conversations, Mastered.

Marc is a contributor to Inc , HubSpot , Fast Company , Entrepreneur Magazine , and Huffington Post Business . He also hosts a popular YouTube channel on sales strategy with over 103,000 subscribers.

Marc helps thousands of people his data-driven, science-based approach to selling that utilizes all the best tools available to sales organizations today.

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Developing Critical Thinking Skills to Improve Sales Presentations

Arguing is not necessarily a bad thing. To argue simply means to present reasons for (or against) a position. The ability to construct a solid argument enables you to be persuasive, influential, and effective in advancing toward your goals.

In selling, you’re using arguments in the following ways:

• You’re constructing the case for meeting with you when you send the buyer an email that outlines why spending time with you will be valuable
• You’re deconstructing an argument when you respond to a buyer’s objections
• You’re gathering information during discovery. You’ll use the information to construct arguments for why they buyer should buy your solution.
• In negotiating the terms of an agreement, you’re constructing arguments for your position and deconstruct your buyer’s arguments in favor of their own position.
• When asking for referrals, you’re constructing an argument about why the buyer should refer you and why the new prospect should act on that referral.

Argumentation is, unfortunately, not a skill that’s typically included in sales training. It should be! When you master the steps of effective argumentation, you’ll have a competitive advantage.

The 5 Steps of Effective Argumentation

Once you know the steps, you can identify what's missing in your own -- or others' -- presentation of a position. As you make decisions, you'll also be able to evaluate the quality of the position offered. You'll know what questions to ask so you get all 5 parts of the argument. This is how you build your mental might!

The 5 steps of an effective argument are:

• Making a claim. This is the assertion or position you advocate.
• Understanding the counter-claim that’s made for your buyer.
• Offering reasons that your claim is superior to the counter-claim. AND fully understanding the reasons your buyer gives for their counter-claim. Be open and objective to take it all in.
• Providing evidence to back up your claim. AND, again, objectively taking in and evaluating the evidence offered by your buyer for the counter-claim.
• Making an emotional appeal in addition to the logical claim you’ve already made.

You can’t skip over any of these steps. If you expect the buyer to hear and remain open-minded to your claim, you’ll have to model that same openness. To learn more about the five steps, click on this video:

How Can Using Techniques of Argumentation Help Me Close More Sales?

Using the five steps to construct a productive argument will make you more effective in three ways:

• You’ll demonstrate a balance of logical reasons and emotional appeals that make a compelling case. It’s hard to say “no” when both logic and emotion back up a claim.
• You’ll be dignifying the buyer’s thoughts and, in return, they’ll be more likely to hear yours. This makes the dialogue more productive. It may even lead to a blended solution where the buyer got to participate in crafting the recommendation. That’s getting buy in before asking for the buy!
• You won’t miss important clues about what the buyer values. You’ll have advance notification about likely objections and points that will need clarification or attention when it comes time to negotiate the terms.

Ultimately, you’ll be closing more sales because you’re opening up a more expansive 2-way dialogue. For buyers, there’s a strong preference to work with sellers who genuinely allow for and invite 2-way dialogue. This is backed by a research study with 530 B2B buyers.  

Buyers want to buy from people who engage them, create value by provoking thought, and stir up new ideas. The techniques of argumentation provide ways for doing all that. When you deliver, buyers will respond by buying.

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Post-Tribune | Critical thinking skills are now in top demand…

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Post-tribune | critical thinking skills are now in top demand in sales, business.

To be successful in sales and business requires to be engaged with the sales prospect or customer. This engagement requires both the brain (thinking) and the heart (caring).

Yet 2016 research from Pay Scale among others continues to suggest recent college graduates lacked critical thinking and problem-solving skills. These “soft” brain skills appear to be no longer taught to the degree employers now require.

When this skill research is examined, hard skills such as writing, public speaking and data analysis were lacking. Of the more than 63,000 managers, 44 percent agreed poor writing proficiency was the most problematic.

Yet it was the soft skills where there was even greater agreement. Sixty percent of those same managers shared new graduates do not have critical thinking and problem solving skills. Additionally, 56 percent of the managers said recent graduates fail to pay attention to detail.

With the emphasis on closing the technical skills gap during the last decade, soft skills appear to have taken a back seat. Ed Reilly, CEO of the American Management Association suggested in an interview with CNBC this emphasis on technical skills failed to include communication skills and critical thinking skills necessary to make key decisions at lower levels.

To achieve this now soft skill of critical thinking requires all organizations to allow creative and divergent thinking. In other words, there is more than just one right answer.

Sir Ken Robinson, a noted English author and international adviser on education suggested schools are teaching the creativity out of students. For example, students are taught that a brick has only one use to construct buildings instead of thinking of 75 other ways to use the brick, according to Gallup.

Critical thinking and problem-solving are separate skills. The first involves the brain and the second involves the brain as well as the hand or the doing part. Creativity is very much like a bridge that connects the thinking to the doing.

In some organizations, those in leadership roles sometimes say they want divergent thinking, but instead want their own thinking reaffirmed. This only further isolates any critical thinking and problem solving to the back room.

There are strategies to improve critical thinking and usually the simplest way is to ask yourself or others, “How else can this task be completed?” In the past, this strategy was called “brainstorming.”

The heart of emotional intelligence will be the focus on next week’s column.

Leanne Hoagland-Smith is an author, speaker and executive coach. Her weekly column explores issues that impact the bottom line of firms with fewer than 100 employees. She can be reached at 219-508-2859.

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#SalesChats: The Importance of Strong Critical Thinking Skills For Selling

Selling is becoming more complex than ever. There are more buyers and influencers involved in selling decisions than ever. There are more barriers between the seller and buyer than ever. Now more than ever sellers need to get creative, be hyper-aware and think more critically and deeply about how to approach each sale. Join host John Golden as he explores this concept with DEB CALVERT, PRESIDENT & FOUNDER OF PEOPLE FIRST PRODUCTIVITY SOLUTIONS.

There are 2 different ways to watch this #SalesChats Episode:

• Register for this Event
• Visit our #SalesPOP! YouTube Channel and start playing the Live-Discussion

Recorded 20th February 2020 9am PT/Noon ET

Episode questions.

• “Critical thinking skills” is a broad term. What do you mean by this? What specific skills are included?
• What impact does it have when a seller exhibits strong critical thinking skills?
• How can sellers develop more critical thinking skills that will boost their sales?

Deb Calvert

Links › People First Productivity Solutions  |  twitter.com  |  linkedin.com

About Our Host

John is the Amazon bestselling author of  Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories  and  Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling . A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.

Martha Neumeister

Martha is a social media strategist, responsible for all social media platforms of Pipeliner CRM. She is a communication expert with social media affinity, which she has been focusing on throughout her professional career. She has a bachelor´s degree in Entrepreneurship & Management and a master´s degree in Online Marketing which supports her in her career as Social Media Strategist.

About SalesChats

#SalesChats is a fast-paced (no more than 30 minutes) multi-media series that provides leading strategies, tactics and thinking for sales professionals worldwide. It can be found on Twitter (#SalesChats), as a live Google+ Hangout, and as a podcast available on iTunes, SoundCloud and right here on SalesPOP! If you think you would make a great guest for #SalesChats, please  contact co-host Martha Neumeister .

#SalesChats is co-hosted by John Golden, CSMO Pipeliner CRM, and Martha Neumeister, Social Media Strategist Pipeliner CRM.

About Author

John Golden

John is the Amazon bestselling author of  Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories  and  Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling . A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist, he has conducted over 1500 video interviews of thought leaders for Sales POP! online sales magazine & YouTube Channel and for audio podcast channels where Sales POP! is rated in the top 2% of most popular shows out of 3,320,580 podcasts globally, ranked by Listen Score . He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.

Author's Publications on Amazon

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Winning the Battle for Sales

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6 Analytical Skills Marketers Need and How to Improve Them

Updated: November 19, 2021

Published: September 16, 2021

If you've ever tried to solve a Rubix Cube, you've put your analytical skills to the test. Making the colors match up requires problem-solving, logical reasoning, and pattern recognition.

While the majority of marketers will never make it to the next speedcubing competition, the skills you learn with puzzles like this are essential to a successful marketing career.

In today's workforce, nearly one in four workers have a job in which analytical skills are considered the most important factor. Companies want to hire for these skills because it shows a candidate's ability to think logically and use data to inform decision-making. In fact, Indeed found the most in-demand skills for employers — and several analytical skills top the list.

That's why it's important to know how analytical skills apply to your career and what you can do to develop these skills over time.

