Emotion Sells Where Logic Fails

Ask yourself who really makes the decision to buy the product or service you are selling?

Is it the (B) business or is it a (P) person? Sometimes they are referred to as a (C) consumer. You know, in the B2B or B2C business model. People sell to people. Even if the people work in a business. So, it is a good idea to train up yourself with people skills if you plan on selling your stuff or your ideas.

I was inspired today when I read an article:

“You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll buy stuff.: 5 Strategies for ’emotion-based marketing'”

by Judy Dunn of Cat’s Eye Marketing.

Read her article and take note of her 5 Strategies because I think they are right on target.

In our sales training, we talk about the multitude of emotional cravings that we all have. And, we talk about how to discover what they are and how to express empathy and respond to the emotional needs of your prospective customer. Judy mentions how important using analogies and telling appropriate stories is. She even writes about playing on the emotion of fear, although I cannot visualize Judy using this tactic. She’s such a nice person.

But, if it is in the best interest of your potential client to own your product or benefit from your service; understanding the proper way to illustrate a story with a lesson based on fear is ultimately good for your customer, and will help them make a positive and beneficial decision with your help and assistance.

If your product or service is very similar to your competitors, selling with emotion is even more important, because the reasons to choose you are magnified as the compelling reasons of choice. Don’t believe the well known statement often made “It’s not personal, it’s just business.” That is an outright lie that is nothing more than an excuse. What they really mean when they say that is “Yes it’s business, but more-so, it’s personal”.

Oh how important the power of emotion is. Understanding it is an absolute must to be an effective sales person. It is singularly one of the most common and the most abused sales technique in your tool-kit.

A very common abuse is a retail clothing sales person telling you that “it looks great on you” with insincerity. They are playing on your emotion and desire to look good, but their statement is really not objective.

Another abuse is “you can afford it with our easy payment plan” without performing any due diligence to learn if you really can afford the proposed investment. They may be boosting your confidence that you can afford something that later on becomes an unsustainable burden. That’s no way to win friends and influence people for long-term relationships.

So, don’t forget that it is people who make decisions, and those decisions are based upon emotional feelings that you need to back-up with logical reasons so they can justify the purchase to their spouse, boss, or even themselves. Businesses do not make decisions. It really should be P2P not B2B or B2C.

Read more about where math logic fails to sell from a post a couple months back.

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Howard Howell writes about the art of selling. When not writing, he is teaching or coaching how to increase your selling effectiveness with the New Media Reality.