Harnessing the Flow State to Increase Buyer Engagement

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By now, we all know there is no benefit to multitasking – though it’s often necessary – it hampers productivity and knowledge retention. But, have we learned to focus on a single task? 

Maybe, you have experienced a condition known as a flow state. When your mind focuses on one task, you are at your most creative and most capable of retaining what you learn.

So, how does this apply to the buying and selling process?

Your buyer’s world is full of distractions – some welcoming, but most counterproductive. As the day progresses, these distractions can lead to directed attention fatigue, an overall lack of interest due to mental fatigue. Mental fatigue leads to decreased engagement, derails critical thinking, and can lead to irritable or argumentative behavior. That is not a state we want buyers to be in when learning about or discussing how our solutions can solve problems. There’s no focus, learning, or value exchange in that situation. If sales – and, by extension, marketing – is a transfer of enthusiasm, that is neither selling nor marketing.

“Distraction level is so high in a remote or digital environment. [Conversely], you’re 100% focused when doing something yourself. It brings all your senses together for the best type of learning.”

— Gavin Finn, President & CEO, Kaon Interactive

Multitasking redefined: a shift in focus

Think about how the perception of “multitasking” has changed over the decades. Once considered to be a positive attribute in the workplace has now been redefined.

“As multiple studies have confirmed, true multitasking—doing more than one task simultaneously—is a myth. People who think they can split their attention between multiple tasks at once aren’t getting more done. In fact, they’re doing less, getting more stressed out, and performing worse than those who single-task.”

— Jory Mackay, RescueTime

It has been suggested that multitasking impacts short-term memory, increases anxiety, inhibits creative thinking, causes more mistakes, and stops you from reaching a flow state. However, as technology becomes more advanced and the number of touchpoints increases, we slowly realize that “single-tasking” has long-term benefits.

A “flow state” engagement marketing strategy

When marketing strategy prioritizes customer engagement, we’re helping potential buyers with single-tasking to reach a flow state. Therein, buyers are fully engaged to retain better the messaging and experiences we’re offering. This puts buyers in a state of peak interest and critical thinking. 

Interactive, customer-driven experiences and solution storytelling can help achieve that flow state. For example, Dell’s digital transformation journey started with the need to show the value of its complex products during in-person sales meetings. This evolved into an application that takes buyers inside their products to create an emotional and multi-sensory experience. Harnessing the flow state paid off: 88% of Dell salespeople say interactive applications qualify leads and close deals. 

“Elevate your product in a way that solves the problems that your customers have. Elevate the key problems and get customers to want to make a change. Make them uncomfortable in the saddle. Then wiggle them into how your company is solving that problem with key value stories versus key functional stories.”

— Gavin Finn, President & CEO, Kaon Interactive

Earning your customer’s full attention will encourage them to slow down and focus on a single task. Engagement marketing and falling into a flow state are synonymous. With single-mindedness, intrinsic motivation, and focused attention comes engagement. And engagement leads to a better understanding of how your solutions solve your customers’ problems, which can shorten sales cycles and increase deal sizes.

How are you engaging your audience? Are you telling without showing? Is your solution storytelling compelling buyers to focus on exploring what you have to offer? Don’t be just another distraction. Instead, be the complete center of focus now.