What are analytical skills?

Analytical skills refer to the ability to collect information, analyze it, and draw conclusions in order to solve problems and make effective decisions. Often divided into categories like critical thinking, data analysis, and research, these skills make it possible to recognize patterns and creatively solve complex problems.

As a marketer, being able to understand problems and provide solutions is essential to a long, successful career. It means you can take a critical lens to the details of a problem to fully understand it. This helps you notice trends, understand the steps needed to take action, and offer novel solutions. But that doesn't mean you have to throw creativity out the door. Using analytical skills to problem solve can look like a structured, methodical approach or a more creative one.

We'll explore the various types of analytical skills later on, but first, let's look at how analytical skills differ from critical thinking skills.

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Analytical Skills vs. Critical Thinking

A person who uses logic to find patterns, brainstorm, analyze data, and make decisions based on that information has analytical skills. One of the skills required to do that is critical thinking.

In other words, critical thinking is just one of many skills you need to be an analytical thinker.

You probably use critical thinking more often than you imagine, like when you:

• Question whether a piece of information is a fact or an opinion.
• Break problems down to understand the reasoning behind them.
• Draw conclusions from data, rather than a gut feeling.
• Make intentional, rational, and goal-oriented decisions.

Marketers who have strong critical thinking skills make reasonable, logical judgments and think through every decision. They provide facts and logical arguments to back their choices, which leads to smart decisions and improves company success.

While each role has its own analytical skill requirements, there are several that will benefit any marketer throughout their career.

Example of Analytical Skills

If you're looking for a marketing role that leans towards analytics, such as a market research analyst position, it's best to develop analytical skills specific to that position and your desired industry. Analytical skills are soft skills, so you'll also want to develop hard role-specific technical skills .

For an analyst, that means mastering technical skills like Google Analytics and statistical software, while also having analytical skills such as creating data collection methods and presenting findings to senior leadership.

But across the board, all marketers can benefit from developing these in-demand analytical skills.

1. Critical Thinking

Any position across all levels of a company can benefit from critical thinking skills. It's the ability to question an idea or examine why a problem exists. This can lead you to tackle issues others thought impossible and understand whether resolving a problem is worth the time, money, and effort. Critical thinking can take many forms in marketing, such as:

• Decision-making
• Content and brand auditing
• Prioritization
• Troubleshooting
• Case analysis
• Correlation
• Data interpretation
• Market research analysis

2. Data Analysis

Neil Hoyne, Chief Measurement Strategist at Google, once said, "The companies that are going to win are the ones who are using data, not guessing."

Interpreting data is more than collecting and reading information — it's making sense of what's before you by connecting patterns and recognizing trends. Strong data analysis skills allow you to pull insights from a large volume of data, which you can share with key decision-makers. This skill can show up in marketing role requirements in a few common ways.

• ROI analysis
• SWOT analysis
• Data visualization
• Pattern recognition
• Process analysis
• Industry and market research
• Presentation skills
• Measuring customer satisfaction
• Marketing analytics
• Customer segmentation strategies
• Predictive analysis

3. Creative Thinking

I once had a manager who was known for saying, "The first answer isn't the answer." She knew the role creativity played in problem-solving and pushed our team to view a possible solution from all angles. Marketers with this analytical skill work to find out-of-the-box solutions and patterns that others brush past. And if you need any more convincing, 'creativity' ranks on Indeed’s top 20 list of most in-demand skills for today's workforce. At work, creative skills involve:

• Brainstorming
• Collaboration
• Adaptability
• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Strategic planning
• Organizational restructuring
• Predictive modeling
• Campaign development

4. Communication

Employers consistently rank communication as a must-have skill — and for good reason. Being able to explain your idea for a project or give feedback is essential as a marketing professional.

Communicating clearly helps you keep everyone on the same page when rolling out a campaign or diffuse a problem with a deadline when it (inevitably) arises. Strong communication skills needed in marketing include:

• Written and verbal communication
• Body language
• Interpersonal skills
• Active listening
• Conducting presentations
• Confidence and clarity of expression
• Sharing feedback
• Responsiveness
• Delegating responsibilities
• Respect and empathy

5. Problem-solving

Deciding how to respond to a harsh customer comment on social media. Distributing an advertising budget. Prioritizing which roles to hire for as a growing team.

All of these situations require analytical problem-solving skills, and all will pop up through a marketing career. Here are the problem-solving skills every marketer can benefit from developing:

• Data collection
• Checking for accuracy
• Risk-taking
• Attention to detail
• Dependability
• Team-building
• Logic and reasoning
• Organization
• Crisis management

6. Collaboration

Good collaboration skills can improve your working relationships, help you accomplish tasks on time, and reach your short- and long-term goals.

And nearly every marketing team has to collaborate with sales, product, business development, and creative teams to get anything done, knowing how to create synergy with your colleagues will make work smoother and more enjoyable.

The most common collaboration skills for marketers today are:

• Time management
• Negotiation
• Giving and receiving feedback
• Emotional intelligence
• Open-mindedness
• Process improvement
• Adapting to change

How to Improve Analytical Skills

Developing analytical skills takes time and effort. Unlike technical skills that have a structured approach to follow, analytical skills are more difficult to define and develop. There's a process to learn how to use Google Analytics for SEO, but the steps to become an effective communicator are more fuzzy and undefined.

Fortunately, analytical skills can be honed. Here how you can go about boosting your skills and contributing to your company's productivity and success.

Take courses, certifications, or on the job training.

Infinite resources exist both in-person and online that can help you improve your analytical skills. Universities and online companies like Coursera offer online schooling, HubSpot Academy offers free certification courses, and many companies provide stipends for continuing education.

Start by identifying which skills you want to improve and do research to find the resources that are right for your skill set and budget.

Find a mentor.

You likely know someone who is an excellent negotiator or always crafts the perfect email. Noticing how these people approach a situation and problem solve can help you hone your skills. Take notes, save examples, and apply their process to your work.

To take it a step further, ask them to chat over coffee or a phone call to discuss how they developed their skill. They can likely point you in the right direction or provide guidance on what you need to do to excel at the skill.

Try practice problems.

Role-playing is incredibly effective when working to improve analytical skills. Instead of simply reading a case study about an innovative digital media campaign, find a tool to help you develop your brainstorming skills.

Depending on the skill, you can find a practice book or an online resource to walk you through various mental models and scenarios. Work on an idea, and then present it to a trusted colleague or mentor to get feedback.

Play games to improve your analytical skills.

Spending hours on your phone playing Sudoku has more benefits than the personal satisfaction of beating your top score. Games that test your mental agility and memorization can improve your ability to think logically and challenge norms. While game trends are constantly changing, there are several classics that have withstood the test of time.

• Jigsaw puzzles
• Board games (i.e. Scrabble, Settlers of Catan, Splendor, Pictionary, and Bananagrams)
• Computer or mobile games (i.e. Lumosity, Elevate, and Peak)
• Crossword puzzles

Analytical Skills for Your Resume

Once you gain or improve your analytical skills, make sure to update your resume to reflect those strengths. Your resume should include a list of 10 to 20 skills, with a mix of both hard and soft skills. Note at least five to 10 analytical skills so potential employers know you have the knowledge to get your job done.

When choosing which skills to highlight, look to the job requirements section. A role may involve managing the company's social media accounts, but this typically includes collaborating with multiple teams to get the content and analytics you need to do that successfully. Showcasing a blend of technical and analytical skills is what makes you a competitive candidate.

As your career develops, you'll likely need to keep your analytical skills sharp. Be proactive by practicing and paying attention to people who have the skills you want to acquire, and you'll be on your way to solving complex problems with ease.

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Everything You Need to Know About Critical Thinking Skills for Business Leaders

9 Min Read | Oct 3, 2023

We all have moments of bad decision-making. (Like that time you hired your best friend’s cousin’s neighbor without interviewing them. Wrong move.) But consistently making decisions by the seat of your pants is no way to live your life—or build your business. What you can build your company on is the momentum that comes from critical thinking, aka making smart decisions and solving tough problems like it’s your job. Because if you’re a leader, it is.

Now, don’t get tripped up on the word critical . We’re not talking about overthinking every little thing and never really deciding on anything. And we’re also not talking about being critical or judgmental of your team. Both suck the life out teams and businesses. Critical thinking is really just about asking great questions, analyzing possible solutions, and taking action.

Let’s explore what critical thinking is, why it matters to you as a business leader, and how to apply how to apply critical-thinking skills examples to your work.           

What Is Critical Thinking?

