People are Different, yet Everyone is the Same

"(People) are different in fundamental ways even though they all have the same multitude of instincts
to drive them from within.”  Carl Jung

People are emotional creatures. Yes, logic does play an important role in our day-to-day ability to function and think. But it is our emotions that drive us to decide, to act, to choose or not to choose, to respond to the situation at hand. In the sales arena, it is our emotional nature that overrides all else in moving us to buy—not logic and not the cold, cruel facts of product features and service offers. It is our emotions that rule the day.

“All emotions are, in essence, impulses to act, the instant plans for handling life that evolution has instilled in us. The very root of the word emotion is motere, the Latin verb “to move,” plus the prefix “e-” to connote “move away,” suggesting that a tendency to act is implicit in every emotion.”
Daniel Goleman,  Emotional Intelligence

Those emotional impulses to act that Daniel Goleman refers to are wrapped in a cognitive consciousness we call “logic” or “rational awareness.” This is an area of the mind that deals only with the facts of things. It is at this cognitive conscious level or logical realm of our minds that we support the emotional motives for decision-making, or as Goleman says, our “tendency to act.”

People are Emotionally Centered and Logically Dispersed

I refer to it as being “logically dispersed” in our thinking and decision-making process to buy. In other words, logic is dispersed throughout our thinking and is used selectively to support the emotional decision to buy. We disperse facts and rational thought whenever there is a need to justify the emotional motives for buying something.

For example, I buy a red sports car for fun and the appeal it has in making me feel youthful and successful; I justify it logically to my wife that it was a good purchase price, a once-in-a-lifetime deal, and that we will save money in the long run because it is great on gas. I know it is weak logic…but it is logic nonetheless. We go through this emotionally centered, logically dispersed cycle every time we purchase something.

Emotion then Logic...Emotion then Logic...Emotion then Logic...It's a Cycle We All Go Through

“As rational human beings, we like to think that logic drives most of our decisions. But the fact is, in most persuasive situations, people buy on emotion and justify with fact. People may be persuaded by reason, but they are moved by emotion.”  Harry Mills

It is emotion that causes us to drop our natural defenses and distracts us from the sales expert’s intention to persuade. It is emotion that requires less effort to process mentally than logical thought or argument. It takes more mental effort to process facts than it does an emotional appeal. Emotional stories are more interesting than facts. Emotional contact through imagery, music, vocals are all much easier to recall than factual evidence.

Emotions rule. Why?

Again, the reason this is true is because we are emotionally centered creatures first and logical in nature second. Logic is used only to the degree that it supports the emotional reason why we buy things.

That is not to say that logic, the cognitive consciousness, is divorced of the emotional connection and our ability to act or decide. In fact, logic and emotion are intertwined. They are partners that are dependent upon one another, jointly affecting the overall impulse to buy. But it is the emotional center that exerts the greatest force on our urge to purchase something.

Scientifically, the evidence is overwhelming as to the fact of our emotionally centered nature and its link to act, to decide and to buy. Research that began over 150 years ago examined the relationships between emotions and reasoning skills. The ability to act and decide is lost when areas of the brain that govern emotion are damaged through accident or illness.

Dr. Antonio Damasio, neurologist from the University of Iowa College of Medicine, completed and published a study in 1994 confirming that patients with damage to the emotional triggers within the brain demonstrate “terribly flawed” decision-making ability yet they show no deterioration in IQ or cognitive ability.

“Despite their intact intelligence,” Dr. Damasio states, “they make disastrous choices in business and their personal lives and can even obsess endlessly over a decision so simple as when to make an appointment.”

The Sales Professional that Makes the Customer Feel the Best, Wins!

"As rational human beings, we like to think that logic drives most of our decisions. But the fact is, in most persuasive situations, people buy on emotion and justify with fact. People may be persuaded by reason, but they are moved by emotion.”  Harry Mills,  Artful Persuasion

Therefore, heed the lesson being shared here; anytime someone decides to buy a particular thing, from a particular person, in a particular place, it isn't for logical reasons at first. It's all about how they feel during the buying process.

More specifically, it is about how your particular product or service will satisfy an emotional need that the customer has and how you, the sales professional, and your place makes the customer feel in the process.

How do you make people feel during the sales process? The answer to that question will determine how effective you are at closing the deal.

Get Emotional...and Get Selling...Get Going...

Copyright © 2010 - Tony Cefalu