The first time Katie, my instructor, introduced the 'horse's gait,' it completely went over my head. It was my third time on a horse. The word landed, but the meaning didn't.

So I made a mental note. As soon as I was done with my training, I typed those words online to find out what exactly a 'horse's gait' is. I kind of got it. Kind of didn't. It was a bit too abstract.

It wasn't until a few lessons later that I literally made my horse Fred change gait — from a walk to a trot — that it all made sense.

OHHHHHH that's what it feels like.

My body just functioned differently each time I changed his gait.

When Fred is walking, he has a steady, four-beat loose movement. My hips would swing gently from side to side and forward and back, matching Fred's marching steps.

When I changed Fred's gait to a trot, he would have a two-beat diagonal bounce where opposite legs move together. I would rise and sit in a rhythmic up-and-down motion, matching Fred's two-beat movement.

Being told by Katie, or reading about it online, didn't make sense at all. Up until that point, it wasn't tangible. It felt abstract. Not until I felt Fred change his rhythm of movement, and felt my body respond accordingly.

That was the kind of understanding that sticks. The foundation everything else gets built on.

It works exactly the same way for your prospects.

Your prospect can read your blog posts. Read your white papers. Read about your product and why it's better than a competitor.

They listen to a webinar. They watch a demo. They even get on a call with sales to see and hear about your product.

Until this point? They are just reading, listening and watching.

But none of these touchpoints produce the same neurological outcome as using the product themselves. As feeling it in their soul and bones.

And MIT Sloan professor and Harvard PhD David Kolb proved this:

Kolb spent his career studying how people actually learn.

His Experiential Learning Theory — published in 1984, now one of the most cited learning frameworks in the world — explains exactly why first-hand experience is categorically different from everything else.

Kolb's central finding:

People learn best by doing, not by watching or reading.

He called this entry point to genuine understanding Concrete Experience. It's not reading about something. It's not watching someone else do it. Concrete experience is first-hand experience. Doing it yourself.

Because everything else? It's just observation from the outside.

That's exactly why Katie's explanation felt like another language. And why reading about it online felt too abstract. Until I felt Fred change his gait beneath me, that's when it all clicked.

That's why product activation completely transforms your sales cycle.

When your prospects experience that moment — that OHHHHHH I get this now — they're already on their way to buying.

That's the psychology behind why product activation shortens sales cycles. Lowers cost. And increases margin.

Even if you have a complex product, this works for you too.

Because product activation doesn't mean giving your whole product away for free. It can be just one small thing. One workflow that gives your prospects a taste of what you offer.

The one thing that truly delivers that groundbreaking aha moment.

I bet you've had that aha moment before. Many times.

Think about the last time you truly understood something because you experienced it first-hand?

Your prospects are no different. One first-hand experience produces a different kind of knowing. One that shows up in your topline and bottomline sooner.

Portia

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