This neuroscience research is amazing regarding how the brain actually works. And, when you apply this research specifically to how the brain makes decisions to buy things, well, your world of opportunity just grew exponentially.
Now, I figure most of you know about the left and right hemispheres of the brain and they influence things – especially behavior. In fact, behavioral style is one of the hardwired traits discussed the management book – First Break All the Rules by Buckingham. (If you are in Sales Management this is an important book to read.)
However, let’s get back to the primary subject – engaging the buyers brain.
Also, the research has shown there are three unique regions within the brain and the real decision maker is the “old brain” or reptilian brain which is located in the brain stem. This answered a lot of questions for me – first, questions about how I made instinctively driven decisions and choices. Then, there were the decisions and choices my clients made about all types of subjects – several which displayed NO logic at all. (First, clue is little logic is used.)
So the real question becomes “how do you engage the reptilian brain?” There are six methods you need to understand and use if you want to win more b2b sales accounts. Let’s go through each of the six methods and you will see the importance of each method and how it influences the reptilian brain of your buyer.
The Six Methods for Engaging the Buyers Brain
- Make it About the Buyer
The reptilian brain is all about being self-centered and highly protective of self. Therefore, you need to focus entirely upon the buyer rather than yourself – which takes a ton of self-discipline. I know this is difficult work I’m a highly independent person who possesses a very strong ego to succeed. Therefore, the conflict – who gets the attention? Better make the customer the focus or you will lose more than win. - Show Contrast
Here is door opener for getting the buyers attention. Show them what they have that they don’t want and then contrast it against what they could have if they listen to your solution. Before making a sales call, learn as much about the problems as you can so you can paint a visual picture using stories. Then create a visual story of what a better position looks like and the contrast will be obvious. - Use Tangible Proof
The reptilian brain does not hear intangibles or conceptual things very well. In fact this brain needs to see hard evidence. You can present this information in the form of success stories, case studies, white papers and actual data from improvements you created with other accounts. This is where your testimonials from satisfied customers come into play. Testimonials especially video versions are captivating to the reptilian brain. - Understand Attention Spans
Interesting fact about the reptilian brain – it has a very short attention span and usually only remembers the beginning and the ending of discussions or presentations. Therefore, to offset this natural factor (which also seems to be more popular than ever in my lifetime) you need to mix things up. Use questions to engage the buyer, then a quick (short) video, a handout with visuals on it for the brain to focus upon, and vary your pace and volume of presentation – if you want to keep them engaged. - Make it Visual
Now, truthfully, this one blew me away. Because I have studied the impact of the representational systems of visual, auditory and kinesthetic and felt these worked quite well – especially when gaining advanced levels of rapport with others. Yet, when it comes time to actually make a decision – visual wins by a landslide. The research is showing a level of 95% of decision is based upon visual stimulation. And, when you understand the optic nerve is directly connected to the reptilian brain you realize this combination can work at blinding speeds (no pun intended. ? ). Therefore, it is very important to use visuals in everything you present. Oh, did I mention the reptilian brain can utilize words? Yet, this connection has been keeping humans alive for over 100,000 years. The new brain or the Neocortex has only been around for about 20,000 years. Go Visual. - Emotional Wins, Logic only Justifies
The emotions have the most influence on the reptilian brain. The middle brain feeds emotional recognition to the reptilian brain and the more emotion (stronger emotions) get the undivided attention of the buyers brain. You need to show the emotional wins or eliminate the negative emotions from their live and you have a buyer more prone to take fast action. The sales people and sales teams who use some type of “fact based” selling tactic (pure logical) are going to have difficulty when their competitors begin igniting the emotional drivers that create a need for action.
There you have the six methods for engaging the buyers brain for greater b2b sales results. Take a break in the action today to reflect upon how you are currently using these methods to gain engagement from your buyer. Tap into the buyers reptilian brain using the above six methods and watch your results improve.
Voss Graham
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