One scholarly explanation of critical thinking goes something like: a system of thought incorporated in scientific, mathematical, historical, anthropological, moral, philosophical and economic thinking. Yeah, that definition’s a 0 out of 10 on the helpfulness scale. Critical thinking is more than knowing about something. It’s actively exploring facts and making discoveries. It’s getting to the bottom of problems by asking smart questions so you can make a good judgment based on facts—not feelings.

You already use critical thinking in your everyday decisions without realizing it. As a leader, you probably have 50 “great” ideas before you get to work in the morning. But do you act on all of them? Of course not. Because after you take a closer look at your priorities and available time and resources, you realize some of those ideas aren’t worth pursuing, at least right now. That’s critical thought.

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When you use critical thinking, you don’t just take things at face value or go with your initial gut reaction. You weigh, measure and challenge information carefully, with the goal to improve what and how you think. One quick note though. Don’t mistake critical thinking for memorizing facts and figures. That’s what you do when you’re prepping for your fifth-grade multiplication test. It’s not how you make new discoveries.

If you want to solve problems and find better ways of doing things like the great leader you’re meant to be , you will rely on a combination of data, facts, research, wise counsel, and assumptions from your knowledge and experience.

Pro tip: Being wishy washy can paralyze your team, your business and your mission. That’s what’s called indecisive leadership, and that’s an oxymoron. Don’t do that. Once you think through your information and options, make up your mind.

Why Is Critical Thinking Important to Leaders?

As if paralyzing your team isn’t bad enough, indecision also costs your business time and money. You give life permission to make decisions for you when you don’t move. Yuk! But when you think and move your way through obstacles, you hold the reins and can overcome challenges when others just give up.

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Are you losing steam with your current ad strategy? Critical thinking can lead you to new advertising ideas and marketing streams—and create even more business traffic. Stressed out by supply chain issues? Critical thinking can help you find new vendors and ways of doing business. When you think boldly and keep control of the situation, you impose your will (and good sense) on the world around you.

Here’s one more example of why critical thinking is important: Say you notice a dip in sales one month. You could blow it off as a fluke and charge ahead blindly. Or you could panic, treat it as the beginning of the end, and pressure your sales team to turn the ship before you’re forced to close your doors. Which one is right? Probably neither. But you won’t know how to respond until you carefully look at your business trends, analyze market conditions, and talk with some other smart, experienced leaders.

Your team and your business are just as good as your reasoning and decision-making skills.

Critical thinking helps you:

• Keep emotions and chaos in check as you approach problems with facts, not feelings
• Understand the importance and relevance of ideas
• Know when to challenge information and when to stop overthinking
• See how ideas are linked and call out inconsistencies and mistakes
• Appreciate different perspectives
• Consider others’ needs and show respect

Ask yourself how much you prioritize running your business with clarity, fairness, accuracy, and relevance. Your answer will give you a good picture of how much you value critical thinking.

Related article: What is Transformational Leadership?

Critical thinking has plenty of enemies though. Beware of these traits and behaviors that can lead to bad thinking and bad business:

• Self-interest
• Blind acceptance of what’s “normal”

Have you ever heard the phrase, “ready, fire, aim”? Probably not—but that’s what it looks like to act before you get a clear picture of the situation. Things run smoother the less you shoot from the hip and the more you carefully consider your decisions.

Examples of Critical Thinking Skills in Business

Here are some examples leaders in different lines of work who use critical thinking to solve everyday business problems:

• A funeral home director who considers a grieving family’s budget and wishes and guides them to the best choices
• A home health care manager who analyzes their cases and matches team members with clients based on their needs and schedule preferences
• A home contractor who weighs out which subcontractors are the right fit for the job
• A customer service leader who uses feedback forms to decide on training needs for their team
• A landscaper who evaluates the risk versus the potential revenue growth of adding team members

The Critical Thinking Process

We’ve looked at why and when to put some extra thought into your business decisions, but let’s be real. Not every decision requires deep-level thinking. The amount of time and energy you spend deciding should be based on the size of the decision’s impact on your business.

If it’s your job to choose whether your company’s Christmas card envelope is white or red, for the love of holiday cheer, just decide. But if you’re about to make a major purchase or new hire, you’ve got some big investments on the line. Pause to think over the details before you advance.

Related article : Product Launch: 10 Questions to Ask Before You Launch a New Product

Also, as you prepare to solve a tricky problem, ask yourself these questions:

• What’s the real issue?
• Why does this problem or challenge exist?
• What information do I need to gather to understand more?
• How should I keep my notes organized?

Let’s say, for example, that your business issue is consistently unhappy customers. On the surface, it looks like your team members serve customers too slowly. Since both team members and customers are involved, you need to get perspective from both sides to learn why the problem exists. So, you gather details from them on when and where the issue shows up and how they think it is or isn’t being handled. As for how to keep track of the information you learn, you could simply take notes on your phone or computer to review later. Or, you might need to put them in a shared document so your key leaders can see them as you work on a solution together.

After doing some high-level digging, you may find that your team members really are slow, but why ? That’s the next thing you need to discover. Are they poorly trained? Working in a role they’re not good at? Using faulty equipment?

Following these steps of deeper-level critical thinking will help you uncover root issues—so you can fix any problems:

• Observe: Look at the issue from different angles and ask questions about it.
• Analyze: Test how true your information is.
• Reason: Come up with your top theories for why there’s a problem, then list possible conclusions and solutions. (We’ve already established that you’re an idea machine. That’s great!  Keep those possible solutions flowing.)
• Communicate: Talk with people who are smarter and further ahead in their career than you for deeper insight. That doesn’t mean to just ask anyone with an opinion—find someone with experience.
• Solve: Decide and act.

Now for an important reminder: Thinking critically means you’re always discovering, changing and improving. Afterall, the one thing thriving businesses count on is change . That means you might solve a customer concern one way today but find better ways to solve it in the future. The same is true in any situation where you use critical thinking steps. The more you want to grow, the more you challenge your ideas and ways of doing things to get the positive change!

How to Think More Critically

We get it. You’re reading this because you’re serious about taking new ground and winning in business. You’re serious about going the extra mile to raise your critical thinking game even more. Here are four practical ways to build stronger critical thinking skills:

• Take a course or play video and board games that challenge your brain.
• Volunteer to solve problems at work and home for practice.
• Talk to others who are really good at thinking critically.
• Expand your job knowledge and skills so you can see problems more clearly.

Related article :  Mastermind Groups: What Are They, and How Can They Help You Grow Your Business?

What’s Next: Decision Time

Great leaders are people of action. They’re neither knee-jerk and emotional or passive and indecisive. They get the facts, think them through, then make the call. Of course, your personality style will influence whether you naturally make decisions quickly or need more time—and that’s okay. But, when it’s go time, leaders lead. Those who don’t end up like the squirrel in the middle of the road looking back and forth, then moving in circles or not at all. We all know what happens to that squirrel.

One way to stretch your critical thinking skills is to learn from today’s top voices in business and leadership through The EntreLeadership Podcast . You’ll hear practical decision-making insights that help you lead with confidence, solve big problems and grow your business.

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About the author

Ramsey Solutions has been committed to helping people regain control of their money, build wealth, grow their leadership skills, and enhance their lives through personal development since 1992. Millions of people have used our financial advice through 22 books (including 12 national bestsellers) published by Ramsey Press, as well as two syndicated radio shows and 10 podcasts, which have over 17 million weekly listeners. Learn More.

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• Why ‘Critical Thinking’ is an essential sales skill

by Nick Constable | Apr 6, 2017 | Sales

A salesperson who seeks first to understand, before seeking to be understood is starting the process of building a consultative relationship, whilst avoiding the pitfalls of arrogantly appearing to ‘know it all’ and lecture the customer on what he/she thinks the customer should buy. This basic dynamic in behaviour is, of course, the key difference between ‘selling things to’ people and getting them to want to buy from us.

So if you understand the importance of gathering information about your customer, before you attempt to ‘pitch’ a solution, you will appreciate just how vital it is to go about that task using all the faculties of your brain: not just inquisitiveness, persistence, empathy, attentive listening and good preparation, but also some robust ‘critical thinking’.

What is Critical Thinking? In its purest form, it is an intellectual discipline used by researchers and academics to interrogate information and data to ensure that all assumptions, errors, preconceptions and misinterpretations are eliminated and conclusions are drawn, or decisions made, based on a factually correct evidence base. Ultimately, for academics, it is a tool to achieve the goal of handling information with clarity, accuracy, precision, consistency, relevance, sound evidence, good reasons, depth, breadth, and fairness.

