The Science Behind Sales: How People Really Make Decisions

What do timeshares, ABA, and selling your services have in common? More than you think.In this episode of EveryDay ABA, Paola, Brittanny, and Leslie are joined by Graham Lukas, one of the top sales performers for Hyatt Vacation Club, to explore sales through a behavioral science lens. This is not a pitch about timeshares. It is a deep dive into influence, motivation, and persuasion using real-world sales examples.Graham explains why everything in life is a form of sales, from building trust with families, leading teams, to convincing someone or yourself to change behavior. The conversation highlights how Applied Behavior Analysis principles used by BCBAs every day can drive effective business, leadership, and personal decision-making.Whether you are a BCBA, clinician, consultant, or business owner who struggles with selling without feeling salesy, this episode reframes sales as relationship-building, problem-solving, and value alignment rather than manipulation. Learn practical strategies from behavioral science to influence and grow your impact.☕ Support your favorite ABA podcast hosts by showing them love at buymeacoffee.com/everydayaba⭐ Help EveryDay ABA reach more people by following the show + , turning on automatic downloads, and leaving a 5-star review! 📲 Follow us on Instagram: @EverydayABA.3📖 Get your CEU certificate here!  👟  Get a 10% Discount at Tiny Explorings Shoes using code PAOLA 🎁 Earn Rewards every time you shop by using Shopkick 🤑 Earn $50 cash back by using Rakuten   📊   Earn 125,000 bonus points by opening a new Sapphire Reserve® account or 75,000 bonus points for opening a new Sapphire Preferred® account using EveryDayABA's code at Chase📢 To advertise on this podcast please e-mail: [email protected]  After listening to the episode, participants will be able to:Describe how emotional variables influence decision-making and why logic follows emotion.Identify parallels between effective sales practices and ABA principles (assessment, rapport, reinforcement).Differentiate feature-based selling from motivation-based selling and explain resistance.Explain how targeted questioning functions as informal assessment of motivating operations.👩🏽‍🏫 Guest Expert: Follow Graham Lucas on Instagram