Regardless of what you sell and the process with which you sell it, there will always be buyers who will not base their buying decision on rational logic.
I’ll even go as far to say there is no such thing as a 100% rational buyer.
Regardless of what the sale is, there will always be at least some emotion in the buying process.
We can think all we want about how our selling process is so good that it means every decision made by the customer is going to be 100% rational and free of emotion. If you want to believe that, go ahead, but you’ll wind up only disappointing yourself over sales you will lose.
Buyers may tell you they are rational. They may give you every indication the decision they make will be 100% fact based and emotion free. I’ve sat many times with buyers who have said just that, only to watch them make a decision that is at least somewhat irrational.
We need to accept the fact that regardless of whether we’re in B2B, B2C or B2G, emotion is going to enter in. This is why we have to place a high degree of importance on establishing credibility with the customer before we put any type of an offer out on the table.
Never think for a moment you can short-circuit the need to establish credibility. The reason you can’t is because regardless of what you’re selling, the customer must determine the level of benefit they’re going to gain from the purchase.
With the customer having to determine in their mind the benefit, it naturally leaves open for emotion to enter into the decision.
Accept the fact emotion is going to be part of the decision-making process used by the customer. Leverage it to your advantage with how you establish credibility. Engage the customer, allow them to understand you and seek to understand them.
The greater the level of confidence you establish, the more likely the customer will accept comments. The more they accept what you say, the more likely it will be for you to use emotion to your advantage.
Selling to a person’s state of emotion is far more common in B2C, only because it tends to be on display more. But don’t think for a moment emotion isn’t part of the B2B or even B2G process.
It’s there. It’s just hidden.
Copyright 2015, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog. Mark Hunter is the author of High-Profit Selling: Win the Sale Without Compromising on Price.
