BUYERS GET EMOTIONAL!
TAKE THE TEST, DOES YOUR MARKETING MEASURE UP ON THE EMOTIONAL INDEX?
You probably buy in a way that seems very rational to you. But it's been pretty well documented that emotion rules the roost of purchase decisions. 80% of important decisions are made on an emotional basis -- the higher the risk, the greater the influence of feelings like trust, fear, trepidation, or embarrassment. Real deals happen not because of product advantages, but because of feelings of need and pain. Customers' most complex buying processes are usually ways to rationalize a buying decision that has been made based on "gut" or "business instinct" or ... a deep emotional impulse. What actually clinches deals is how the customer believes he will feel after he has purchased the product or service.
All the feature/benefit/advantage statements in the world will not motivate you to seriously evaluate and buy. This is just as true for IT products as it is for cosmetics. You just have to tune in to the emotional wavelength of geek decision-makers, prospective homebuyers or any other buyer group.
What happens if we look at the sales cycle entirely through the lens of the customer's emotional drivers, rather than the standard rational/intellectual perspective? What motivates them to even take a meeting, let alone buy?
A Customer's Emotion Driver is a set of wants or fears that are associated with the business problem you solve. Understanding where the customer's head -- and heart -- are sensitive can help you pull the customer toward a decision much faster.
CEDs are positives ("I want this") and negatives ("I don't want that") in the following three areas:
- Personal results
- Personal power
- Business results
Discovering the CEDs will require some real homework. First, you can research on the web and through personal networks. Once you feel comfortable that you’ve defined the major key emotional drivers, conduct outside research to test your insights. This research can take the form of surveys, focus groups, or observational studies, in all cases testing your assertions from phase one is critical. You need to know what they are sensitive to and why before you say a word to them.
The best way to penetrate their defense mechanisms (do you really think they want to see your sales rep?) is to build trust as a neutral source of information. Web sites, contributed articles, speaking engagements, and newsletters are the cost effective ways of doing this and achieving credibility.
New Horizons: Leveraging Customer Emotion Drivers (CED)
So let's look at what can get things moving: a customer's emotion drivers. What are the things that will motivate them? What are the customer's real reasons for making a commitment to buy? What do they believe is in it for them, personally?
In business (B2B) situations the normal emotional drivers still exist, they just manifest themselves more subtly. Three large classes of emotions dominate the employees' minds, and I've put them in priority order.* Each of these can swing positively ("I want this") or negatively ("I need to avoid this") for the people involved:
- Personal Results -- bonus, raise, stock, vacation, stature, respect/recognition, incentives, prizes, perception as a "key player", and freedom from overtime, freedom from hassle,
- Personal Power -- career path, stature, influence, management span of control, project control, vendor control, self-image, freedom of choice, size of budget / organization, and having alternatives
- Business Results -- market share, profitable customers, stock price, publicity, avoiding shareholder lawsuits or government sanctions.
The higher you go in an organization, the more powerful each of these drivers will be. But even at low levels, people know what's good for them and their superiors.
How, What, When...
You can't just come to a prospect with a bunch of direct emotional appeals. They will not be credible or trusted. You must find the right emotionally charged business issue. This mean not just getting into the head of your prospects, this means getting into their heart. Research their business enough to know what they are afraid of, what they aspire to, what they'd "kill for."
You need to know what's more important to them: losing an existing customer or losing a shot at a new one? Is it time to market or revenue per customer? What this means is doing a lot more research and intelligence gathering before you talk to the prospect. Think you can't afford to spend the kind of time involved? Can you really afford the lengthy sales cycles you've got now?
To pierce the prospect's defense mechanisms (and let's face it, the walls have grown pretty thick lately), your sales rep must build the basis of trust: mirror the prospect's values, appear empathetic, inspire confidence, and show that the qualities of responsibility dependability, safety, quality, and loyalty. To do this requires trust-building communication, where you are adding value to the customer's business without trying to sell anything.
Obviously, you can't have reps spending all their time educating customers and earning trust. This early stage of CED discovery cultivation is what your marketing department is supposed to do for you. The website, on-line forums, newsletters, published articles, speaking engagements and other techniques build your credibility before you even make contact. Be excellent at this or be prepared for long sales cycles.
References are more important than technology
Because of the current emotional state of customers, the decisions are made more on the basis of references and reputation than they are on technology or particular feature advantages. It's been pretty well established that assumptions trump facts, and beliefs trump assumptions. So find out what the customer assumes and believes about your sales force, your company, and your product.
Once your sales team starts with a prospect, make sure they don't fixate on their need to sell. The whole point is to focus the needs and pains (emotions) in the prospect's mind. Ironically, the issue is not pitching the perfect value proposition: it's creating the perfect match between the prospect's pain and the value you expose. Avoid trying to close until the pain of the current situation -- and the feelings of value about your solution -- are fixed in the customer's mind. Only then is it time to facilitate the transaction. |