Why is this important for salespeople, and how can we adapt this academic approach to the practical world of business? In short, it comes down to adopting the right mind-set.

All of us, in varying degrees, are vulnerable to our own conditioning: our previous experiences, our own personal views, our emotional attachments to certain types of customer or business, or our prejudices, often without consciously realising it. We will make unconscious assumptions and judgements, or accept certain ideas uncritically. The more of an ‘expert’ we think we are in our markets, the higher the risk that we submit to  confirmation bias  – that is, we only seek or hear the information we want to hear, because it fits in with our own vision of the situation or process. Asking the hard questions that might lead to the ‘wrong’ answers is not that easily done.

For example, we might easily assume that the client’s Finance Director will be giving the final approval for spending budget. One individual customer contact may have hinted at or even told us this. Later, when it turns out that isn’t the case at all, and the Managing Director, previously uninvolved, steps in to make a final decision, we’ll be asking ourselves how we missed that. Did that one customer contact lie? Or did they themselves not understand the internal process? Perhaps they genuinely thought that to be the case, but we never  checked it .

So what’s the critical thinking process?

• Gather ALL the necessary information/data
• Assess and validate the information properly
• Create a range of valid choices
• Decide – exercising sound  commercial j udgement

It’s not as easy as it looks. Every piece of information we gather needs to be validated critically. That means, in simple terms, asking yourself the hard questions about the source of the information, it’s relevance, its accuracy and so on. It also means being prepared to ask the customer deeper, probing questions that might reveal underlying nuances or assumptions, prejudices or misconceptions.

A good way of starting to think more critically is to consider how modern satellite navigation systems work. The ability of your Garmin or TomTom device to accurately pin-point your location is dependent on a process known as ‘triangulation’. If the satnav device can only connect to a single satellite, its accuracy is limited to about 10 metres on the ground. If, however, your device can connect to at least three different satellites at once, it can accurately plot your position on the earth’s surface down to one metre.

Apply this concept to the way that you assess and validate the information that clients tell you. Who or what is the source of this information? Why might they be telling me this? What hidden agendas might exist? What assumptions are they making? Who else holds the same views and can give me a different perspective? How can I test the validity or truth of this information? Am I just hearing what I want to hear?

It’s a bit of a cliché that we ‘don’t know what we don’t know’ – but it is nonetheless an endemic flaw in a lot of selling processes. Constantly testing our assumptions and bias, pushing ourselves further towards critical validation will mean we can eliminate a lot of the don’t knows and in the process, often help the customer to come to better conclusions about their business as well. That’s precious, because it is part of how a great salesperson adds more value to the relationships they build.

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Six Critical Skills Training

Build agile selling skills to create a differentiated buying experience

Understand customer needs to position more value

Traditional competitive advantages are eroding in today’s setting of widely available technology. As a result, soft skills are a way to elevate the value of the business and the quality of interactions with customers.  The ability to be conversational, adaptable, and apply critical thinking is one of the best ways for your salespeople to differentiate themselves in the market. The Six Critical Skills training program helps your sales professionals build the core soft skills they need to help them open more doors, better understand customer needs, and position more value.

Six Critical Skills Training Program Overview

Six Critical Skills training program enables learners at every level to more effectively execute their customer conversations. This program is useful as a stand-alone skill improvement solution, but its efficacy is enhanced when it is combined with one of our more targeted sales training programs because it builds the soft skills that serve as a foundation for effective selling.

The program improves your team’s ability to:

• Effectively establish presence by projecting interest, conviction, energy, professional appearance, and confidence.
• Better relate to their buyers by building rapport , using acknowledgment, and demonstrating empathy.
• Ask insightful questions that compel buyers to gain a sense of ownership of the solution.
• Listen to their buyers and build a deep understanding of their words and the meaning behind them.
• Position a product or service effectively by adding value for the customer.
• Use checking to solicit feedback to ensure the buyer and seller are having the same conversation.

Sales Performance Platform Example: Questioning Skills

Six Critical Skills training is available on our Sales Performance Platform which uses video-based scenarios to take your sales team’s skills from good to great.

Six Critical Skills Training Program Business Benefits

This training program drives results for your organization because these soft selling skills build:

• Agility: The skills empower your team to flex to meet the needs of changing customer demands in a changing environment
• Differentiation: Your sales team’s ability to connect with customers and deeply understand their needs to the level of a trusted advisor creating barriers to entry for competitors.
• United Capabilities: Developing consistent skills across the organization ensures continuity and sustained performance improvement.

Six Critical Skills Training Program Brochure

Learn about our training program that builds the soft selling skills every seller needs to practice and perfect.

Key Areas Covered

Critical skills for a sales dialogue.

The moment of truth is in the dialogue. The Six Critical Skills are the observable behaviors that support a sales dialogue. They allow sales professionals to leverage their natural strengths to create a dialogue, foster the openness and trust needed to understand customer needs, communicate in a compelling way, and close profitable business.

Demonstrating Emotional Intelligence

Consultative Selling is human and natural. Sales professionals need a process and skills to leverage their natural styles, not a rigid set of steps or manipulative tactics that suppress their natural styles. We work with sales professionals to generate self-awareness, the foundational building block for increased emotional intelligence and more effective human interactions.

Winning Profitable Business

Growth is about getting to the next level and increasing confidence. These critical skills help sales professionals to use their unique set of strengths and opportunities for improvement to foster positive relationships, create exceptional buying experiences, and build trust to win more business.

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41+ Critical Thinking Examples (Definition + Practices)

Critical thinking is an essential skill in our information-overloaded world, where figuring out what is fact and fiction has become increasingly challenging.

But why is critical thinking essential? Put, critical thinking empowers us to make better decisions, challenge and validate our beliefs and assumptions, and understand and interact with the world more effectively and meaningfully.

Critical thinking is like using your brain's "superpowers" to make smart choices. Whether it's picking the right insurance, deciding what to do in a job, or discussing topics in school, thinking deeply helps a lot. In the next parts, we'll share real-life examples of when this superpower comes in handy and give you some fun exercises to practice it.

Critical Thinking Process Outline

Critical thinking means thinking clearly and fairly without letting personal feelings get in the way. It's like being a detective, trying to solve a mystery by using clues and thinking hard about them.

It isn't always easy to think critically, as it can take a pretty smart person to see some of the questions that aren't being answered in a certain situation. But, we can train our brains to think more like puzzle solvers, which can help develop our critical thinking skills.

Here's what it looks like step by step:

Spotting the Problem: It's like discovering a puzzle to solve. You see that there's something you need to figure out or decide.

Collecting Clues: Now, you need to gather information. Maybe you read about it, watch a video, talk to people, or do some research. It's like getting all the pieces to solve your puzzle.

Breaking It Down: This is where you look at all your clues and try to see how they fit together. You're asking questions like: Why did this happen? What could happen next?

Checking Your Clues: You want to make sure your information is good. This means seeing if what you found out is true and if you can trust where it came from.

Making a Guess: After looking at all your clues, you think about what they mean and come up with an answer. This answer is like your best guess based on what you know.

Explaining Your Thoughts: Now, you tell others how you solved the puzzle. You explain how you thought about it and how you answered. 

Checking Your Work: This is like looking back and seeing if you missed anything. Did you make any mistakes? Did you let any personal feelings get in the way? This step helps make sure your thinking is clear and fair.

And remember, you might sometimes need to go back and redo some steps if you discover something new. If you realize you missed an important clue, you might have to go back and collect more information.

Critical Thinking Methods

Just like doing push-ups or running helps our bodies get stronger, there are special exercises that help our brains think better. These brain workouts push us to think harder, look at things closely, and ask many questions.

It's not always about finding the "right" answer. Instead, it's about the journey of thinking and asking "why" or "how." Doing these exercises often helps us become better thinkers and makes us curious to know more about the world.

Now, let's look at some brain workouts to help us think better:

1. "What If" Scenarios

Imagine crazy things happening, like, "What if there was no internet for a month? What would we do?" These games help us think of new and different ideas.

Pick a hot topic. Argue one side of it and then try arguing the opposite. This makes us see different viewpoints and think deeply about a topic.

3. Analyze Visual Data

Check out charts or pictures with lots of numbers and info but no explanations. What story are they telling? This helps us get better at understanding information just by looking at it.

4. Mind Mapping

Write an idea in the center and then draw lines to related ideas. It's like making a map of your thoughts. This helps us see how everything is connected.

There's lots of mind-mapping software , but it's also nice to do this by hand.

5. Weekly Diary

Every week, write about what happened, the choices you made, and what you learned. Writing helps us think about our actions and how we can do better.

