Emotional Selling
“Emotional Selling” is the art, and science, of listening, tuning in and understanding how your customers feel and what motivates them. Humans are driven by emotion, more often that logic. When it comes to marketing and selling, understanding this is a key to success. Let’s take a look at the following example: Groceries Stores.
Let’s face it, we all have our preferred grocery stores and those we try to avoid. Why do people drive extra miles and pay premium prices to shop at Whole Foods, as apposed to their local IGA or Bilo? They can get same goods and products. But people “feel” better shopping at Whole Foods. They believe their money is going to good companies and causes. If you took the logical view, you would generally shop closer to home and for the lowest costs. This is the power of emotional selling.
What Moves People to Buy or Develop Brand Loyalty?
The number of things that motivate people are as vast as the number of people in the world. However, there are a few major concepts that improve the chances of making a sale.
- Status or Perceived Influence: People generally like to feel “seen” as successful or influential. They want to “feel” special or unique and display it to others. At it’s extreme, it can be vanity or arrogance, but in day to day can be a sense of pride in their home or appearance.
- Reassurance or Peace of Mind: The world is an uncertain and scary place. By creating a sense of safety, dependability and quality, people are motivated to purchase based on feeling secure in their purchases.
- Convenience: We live in the age of convenience. Food from restaurants gets delivered to our doorstep with a few clicks on an app, Amazon can get almost anything to you in less than two days and the reasons to leave the house are diminishing radically. Convenience can be perceived even with mundane or minuscule items. Key gadgets are a perfect example of these, like an avocado tools (has a blade, corer and slicer in one tool), yet all of these items are already in the kitchen.
- Pleasure or Avoidance of Pain: This is self evident. We all want more pleasure and less pain in our lives. If you can touch on these emotions, they are power motivators.
- Self Improvement or Empowerment: It has been the human experience to want to improve, achieve and make life better. When your products and services are perceived as making the customer a better persons, employee, worker, boss, leader or friend, you will see your sales increase.
What Doesn’t Work?
Selling the attributes or characteristics of your products or services. This is a place where many business owner go to. They think that if they explain more about the product, people will want it. The automobile industry is a good place to look into this further. Cars have 4 wheels, an engine and get you from point A to point B. However, they are individuated and sold to different markets and customer with different preferences. Lexus appeals to those interested in status or influence. Subaru speaks to those that are motivated by peace of mind. Minivans are sold for the convenience of families. The list goes on, but you get the picture.
When you are marketing, DON’T describe the product or service! Tell the story about what it can do for the customer or how it will make their life easier or better.
How To Find the Emotions of Your Customers
I’d love to write some insightful and deep lessons. However, I found this video and it does it so well, I am going to just let you dive into it. This was one of the best videos and explanations on how to use emotions to reach your customers. This video came across in a recent Elementor article.
Talia Wolf is a world renowned speaker, teacher and conversion specialist. Her company, GetUpLift.co , has a variety of training courses, videos and great information. In the video, she speaks to the importance of research, both formal and gut feelings. Research can be as simple as asking your clients about why they choose to do business with you.
To Read the full Elementor Blog post, Click Here..
Make sure your brand is aligned with your products, services and customers. Then ensure your messaging and communications are hitting the right emotions! Good Luck, happy selling!