How can we help them use the estimation heuristic to our advantage?

The fact is that when people are making decisions on behalf of a group, they instinctively want to make a decision that gives their organization the best possible ROI. They'll even buy something more expensive and complex if they're convinced it's the best choice for their company. How can we help them use the estimation heuristic to our advantage? First, every proposal should include calculations and graphic displays of ROI, total cost of ownership, payback period, productivity improvements, speed of delivery, or other measures of gain. Second, provide your decision maker with case studies that show how other customers got big rewards from selecting your products or services. Quantify the impact your solutions had for those customers whenever possible.

These Researchers even went so far as to calculate the Calories

The experts who contributed to Simple Heuristics have come up with an answer. Their research suggests that one of the built-in decision heuristics people use is an innate capacity to calculate the "rate of return" for their efforts, particularly as they pertain to the group as a whole. In other words, hunting or a whale or a wooly mammoth has a bigger ROI for the tribe than hunting a Rabbit does. These researchers even went so far as to calculate the Calories required to kill a whale compared to the Calories the community will get from that animal, then calculated the Calories expended versus the Calories obtained for other prey. The result:The whale was by far the best investment of the tribe's energies. Leave a comment and also follow my blog.