6. Evaluating Information Sources

Collect stories or articles about one topic from newspapers or blogs. Which ones are trustworthy? Which ones might be a little biased? This teaches us to be smart about where we get our info.

There are many resources to help you determine if information sources are factual or not.

7. Socratic Questioning

This way of thinking is called the Socrates Method, named after an old-time thinker from Greece. It's about asking lots of questions to understand a topic. You can do this by yourself or chat with a friend.

Start with a Big Question:

"What does 'success' mean?"

Dive Deeper with More Questions:

"Why do you think of success that way?" "Do TV shows, friends, or family make you think that?" "Does everyone think about success the same way?"

"Can someone be a winner even if they aren't rich or famous?" "Can someone feel like they didn't succeed, even if everyone else thinks they did?"

Look for Real-life Examples:

"Who is someone you think is successful? Why?" "Was there a time you felt like a winner? What happened?"

Think About Other People's Views:

"How might a person from another country think about success?" "Does the idea of success change as we grow up or as our life changes?"

Think About What It Means:

"How does your idea of success shape what you want in life?" "Are there problems with only wanting to be rich or famous?"

Look Back and Think:

"After talking about this, did your idea of success change? How?" "Did you learn something new about what success means?"

8. Six Thinking Hats 

Edward de Bono came up with a cool way to solve problems by thinking in six different ways, like wearing different colored hats. You can do this independently, but it might be more effective in a group so everyone can have a different hat color. Each color has its way of thinking:

White Hat (Facts): Just the facts! Ask, "What do we know? What do we need to find out?"

Red Hat (Feelings): Talk about feelings. Ask, "How do I feel about this?"

Black Hat (Careful Thinking): Be cautious. Ask, "What could go wrong?"

Yellow Hat (Positive Thinking): Look on the bright side. Ask, "What's good about this?"

Green Hat (Creative Thinking): Think of new ideas. Ask, "What's another way to look at this?"

Blue Hat (Planning): Organize the talk. Ask, "What should we do next?"

When using this method with a group:

• Explain all the hats.
• Decide which hat to wear first.
• Make sure everyone switches hats at the same time.
• Finish with the Blue Hat to plan the next steps.

9. SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis is like a game plan for businesses to know where they stand and where they should go. "SWOT" stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

There are a lot of SWOT templates out there for how to do this visually, but you can also think it through. It doesn't just apply to businesses but can be a good way to decide if a project you're working on is working.

Strengths: What's working well? Ask, "What are we good at?"

Weaknesses: Where can we do better? Ask, "Where can we improve?"

Opportunities: What good things might come our way? Ask, "What chances can we grab?"

Threats: What challenges might we face? Ask, "What might make things tough for us?"

Steps to do a SWOT Analysis:

• Goal: Decide what you want to find out.
• Research: Learn about your business and the world around it.
• Brainstorm: Get a group and think together. Talk about strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
• Pick the Most Important Points: Some things might be more urgent or important than others.
• Make a Plan: Decide what to do based on your SWOT list.
• Check Again Later: Things change, so look at your SWOT again after a while to update it.

Now that you have a few tools for thinking critically, let’s get into some specific examples.

Everyday Examples

Life is a series of decisions. From the moment we wake up, we're faced with choices – some trivial, like choosing a breakfast cereal, and some more significant, like buying a home or confronting an ethical dilemma at work. While it might seem that these decisions are disparate, they all benefit from the application of critical thinking.

10. Deciding to buy something

Imagine you want a new phone. Don't just buy it because the ad looks cool. Think about what you need in a phone. Look up different phones and see what people say about them. Choose the one that's the best deal for what you want.

11. Deciding what is true

There's a lot of news everywhere. Don't believe everything right away. Think about why someone might be telling you this. Check if what you're reading or watching is true. Make up your mind after you've looked into it.

12. Deciding when you’re wrong

Sometimes, friends can have disagreements. Don't just get mad right away. Try to see where they're coming from. Talk about what's going on. Find a way to fix the problem that's fair for everyone.

13. Deciding what to eat

There's always a new diet or exercise that's popular. Don't just follow it because it's trendy. Find out if it's good for you. Ask someone who knows, like a doctor. Make choices that make you feel good and stay healthy.

14. Deciding what to do today

Everyone is busy with school, chores, and hobbies. Make a list of things you need to do. Decide which ones are most important. Plan your day so you can get things done and still have fun.

15. Making Tough Choices

Sometimes, it's hard to know what's right. Think about how each choice will affect you and others. Talk to people you trust about it. Choose what feels right in your heart and is fair to others.

16. Planning for the Future

Big decisions, like where to go to school, can be tricky. Think about what you want in the future. Look at the good and bad of each choice. Talk to people who know about it. Pick what feels best for your dreams and goals.

Job Examples

17. solving problems.

Workers brainstorm ways to fix a machine quickly without making things worse when a machine breaks at a factory.

18. Decision Making

A store manager decides which products to order more of based on what's selling best.

19. Setting Goals

A team leader helps their team decide what tasks are most important to finish this month and which can wait.

20. Evaluating Ideas

At a team meeting, everyone shares ideas for a new project. The group discusses each idea's pros and cons before picking one.

21. Handling Conflict

Two workers disagree on how to do a job. Instead of arguing, they talk calmly, listen to each other, and find a solution they both like.

22. Improving Processes

A cashier thinks of a faster way to ring up items so customers don't have to wait as long.

23. Asking Questions

Before starting a big task, an employee asks for clear instructions and checks if they have the necessary tools.

24. Checking Facts

Before presenting a report, someone double-checks all their information to make sure there are no mistakes.

25. Planning for the Future

A business owner thinks about what might happen in the next few years, like new competitors or changes in what customers want, and makes plans based on those thoughts.

26. Understanding Perspectives

A team is designing a new toy. They think about what kids and parents would both like instead of just what they think is fun.

School Examples

27. researching a topic.

For a history project, a student looks up different sources to understand an event from multiple viewpoints.

28. Debating an Issue

In a class discussion, students pick sides on a topic, like school uniforms, and share reasons to support their views.

29. Evaluating Sources

While writing an essay, a student checks if the information from a website is trustworthy or might be biased.

30. Problem Solving in Math

When stuck on a tricky math problem, a student tries different methods to find the answer instead of giving up.

31. Analyzing Literature

In English class, students discuss why a character in a book made certain choices and what those decisions reveal about them.

32. Testing a Hypothesis

For a science experiment, students guess what will happen and then conduct tests to see if they're right or wrong.

33. Giving Peer Feedback

After reading a classmate's essay, a student offers suggestions for improving it.

34. Questioning Assumptions

In a geography lesson, students consider why certain countries are called "developed" and what that label means.

35. Designing a Study

For a psychology project, students plan an experiment to understand how people's memories work and think of ways to ensure accurate results.

36. Interpreting Data

In a science class, students look at charts and graphs from a study, then discuss what the information tells them and if there are any patterns.

Critical Thinking Puzzles

Not all scenarios will have a single correct answer that can be figured out by thinking critically. Sometimes we have to think critically about ethical choices or moral behaviors. 

Here are some mind games and scenarios you can solve using critical thinking. You can see the solution(s) at the end of the post.

37. The Farmer, Fox, Chicken, and Grain Problem

A farmer is at a riverbank with a fox, a chicken, and a grain bag. He needs to get all three items across the river. However, his boat can only carry himself and one of the three items at a time. 

Here's the challenge:

• If the fox is left alone with the chicken, the fox will eat the chicken.
• If the chicken is left alone with the grain, the chicken will eat the grain.

How can the farmer get all three items across the river without any item being eaten? 

38. The Rope, Jar, and Pebbles Problem

You are in a room with two long ropes hanging from the ceiling. Each rope is just out of arm's reach from the other, so you can't hold onto one rope and reach the other simultaneously. 

Your task is to tie the two rope ends together, but you can't move the position where they hang from the ceiling.

You are given a jar full of pebbles. How do you complete the task?

39. The Two Guards Problem

Imagine there are two doors. One door leads to certain doom, and the other leads to freedom. You don't know which is which.

In front of each door stands a guard. One guard always tells the truth. The other guard always lies. You don't know which guard is which.

You can ask only one question to one of the guards. What question should you ask to find the door that leads to freedom?

40. The Hourglass Problem

You have two hourglasses. One measures 7 minutes when turned over, and the other measures 4 minutes. Using just these hourglasses, how can you time exactly 9 minutes?

41. The Lifeboat Dilemma

Imagine you're on a ship that's sinking. You get on a lifeboat, but it's already too full and might flip over. 

