Ignition Theory
Make a sale, start a fire. In both cases, you’re looking for the conditions to be just right for things to start happening, for things to catch on and spread. You can throw things together and hope for the best, but it pays to zoom in on the precise mechanism where things start building up, so you don’t douse your efforts, so to speak.
So let’s see where the ignition metaphor applies to sales.
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When a person buys a product, the conditions that are met are typical, but still need to be present.
The person wanted a change, wanted movement away from something they wanted to leave, and toward something they want to get closer to. They deliberate, they hesitate, they satisfice with the status quo, until the status quo no longer works. Maybe there’s a new urgency. Maybe there’s an “enough is enough” moment. They say to themselves “yes, this, now”, and they make up their mind. They buy, they buy into.
Sometimes this happens quickly, like when there’s a snap purchase. Sometimes this happens slowly, like buying something life-changing. Sometimes they buy a big thing on impulse, sometimes they buy a small thing after going in circles for months.
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When you start a fire, the conditions that are met are typical, but still need to be present.
The wood has to be dry, because the presence of water caps the temperature of the whole environment to boiling temperature until all water evaporates and leaves the system. Fire requires, at our altitude, pressure levels, oxygen levels and relative humidity, much hotter temperatures than boiling temperature to continue the process. You need fresh oxygen flowing in too. And you need to make the process start somewhere, something super small, and something else next to it that’s a bit bigger to catch on next, then something bigger still, and so on.
Sometimes this happens quickly, like when there’s an open flame near something flammable. The temperature is way beyond the safe zone, and the presence of oxygen will make things go up in flames quickly. Sometimes this happens slowly, like when you’re starting from almost nothing, a bow drill, a friction fire, building up an ember to put in a tinder bundle, with your bigger and bigger sticks at the ready.
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When a fire catches and goes out of control, when it’s inevitable and the cascading effects are overwhelming, a fire will go its course. Even a bit of water, or imperfect oxygen levels, won’t stop it.
In sales, there’s something there too. You sell something inexpensive but you have a ton of distribution, things will probably start happening. Even an imperfect story about the buyer’s motivation, or the presence of competitors, won’t stop the process.
But it helps to understand the small bits of context, what needs to happen for someone to decide “I’m going to buy this thing”, or even better, “I’m going to tell someone about this”. You need to be able to make, at least an educated bet, on what front your product will help them make progress.
Ignition is only a metaphor, but I hope your idea catches on. The people you’re hoping to help deserve that you give it a shot, because everyone wants progress on something.
