Suddenly, they see, as they are driving about town, a brand new 700 Series BMW (that’s my choice; you choose your own car). They watch it as it effortlessly glides through space, almost floating just ever so slightly above the ground. The body glistens from a perfect clear coat applied with skill to give the automobile a deep, clear finish. The driver of the automobile is as finely appointed as the automobile. Dressed to perfection, not a thread or hair out of place. They’re wearing a finely tailored suit-obviously not off the rack.
They’re skin tanned and have the slightest hint of a smile on their lips. What secrets do they possess’? Why are they so happy? Is it any wonder, they are driving one of the finest automobiles in the world!
Now our subject, whether they realize it or not, has become a potential buyer of a new car! He (or she) views this scene in their mind’s eye and then repeats it in his (or her) own mind over and over again, because it is pleasurable to do so. They play it again and again, like a scene from their favourite movie.
Then ... something begins to happen. As they play this movie over and over in their minds’ eye, they replace the driver that they saw in that automobile with themselves behind the wheel. Now they are the ‘star’ of the movie! They are using the power of their imagination to imagine what it would be like to have that much power, grace and perfection at their beck and call.
When selling any product, use the power of your customers’ imagination to see themselves benefitting or being pleasured by the use of our product. Let them run a little movie in their head by demonstrating the use of your product in different circumstances and how easy and beneficial it is to use. This is what makes the sale possible. If they cannot see themselves in a starring role and benefitting or gaining pleasure from our product, we have lost a sale.
Back to our example ... a chain of thoughts and additional stimulus from outside sources begins to enhance their ‘feelings’ about getting a new car. What they are feeling can’t accurately be described with mere words because the process is hidden from them.
Their thoughts naturally turn to their own car, which is several years old and in need of bodywork, engine work, brakes, etc. A “GAP” begins to develop:
They compare their current automobile with new models and see how deficient their car really is. This comparison creates the beginnings of desire’.
“It works fine now, but pretty soon it’s going to need a major repair. Then what do I do?”, they say to themselves. This act of comparing their present situation with the one that they have been repeating in their mind plants the seed of discontent- a “gap in satisfaction”, if you will-that eventually creates the buying urge.
From this point on, nature will take its course. The “picture in their mind” of the new BMW with them at the wheel, will intrude on their consciousness from time to time and that ‘feeling’ that they can’t put into words will make them do things that they aren’t even aware of.
For instance, they will begin to notice that one of their friends or business associates just purchased a new car. And they will inquire as to what model, where it was purchased, what the features are and why the person chose this particular model. All of it ‘ammunition’ for them to use to justify to themselves and to their spouse or partner the inevitable purchase.
Friends will be more than happy to give our potential buyer all of their reasons for their purchasing a new car: “It’s good on gas”; “It has an extended warranty period for major repairs”; “It comes with On Scar, and as you know, I do a lot of travelling”; etc ... They will never say that they bought a new car because they, “had this feeling that they couldn’t describe in words that made me buy it!”
Are you beginning to see the picture here? People will want something because that ‘something’, be it a automobile, ring, stereo system, computer, rare and scarce book, e-book, e-content, etc.
evoked in them some powerful, positive emotion that, when they buy it, brings them to some sort of ‘completeness’ or ‘wholeness’ that stops their discontent and desire.
In other words, the gnawing inside, from not having this object of their desire, will drive them to get exactly what they want-or at least to purchase and possess a satisfactory substitute if they can’t obtain the exact object of their desire-to quench their desire. 1\11 that matters to them is that they MUST stop the hurting by obtaining the object of their desire. To stop this hurting, they buy. Then they will, almost every time, use all of the logical reasons they have accumulated during the ‘desire-to-justification’ stage for making the purchase.
But it was that original ‘movie picture’ in their mind, their emotional attachment to it and their discontent with their present circumstances that started the ball rolling. You would think that larger financial commitments require more logical analysis before a decision is arrived at and smaller commitments are generally more emotional or “impulsive”. The fact is, sometimes the higher the price of the intended purchase, the more ‘emotionalized’ the decision becomes.
Why? Because much more is at stake! But not 1 in a 100,000 will ever admit that they buy emotionally and then justify that purchase logically! The market for our products and services are to the 98% of the population who make decisions emotionally. We don’t worry about the other 2%. The odds are much more in our favour. But caution is in order. Even though people make decisions with their emotions THEY JUSTIFY THOSE PURCHASES LOGICALLY!
What does that mean to you? Just this: In your sales literature, on your web site and in your emails, give potential customers every LOGICAL reason possible for purchasing your product or service, while at the same time, plucking on those emotional chords and enhancing their desire. To prove all this to yourself, begin noticing your own buying habits. Notice your feelings as you begin making a purchase decision of any kind.
Even as mundane a thing as window cleaner... I find myself’ reading the labels and examining the look and ‘feel’ of the container it’s in. A feeling like, “this one is better” comes over me. Something I read or saw made me want that particular one, but I can’t recall any details. It could be that the packaging has induced an emotional state that reminds me of something good or pleasant. Most of the time I don’t even think about it. I just go on to purchase it. My decision is totally based on what I felt I wanted ... at the time.
My logical justification for the purchase I made goes something like this: “This is a window cleaner that works great or at least it works as good as the others (how do I know that?) and works best (how do I know that, too?-because it says so!). Let me just buy the darn thing so I can forget the job I hate, and go do” something else that’s more fun!” Investors and traders in stocks and commodities are notorious for making decisions that amount to thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars based on limited, emotionally charged and spurious information! Your customers do the same thing.
It is amazing to me that individual investors would purchase ten, fifteen or hundreds of thousands of dollars in stocks based on a cursory knowledge of those companies’ operations, management capability, strategy for gaining market share, marketing plans or any number of factors that affect the company’s long -term potential.
I have met a lot of investors who would investigate every possible way to save 30 cents on their favourite brand of cookies at the local market and buy fifty thousand dollars worth of stock in a company based on a single bullish newspaper article! Even those investors that would never dream of entering into a business deal without the proper due diligence would buy thousands of dollars worth of stocks on tips, rumours and broker recommendations alone!
Got the idea? This is so important that if there is anything you didn’t understand the first time through, please read it again. The bottom line is this:
People buy things FIRST because they w-a-n-t them and SECOND because they n-e-e-d them!
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