Nearby in the water, five people are struggling: a scientist close to finding a cure for a sickness, an old couple who've been together for a long time, a mom with three kids waiting at home, and a tired teenager who helped save others but is now in danger. 

You can only save one person without making the boat flip. Who would you choose?

42. The Tech Dilemma

You work at a tech company and help make a computer program to help small businesses. You're almost ready to share it with everyone, but you find out there might be a small chance it has a problem that could show users' private info. 

If you decide to fix it, you must wait two more months before sharing it. But your bosses want you to share it now. What would you do?

43. The History Mystery

Dr. Amelia is a history expert. She's studying where a group of people traveled long ago. She reads old letters and documents to learn about it. But she finds some letters that tell a different story than what most people believe. 

If she says this new story is true, it could change what people learn in school and what they think about history. What should she do?

The Role of Bias in Critical Thinking

Have you ever decided you don’t like someone before you even know them? Or maybe someone shared an idea with you that you immediately loved without even knowing all the details. 

This experience is called bias, which occurs when you like or dislike something or someone without a good reason or knowing why. It can also take shape in certain reactions to situations, like a habit or instinct. 

Bias comes from our own experiences, what friends or family tell us, or even things we are born believing. Sometimes, bias can help us stay safe, but other times it stops us from seeing the truth.

Not all bias is bad. Bias can be a mechanism for assessing our potential safety in a new situation. If we are biased to think that anything long, thin, and curled up is a snake, we might assume the rope is something to be afraid of before we know it is just a rope.

While bias might serve us in some situations (like jumping out of the way of an actual snake before we have time to process that we need to be jumping out of the way), it often harms our ability to think critically.

How Bias Gets in the Way of Good Thinking

Selective Perception: We only notice things that match our ideas and ignore the rest. 

It's like only picking red candies from a mixed bowl because you think they taste the best, but they taste the same as every other candy in the bowl. It could also be when we see all the signs that our partner is cheating on us but choose to ignore them because we are happy the way we are (or at least, we think we are).

Agreeing with Yourself: This is called “ confirmation bias ” when we only listen to ideas that match our own and seek, interpret, and remember information in a way that confirms what we already think we know or believe. 

An example is when someone wants to know if it is safe to vaccinate their children but already believes that vaccines are not safe, so they only look for information supporting the idea that vaccines are bad.

Thinking We Know It All: Similar to confirmation bias, this is called “overconfidence bias.” Sometimes we think our ideas are the best and don't listen to others. This can stop us from learning.

Have you ever met someone who you consider a “know it”? Probably, they have a lot of overconfidence bias because while they may know many things accurately, they can’t know everything. Still, if they act like they do, they show overconfidence bias.

There's a weird kind of bias similar to this called the Dunning Kruger Effect, and that is when someone is bad at what they do, but they believe and act like they are the best .

Following the Crowd: This is formally called “groupthink”. It's hard to speak up with a different idea if everyone agrees. But this can lead to mistakes.

An example of this we’ve all likely seen is the cool clique in primary school. There is usually one person that is the head of the group, the “coolest kid in school”, and everyone listens to them and does what they want, even if they don’t think it’s a good idea.

How to Overcome Biases

Here are a few ways to learn to think better, free from our biases (or at least aware of them!).

Know Your Biases: Realize that everyone has biases. If we know about them, we can think better.

Listen to Different People: Talking to different kinds of people can give us new ideas.

Ask Why: Always ask yourself why you believe something. Is it true, or is it just a bias?

Understand Others: Try to think about how others feel. It helps you see things in new ways.

Keep Learning: Always be curious and open to new information.

In today's world, everything changes fast, and there's so much information everywhere. This makes critical thinking super important. It helps us distinguish between what's real and what's made up. It also helps us make good choices. But thinking this way can be tough sometimes because of biases. These are like sneaky thoughts that can trick us. The good news is we can learn to see them and think better.

There are cool tools and ways we've talked about, like the "Socratic Questioning" method and the "Six Thinking Hats." These tools help us get better at thinking. These thinking skills can also help us in school, work, and everyday life.

We’ve also looked at specific scenarios where critical thinking would be helpful, such as deciding what diet to follow and checking facts.

Thinking isn't just a skill—it's a special talent we improve over time. Working on it lets us see things more clearly and understand the world better. So, keep practicing and asking questions! It'll make you a smarter thinker and help you see the world differently.

Critical Thinking Puzzles (Solutions)

The farmer, fox, chicken, and grain problem.

• The farmer first takes the chicken across the river and leaves it on the other side.
• He returns to the original side and takes the fox across the river.
• After leaving the fox on the other side, he returns the chicken to the starting side.
• He leaves the chicken on the starting side and takes the grain bag across the river.
• He leaves the grain with the fox on the other side and returns to get the chicken.
• The farmer takes the chicken across, and now all three items -- the fox, the chicken, and the grain -- are safely on the other side of the river.

The Rope, Jar, and Pebbles Problem

• Take one rope and tie the jar of pebbles to its end.
• Swing the rope with the jar in a pendulum motion.
• While the rope is swinging, grab the other rope and wait.
• As the swinging rope comes back within reach due to its pendulum motion, grab it.
• With both ropes within reach, untie the jar and tie the rope ends together.

The Two Guards Problem

The question is, "What would the other guard say is the door to doom?" Then choose the opposite door.

The Hourglass Problem

• Start both hourglasses. 
• When the 4-minute hourglass runs out, turn it over.
• When the 7-minute hourglass runs out, the 4-minute hourglass will have been running for 3 minutes. Turn the 7-minute hourglass over. 
• When the 4-minute hourglass runs out for the second time (a total of 8 minutes have passed), the 7-minute hourglass will run for 1 minute. Turn the 7-minute hourglass again for 1 minute to empty the hourglass (a total of 9 minutes passed).

The Boat and Weights Problem

Take the cat over first and leave it on the other side. Then, return and take the fish across next. When you get there, take the cat back with you. Leave the cat on the starting side and take the cat food across. Lastly, return to get the cat and bring it to the other side.

The Lifeboat Dilemma

There isn’t one correct answer to this problem. Here are some elements to consider:

• Moral Principles: What values guide your decision? Is it the potential greater good for humanity (the scientist)? What is the value of long-standing love and commitment (the elderly couple)? What is the future of young children who depend on their mothers? Or the selfless bravery of the teenager?
• Future Implications: Consider the future consequences of each choice. Saving the scientist might benefit millions in the future, but what moral message does it send about the value of individual lives?
• Emotional vs. Logical Thinking: While it's essential to engage empathy, it's also crucial not to let emotions cloud judgment entirely. For instance, while the teenager's bravery is commendable, does it make him more deserving of a spot on the boat than the others?
• Acknowledging Uncertainty: The scientist claims to be close to a significant breakthrough, but there's no certainty. How does this uncertainty factor into your decision?
• Personal Bias: Recognize and challenge any personal biases, such as biases towards age, profession, or familial status.

The Tech Dilemma

Again, there isn’t one correct answer to this problem. Here are some elements to consider:

• Evaluate the Risk: How severe is the potential vulnerability? Can it be easily exploited, or would it require significant expertise? Even if the circumstances are rare, what would be the consequences if the vulnerability were exploited?
• Stakeholder Considerations: Different stakeholders will have different priorities. Upper management might prioritize financial projections, the marketing team might be concerned about the product's reputation, and customers might prioritize the security of their data. How do you balance these competing interests?
• Short-Term vs. Long-Term Implications: While launching on time could meet immediate financial goals, consider the potential long-term damage to the company's reputation if the vulnerability is exploited. Would the short-term gains be worth the potential long-term costs?
• Ethical Implications : Beyond the financial and reputational aspects, there's an ethical dimension to consider. Is it right to release a product with a known vulnerability, even if the chances of it being exploited are low?
• Seek External Input: Consulting with cybersecurity experts outside your company might be beneficial. They could provide a more objective risk assessment and potential mitigation strategies.
• Communication: How will you communicate the decision, whatever it may be, both internally to your team and upper management and externally to your customers and potential users?

The History Mystery

Dr. Amelia should take the following steps:

• Verify the Letters: Before making any claims, she should check if the letters are actual and not fake. She can do this by seeing when and where they were written and if they match with other things from that time.
• Get a Second Opinion: It's always good to have someone else look at what you've found. Dr. Amelia could show the letters to other history experts and see their thoughts.
• Research More: Maybe there are more documents or letters out there that support this new story. Dr. Amelia should keep looking to see if she can find more evidence.
• Share the Findings: If Dr. Amelia believes the letters are true after all her checks, she should tell others. This can be through books, talks, or articles.
• Stay Open to Feedback: Some people might agree with Dr. Amelia, and others might not. She should listen to everyone and be ready to learn more or change her mind if new information arises.

