Episode #131: Emotional Selling

“We buy based on emotion and justify with logic”. We have probably all heard that before, but when we are selling what do we do about it in practice? Actually, we spend the vast majority of our sales interview time with the client, focusing on the logic bit. If we are hopeless as a salesperson, then we are pitching the product straight away, with absolutely no idea what the client actually needs. Nevertheless, the pitch is constructed on a logical basis, going through the nitty gritty of what we do and what it entails. If we have a clue, we ask questions to uncover client need. Again we are immersed in a world of logic. We are asking intelligent questions to get to the facts. So where is the emotion part in this sea of logic?

Building rapport and trust with the client is an emotional idea. Of course, there is a logic component around talking about business relevant topics, rather than spending all of our time rehashing the football game played on the weekend. We are business focused. The way we are business focused though, is to impart we can be trusted. We are appealing to the emotional side of the buyer. The way we speak and what we say are important, to build a connection with the client. We are warm, considerate, charming. We ask questions to get them talking, as we know this usually relaxes our interlocutor. We look for connections to build the trust, be it shared educational experiences around the school brand or similar faculties where we studied. We look for common hometown or similar residential experiences, mutual friends, colleagues or acquaintances.

When I worked at the Shinsei Bank, I was to brief a newly hired section head on what my section did. He ignored all of that and started a process of divining who we knew in common. We spent the whole time talking about other people we knew and he never did find out what my section did. But this was his way of building trust and rapport, and he went for the emotional rather than rational approach. Spending all of our time on this with the buyer would be too much, but establishing something in common is important and is constructed through emotional triggers.

Another prime place for emotion is when presenting the solution to align it with the clients needs. It is fine to go through the benefits, the application of the benefits, provide evidence and head into a trail close, but it doesn’t have to be all logic. When we talk about the application of the benefit, we can look for emotional anchor pieces which will resonate with the buyer. This is where storytelling is powerful because it allows us to paint a word picture that outlines how people felt or will feel, as a result of buying our widget.

Yes, the spec part will be dry, but we should be aiming for a more human touch in the “application of the benefit” part of the solution presentation. For example, a new faster internet connection can talk about a lot of logical, technical stuff to do with IT. We can also talk about results. What that increase in speed does for our team and their clients.

We could mention, “We know that 5G will increase connection speeds by 100 times. The power of this will make video calls unbelievably powerful. The client can see your every facial expression change and can hear the tone of your voice emphasing key words. This will be in real time with fantastic screen clarity and connection stability.

This will create a supreme personalisation of business being done remotely. This is new, it hasn’t been possible until now. With this level of engagement, you will feel so close, like you can almost reach out and touch them. The typical cold tyranny of distance will be replaced with warmth and familiarity. Imagine the power of seeing each other smiling, laughing and engaging in real time. For highly valued existing clients, this will open the door to more agreements signed, no travel time lost and no loss of the personal touch”.

In this example, we are trying to focus on the human interaction component of the increased connectivity speeds and not just on the tech of how this is made possible. We are moving the discussion to the outcomes the technology provides and not just focusing on the spec detail of how it does that.

We can also extend the emotional bridge to how happy the team will be with the new arrangements. “Your team is going to feel a new lease of life. They will start striding around the office with increased confidence and purpose, because now they can reach many, many more clients everyday, more than was ever thought possible. They can now reach them with a very high level of human touch, even though they are connecting remotely. As the deals roll in and their commissions get paid out, you will see that look of pride and satisfaction in their faces. A new energy will become felt, optimism will replace doubt, negativity and fear. Success builds further success and now the 5 G flood gates have been opened”.

We are focusing on how people will feel, what it will do for their emotions, and levels of engagement, motivation and success. We are putting the human face to the tech and we are projecting beyond the technical installation, to the outcomes, the results.

In a world brimming with logic, we can forget the power of emotion to move people. The key is to tie that emotional aspect, emanating from the results of the decision to buy, to the impact it has on the people and on the results of the business.