Angie Vaux, CEO & Founder, Women in Tech forum
2 July 2019
“People Buy on Emotion and Justify with Logic”
Hands up how many of you have heard that before? And keep your hands up if this is front and centre of every sales process?
As sales people, we spend a lot of time preparing all of the facts and figures for our sales presentations, but how much thought do we put into the experience that we are creating for our clients and the feelings that we want them to walk away with.
Picture these two scenarios: it’s your significant others birthday and you want to create a special evening for them, so you book a michelin starred restaurant. You arrive at the restaurant and you are greeted professionally by the Maitre D’i, you’re taken to your table, handed a menu and informed of the specials for the day. You chose the wine and then your meal is brought to you and it is perfectly presented and tastes amazing, but there is no warmth or connection with the staff. It’s all very professional but that’s as far as it goes. You eat your meal, skip dessert and leave.
Imagine the same example, but this time, you walk into the restaurant and you’re taken to the table. The waiter remembers your name, he hands the menu to you and asks what flavours you like. He explains the specials and talks about where the ingredients from, and which dish you would suit your taste preferences. He shares this information with the sommelier who recommends the perfect wine to match your food. Your food is amazing and you don’t think you have space for dessert, but they a complementary digestif whilst you’re looking at the dessert menu.
As you can see, it’s not the food that keeps you going back, it’s the whole experience. When you’re in sales it’s not just about your product, it’s all about the experiences you create and how you make people feel.
Research by a Harvard Business School Professor Gerald Zaltman states that 95% of purchase decisions are made unconsciously. And yet when we are selling to c-level executives, we seek to persuade them on a rational level and flood them with information and statistics rather than appealing to them on an emotional and personal level.
It’s the top sales people – those who consistently qualify for Presidents Club who understand this. They are the ones who focus on creating unique experiences for their customers – it’s the stories they share, it’s the personal connection they build, it’s how you make your customer feel before, during and after the sales process which makes them successful.
Previously the F word – not the naughty F-word – but the F for “FEELINGS” has been avoided in business. Showing feelings and connecting on an emotional level was perceived to be a sign a weakness that could be exploited.
But when you are in touch with your feelings, you are more aware of how you conduct yourself and also how you react and respond to certain people and situations. And when you are more open to how other people are feeling and you can start to appeal to them on an emotional level – and it is on that level you are able to build authentic human connections and build solid business relationships that is going to help you close the next deal and ensure repeat business.
And this is the very essence of Emotional Intelligence.
So, can you increase your emotional intelligence?
It was previously thought that emotional intelligence like IQ was a skill you were born with that couldn’t be significantly altered. However recent advances in neuroscience has proven that with practice and over time, you can build you core skills in emotional intelligence.
As a takeaway, here are my four practical tips to help you boost your emotional intelligence and improve your relationships with customers and prospects:
1. Be a great listener – we have two ears and one mouth for a reason. How often have you been in meetings where people interrupt you or are just waiting for their turn to speak, rather than actively listening to what people are saying. Sometimes less is more. Ask powerful questions and give people the space to think and respond. You will get so much more relevant information which will help you during your sales process.
2. Seek to first understand the customer and what their needs are and based on that information position the relevant offerings to solve their business pain points. All too often we are keen to share our corporate sales pitch, rather than building an offering tailored to the customer’s unique requirements. People want to feel valued and understood.
3. Look beyond the transaction and seek to get to know the person with whom you are dealing. Often as sales people, we are too focused on closing the deal rather than the person who is buying from us, especially in low value deals. You may indeed secure the deal on that occasion but they may not buy from you next time. People buy from people they like, they trust and they value.
4. Provide experiences for your customer that create the desired emotional reaction. If you are selling complex products share a customer story that brings your offering to life and appeals to your customer; on an emotional level, just like the restaurant story.
This may be familiar to many of you in the room, but can you really say that you follow these principles in every sales engagement?
Emotional intelligence is a life skill that can help you in all aspects of your life and is one of the most important skills that you should have to excel at your career in sales.
People will forget what you say but they will always remember how you made them feel.