Ultimately, Dr. Amelia's job is to find out the truth about history and share it. It's okay if this new truth differs from what people used to believe. History is about learning from the past, no matter the story.

Related posts:

• Experimenter Bias (Definition + Examples)
• Hasty Generalization Fallacy (31 Examples + Similar Names)
• Ad Hoc Fallacy (29 Examples + Other Names)
• Confirmation Bias (Examples + Definition)
• Equivocation Fallacy (26 Examples + Description)

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Why is critical thinking important?

What do lawyers, accountants, teachers, and doctors all have in common?

What is critical thinking?

The Oxford English Dictionary defines critical thinking as “The objective, systematic, and rational analysis and evaluation of factual evidence in order to form a judgment on a subject, issue, etc.” Critical thinking involves the use of logic and reasoning to evaluate available facts and/or evidence to come to a conclusion about a certain subject or topic. We use critical thinking every day, from decision-making to problem-solving, in addition to thinking critically in an academic context!

Why is critical thinking important for academic success?

You may be asking “why is critical thinking important for students?” Critical thinking appears in a diverse set of disciplines and impacts students’ learning every day, regardless of major.

Critical thinking skills are often associated with the value of studying the humanities. In majors such as English, students will be presented with a certain text—whether it’s a novel, short story, essay, or even film—and will have to use textual evidence to make an argument and then defend their argument about what they’ve read. However, the importance of critical thinking does not only apply to the humanities. In the social sciences, an economics major , for example, will use what they’ve learned to figure out solutions to issues as varied as land and other natural resource use, to how much people should work, to how to develop human capital through education. Problem-solving and critical thinking go hand in hand. Biology is a popular major within LAS, and graduates of the biology program often pursue careers in the medical sciences. Doctors use critical thinking every day, tapping into the knowledge they acquired from studying the biological sciences to diagnose and treat different diseases and ailments.

Students in the College of LAS take many courses that require critical thinking before they graduate. You may be asked in an Economics class to use statistical data analysis to evaluate the impact on home improvement spending when the Fed increases interest rates (read more about real-world experience with Datathon ). If you’ve ever been asked “How often do you think about the Roman Empire?”, you may find yourself thinking about the Roman Empire more than you thought—maybe in an English course, where you’ll use text from Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra to make an argument about Roman imperial desire.  No matter what the context is, critical thinking will be involved in your academic life and can take form in many different ways.

The benefits of critical thinking in everyday life

Building better communication.

One of the most important life skills that students learn as early as elementary school is how to give a presentation. Many classes require students to give presentations, because being well-spoken is a key skill in effective communication. This is where critical thinking benefits come into play: using the skills you’ve learned, you’ll be able to gather the information needed for your presentation, narrow down what information is most relevant, and communicate it in an engaging way. 

Typically, the first step in creating a presentation is choosing a topic. For example, your professor might assign a presentation on the Gilded Age and provide a list of figures from the 1870s—1890s to choose from. You’ll use your critical thinking skills to narrow down your choices. You may ask yourself:

• What figure am I most familiar with?
• Who am I most interested in? 
• Will I have to do additional research? 

After choosing your topic, your professor will usually ask a guiding question to help you form a thesis: an argument that is backed up with evidence. Critical thinking benefits this process by allowing you to focus on the information that is most relevant in support of your argument. By focusing on the strongest evidence, you will communicate your thesis clearly.

Finally, once you’ve finished gathering information, you will begin putting your presentation together. Creating a presentation requires a balance of text and visuals. Graphs and tables are popular visuals in STEM-based projects, but digital images and graphics are effective as well. Critical thinking benefits this process because the right images and visuals create a more dynamic experience for the audience, giving them the opportunity to engage with the material.

Presentation skills go beyond the classroom. Students at the University of Illinois will often participate in summer internships to get professional experience before graduation. Many summer interns are required to present about their experience and what they learned at the end of the internship. Jobs frequently also require employees to create presentations of some kind—whether it’s an advertising pitch to win an account from a potential client, or quarterly reporting, giving a presentation is a life skill that directly relates to critical thinking. 

Fostering independence and confidence

An important life skill many people start learning as college students and then finessing once they enter the “adult world” is how to budget. There will be many different expenses to keep track of, including rent, bills, car payments, and groceries, just to name a few! After developing your critical thinking skills, you’ll put them to use to consider your salary and budget your expenses accordingly. Here’s an example:

• You earn a salary of $75,000 a year. Assume all amounts are before taxes.
• 1,800 x 12 = 21,600
• 75,000 – 21,600 = 53,400
• This leaves you with $53,400
• 320 x 12 = 3,840 a year
• 53,400-3,840= 49,560
• 726 x 12 = 8,712
• 49,560 – 8,712= 40,848
• You’re left with $40,848 for miscellaneous expenses. You use your critical thinking skills to decide what to do with your $40,848. You think ahead towards your retirement and decide to put $500 a month into a Roth IRA, leaving $34,848. Since you love coffee, you try to figure out if you can afford a daily coffee run. On average, a cup of coffee will cost you $7. 7 x 365 = $2,555 a year for coffee. 34,848 – 2,555 = 32,293
• You have $32,293 left. You will use your critical thinking skills to figure out how much you would want to put into savings, how much you want to save to treat yourself from time to time, and how much you want to put aside for emergency funds. With the benefits of critical thinking, you will be well-equipped to budget your lifestyle once you enter the working world.

Enhancing decision-making skills

Choosing the right university for you.

One of the biggest decisions you’ll make in your life is what college or university to go to. There are many factors to consider when making this decision, and critical thinking importance will come into play when determining these factors.

Many high school seniors apply to colleges with the hope of being accepted into a certain program, whether it’s biology, psychology, political science, English, or something else entirely. Some students apply with certain schools in mind due to overall rankings. Students also consider the campus a school is set in. While some universities such as the University of Illinois are nestled within college towns, New York University is right in Manhattan, in a big city setting. Some students dream of going to large universities, and other students prefer smaller schools. The diversity of a university’s student body is also a key consideration. For many 17- and 18-year-olds, college is a time to meet peers from diverse racial and socio-economic backgrounds and learn about life experiences different than one’s own.

With all these factors in mind, you’ll use critical thinking to decide which are most important to you—and which school is the right fit for you.

Develop your critical thinking skills at the University of Illinois

At the University of Illinois, not only will you learn how to think critically, but you will put critical thinking into practice. In the College of LAS, you can choose from 70+ majors where you will learn the importance and benefits of critical thinking skills. The College of Liberal Arts & Sciences at U of I offers a wide range of undergraduate and graduate programs in life, physical, and mathematical sciences; humanities; and social and behavioral sciences. No matter which program you choose, you will develop critical thinking skills as you go through your courses in the major of your choice. And in those courses, the first question your professors may ask you is, “What is the goal of critical thinking?” You will be able to respond with confidence that the goal of critical thinking is to help shape people into more informed, more thoughtful members of society.

With such a vast representation of disciplines, an education in the College of LAS will prepare you for a career where you will apply critical thinking skills to real life, both in and outside of the classroom, from your undergraduate experience to your professional career. If you’re interested in becoming a part of a diverse set of students and developing skills for lifelong success, apply to LAS today!

Read more first-hand stories from our amazing students at the LAS Insider blog .

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More From Forbes

Matthew lillard’s find familiar spirits and critical role are dropping a collab bourbon.

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Sandkheg's Hide, the limited release bourbon collaboration between Find Familiar Spirits and the ... [+] multi-platform entertainment gaming group Critical Role.

When actor Matthew Lillard and screenwriter Justin Ware unveiled Find Familiar Spirits in the summer of 2023, it was met with a mix of curiosity and disbelief. A premium spirits brand catering to the role-playing-games (RPG) community of Dungeons and Dragons and other tabletop games seemed like a fantastical idea. However, their first three releases, priced at $149 per bottle, were swiftly snapped up and their next release should create a sales frenzy for the company. It's clear that gamers have a taste for fine whiskey .

By teaming up with the popular RPG web series Critical Role to release Sandkheg’s Hide, a limited edition super-premium bourbon, Find Familiar Spirits is literally expanding its universe. Much like fantasy worlds that its consumers routinely enter when playing their role-playing games, every product that Find Familiar Spirits releases comes with an elaborate backstory. That's why they decided collaborating with Critical Role was the perfect way to expand their catalog beyond their initial Quest's End product line.

