By Todd Paetznick, June 13, 2024

First, let me acknowledge that we cannot force a change in any person’s mind; they must do it independently. The best anyone can ever do is act as a guide in helping someone else change their own mind. This is as important to know in business as it is in evangelism.

As a business-to-business salesperson, the concept of helping people change their minds is an important one to understand and put into practice.  However, my role is not as simple as convincing one person to change their mind.  The products and services I represent are typically high-value and require a committee of people to decide on behalf of the company. This complex sales process, involving a multitude of decision-makers, presents a unique challenge that I must navigate.  

The error made in many marketing programs and by people with little selling experience is assuming there is a single decision-maker whose persona and needs can be modeled and addressed.  Because of the corruption of individuals, organizations have been forced to become more sophisticated in their buying processes so that no one person can do what is best for them personally to the detriment of their organization.  Today, it is more common for big decisions to be made by a team of people.  Representatives from legal, financial, operational, political, and other are parts of the organization are often present to mitigate the danger of too much authority being given to a potentially corrupt individual.  

 Modern rules and laws that deal with corruption and bribery exist because individuals can be influenced to put their self-interests ahead of those of the organization they work for.  The Bible speaks against the corruption that occurs when people accept bribes.  “You shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of the just” (Exodus 23:8 NASB20).  

For this reason, the best strategy for enterprise selling is to focus on the value of the offering for the customer’s business.  When the customer’s vision and mission are clear, the enterprise seller can direct everyone on the decision-making team toward the value of the offering for the entire business, not just select individuals.  Changing people’s minds in a committee involves focusing everyone’s attention on a common and agreed-upon outcome.  Incidentally, this is one of the reasons a company’s purpose needs to be clear.

Having a shared vision and purpose is not only crucial in business but also in Christianity.  As members of the body of Christ, we are called to act in ways that benefit the Kingdom of God, prioritizing it over any personal gain or loss. While our individual roles and functions may vary, our collective purpose aligns with that of other believers, and together, we contribute to the growth and prosperity of God’s Kingdom.  This understanding may be equally applied to evangelism; we cannot know the secret thoughts and desires of individuals, but we can point people toward a common objective of being a part of God’s will and building His Kingdom.

Doing the will of God the Father results in doing what is best for the Kingdom of God.  During the week before He was crucified, Jesus taught in the Temple.  On one occasion, He used a story about a father with two sons he wanted to do some work for the benefit of the family vineyard.  “But what do you think?,” Jesus asked His listeners,  “A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’ “But [the first son] replied, ‘I do not want to.’ Yet afterward he regretted it and went. “And [the man] came to his second [son] and said the same thing; and he replied, ‘I [will,] sir’; and [yet] he did not go. “Which of the two did the will of his father?” [The people Jesus was teaching] said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you. “For John [the Baptist] came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing [this,] did not even have second thoughts afterward so as to believe him” (Matthew 21:28-32 NASB20).

Jesus distinguishes between saying and doing the right thing: doing the will of God. He connects the beliefs of “tax collectors and prostitutes” with their actions. They changed their minds, believed Jesus, and demonstrated their changed minds through their changed actions. The religious leaders were like the son in Jesus’ story, who said what the father wanted to hear but then did what they wanted instead. A change of mind results in changed behavior, which does the will of God.