“The idea of building something for communities and cultures that 99% of the world ignores is our bread and butter. I am a lifelong D & D player and avowed gaming geek,” says Lillard. “We started with Quest's End, which is pointed at the D & D crowd that we know so well, and this project with Critical Role slots ideally into that category. We think their fans, the Critters, will freak out over it."

Critical Role is a multi-platform entertainment phenomenon with a variety of shows including the flagship web series, comic books, graphic novels, animation, live performances, podcasts, and an ongoing animated series on Amazon. Critical Role takes the audience on an epic adventure through the fantasy world of Exandria. Their online streaming channels boast over 2.2M YouTube subscribers and 1.3M Twitch followers. They recently sold out Wembley Stadium in London for a nine-hour live gaming event that their fans followed online and in person.

Like each Quest's End release slots into a fantasy world with a detailed fantasy saga booklet and exclusive bottle artwork, Sandkheg’s Hide slots into a world where Critical Role fans know intimacy. The Vox Machina adventure was a Critical Role game that played out over two years, and Sandkheg’s Hide was introduced in episode 65.

One Of The Best TV Shows Ever Made Sets Sail On Netflix Today For The Very First Time

Netflix renews and also cancels the witcher as first glimpse of season 4 drops, bitcoin suddenly braced for a 35 trillion halving price earthquake.

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - JULY 20: Matthew Lillard speaks at the Creating An RPG Empire panel during ... [+] 2023 Comic-Con International: San Diego at San Diego Convention Center on July 20, 2023 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Chelsea Guglielmino/FilmMagic )

Priced at $99.95, the whiskey comes in a dark green bottle with a distressed label and wax seal that mirrors the liquor in the game. Created by master blender Ale Ochoa, the bourbon has a spicy flavor that fans should recognize. It also comes with an exclusive coin medallion around its neck and a "found" 44-page journal/short novella telling the story of the spirit. It is that attention to detail that has made each Find Familiar Spirit release quickly embraced by its fans.

“We are the Lamborghini of Geek whiskey and spirits, which means we must think very hard about anything we put our name on. Our fans have learned during our short time in operation that we are passionate about the community we are serving, and if we create something, they know it will be special,” says Lillard. “ We knew that we had to be very specific in finding stuff that we were excited about before moving forward. The minute we start selling out and just start creating things to fill a niche for someone, we will destroy the brand.”

According to Lillard, since the success of their first few releases, they have been approached by television shows, movie studios, and different brands, all wanting to collaborate on spirit projects built around their brands. They turned most away but plan to release a tequila in the fall with another community of gamers that they believe fit under the Find Familiar Spirits umbrella. That's on top of the next two Quest's End Whiskeys, Warlock and Dragon, which will be released in the summer and fall.

Sales of Sandkheg’s Hide will happen during a three-week window from May 2 to May 23 directly on the Find Familiar Spirits website , their distributor Seelbach’s , and the exclusive site SandkhegsHide.com . They will be available for presale to Find Familiar Spirits newsletter subscribers starting April 30.

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US intelligence finding shows China surging equipment sales to Russia to help war effort in Ukraine

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping meets at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on April 9, 2024. China has surged sales to Russia of machine tools, microelectronics and other technology that Moscow in turn is using to produce missiles, tanks, aircraft and other weaponry. That’s according to two senior Biden administration officials who discussed the sensitive findings on the condition of anonymity. Russia’s microelectronics came from China, which Russia has used missiles, tanks and aircraft. (Li Xueren/Xinhua via AP)

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WASHINGTON (AP) — China has surged sales to Russia of machine tools, microelectronics and other technology that Moscow in turn is using to produce missiles, tanks, aircraft and other weaponry for use in its war against Ukraine , according to a U.S. assessment.

Two senior Biden administration officials, who discussed the sensitive findings on April 12 on the condition of anonymity, said that in 2023 about 90% of Russia’s microelectronics came from China, which Russia has used to make missiles, tanks and aircraft. Nearly 70% of Russia’s approximately $900 million in machine tool imports in the last quarter of 2023 came from China.

Chinese and Russian entities have also been working to jointly produce unmanned aerial vehicles inside Russia, and Chinese companies are likely providing Russia with nitrocellulose used in the manufacture of ammunition, the officials said. China-based companies Wuhan Global Sensor Technology Co., Wuhan Tongsheng Technology Co. Ltd. and Hikvision are providing optical components for use in Russian tanks and armored vehicles.

The two officials said Russia has received military optics for use in tanks and armored vehicles manufactured by Chinese firm North China Research Institute of Electro-Optics, and China has been providing Russia with UAV engines and turbojet engines for cruise missiles. A third senior official identified another manufacturer as Yantai-based IRay Technology Co. Ltd.

Russia’s semiconductor imports from China jumped from $200 million in 2021 to over $500 million in 2022, according to Russian customs data analyzed by the Free Russia Foundation, a group that advocates for civil society development.

Beijing is also working with Russia to improve its satellite and other space-based capabilities for use in Ukraine, a development the officials say could in the longer term increase the threat Russia poses across Europe. The officials, citing downgraded intelligence findings, said the U.S. has also determined that China is providing imagery to Russia for its war on Ukraine.

The officials discussed the findings as Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to travel to China this month for talks. President Joe Biden has previously raised his concerns directly with Chinese President Xi Jinping about Beijing indirectly supporting Russia’s war effort.

While China has not provided direct lethal military support for Russia, it has backed it diplomatically in blaming the West for provoking Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to launch the war and refrained from calling it an invasion in deference to the Kremlin.

China has repeatedly said it isn’t providing Russia with arms or military assistance, although it has maintained robust economic connections with Moscow, alongside India and other countries, amid sanctions from Washington and its allies.

“The normal trade between China and Russia should not be interfered or restricted,” said Liu Pengyu, spokesman of the Chinese Embassy in Washington. “We urge the U.S. side to refrain from disparaging and scapegoating the normal relationship between China and Russia.”

Xi met in Beijing with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov , who heaped praise on Xi’s leadership.

Russia’s growing economic and diplomatic isolation has made it increasingly reliant on China, its former rival for leadership of the Communist bloc during the Cold War.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who returned to Washington last week from a visit to Beijing , said she warned Chinese officials that the Biden administration was prepared to sanction Chinese banks, companies and Beijing’s leadership, if they assist Russia’s armed forces with its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

The Democratic president issued an executive order in December giving Yellen the authority to sanction financial institutions that aided Russia’s military-industrial complex.

“We continue to be concerned about the role that any firms, including those in the PRC, are playing in Russia’s military procurement,” Yellen told reporters, using the initials for the People’s Republic of China. “I stressed that companies, including those in the PRC, must not provide material support for Russia’s war and that they will face significant consequences if they do. And I reinforced that any banks that facilitate significant transactions that channel military or dual-use goods to Russia’s defense industrial base expose themselves to the risk of U.S. sanctions.”

The U.S. has frequently downgraded and unveiled intelligence findings about Russia’s plans and operations over the course of the more than 2-year-old war with Ukraine.

Such efforts have been focused on highlighting plans for Russian misinformation operations or to throw attention on Moscow’s difficulties in prosecuting its war against Ukraine as well as its coordination with Iran and North Korea to supply it with badly needed weaponry. Blinken last year spotlighted intelligence that showed China was considering providing arms and ammunition to Russia.

The White House believes that the public airing of the intelligence findings has led China, at least for now, to hold off on directly arming Russia. China’s economy has also been slow to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. Chinese officials could be sensitive to reaction from European capitals, which have maintained closer ties to Beijing even as the U.S.-China relationship has become more complicated.

Meanwhile, China last week announced rare sanctions against two U.S. defense companies over what it called their support for arms sales to Taiwan , the self-governing island democracy Beijing claims as its own territory to be recovered by force if necessary.

The announcement freezes the assets of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems and General Dynamics Land Systems held within China. It also bars the companies’ management from entering the country.

Filings show General Dynamics operates a half-dozen Gulfstream and jet aviation services operations in China, which remains heavily reliant on foreign aerospace technology even as it attempts to build its own presence in the field.

The company also helps make the Abrams tank being purchased by Taiwan to replace outdated armor intended to deter or resist an invasion from China.

General Atomics produces the Predator and Reaper drones used by the U.S. military.

This story was first published on April 12, 2024. It was published again on April 19, 2024, to correct the name of one of the companies involved in the sales to Yantai-based IRay Technology Co. Ltd., not Chinese firm iRay Technology.

AP writers Didi Tang and Fatima Hussein contributed reporting.