There is an important concept to understand in regards to the why of people who want to buy you product or service. Meaning for what reason do they want to buy your product or service. When you have this figured out it allows you to leverage it to it’s maximal amount increasing sales and value across the board. But identifying that illusive why is a little trickier than simply asking the customer.
You see people say one thing but often mean another. A classic example is women who say they want a nice guy to date when they are surrounded by nice guys who want nothing more than to date her. She says one thing but that is not what she truly wants. This often happens in sales as well.
The Reason Behind The Reason
There is the reason people say they want something and then there is the real reason. Your job as a salesman is to identify what that real reason is so that you can address it. Often what people say they want is not truly what they want. It may be close and it often gives you a hint of what they want, but it is not the actual thing.
For example a woman in her forties comes to you for personal training. She says she wants to lose weight because she wants to be healthy. Yet looking at her situation you can see that it’s probably something else. Her husband just left her for a twenty year old woman and she is feeling insecure. She doesn’t give two shits about being healthy what she cares about is getting hot to attract a man that she can shove in her husbands face for revenge.
However no woman is going to just come out and say that, she is going to say something else. Yet say you set her up with a plan that made her overall healthier but not more attractive. She is going to be dissatisfied with the job that you did because you did not address her true needs. Sure you addressed what she told you that she wanted but you did not address the real reason why she came to you in the first place.
You must find the reason behind the reason. This starts with listening to what your prospect is saying. Yet understanding they will probably give you a answer related to logic as to why they want a product or service when in reality it is an emotional reason that they want a product or service.
Things are sold by emotions and then later rationalized with logic. Play to someone’s logical side and your not going to sell very much. Play to their emotions and you will be much more successful at sales. You must find the why of the sale. Or the why behind the why.
Digging Deeper
So we’ll use fitness again as an example. Say your making a product for women’s fitness. Now say you go and put things you think women will want. Lose some weight, all right not bad. Become empowered, okay well some points for putting in buzzwords that appeal to women but we’ll see if that works. Become healthier, again not bad but it this really going to motivate women to buy?
Let’s look at women’s fitness. Why to women want to work out? To be healthier? Eh, alright maybe a little but we need something a little more than that. It’s not that the above is bad, per se it’s just that it can be much more effective.
Women workout because they want to be hot. They may not admit it, hell they may not be consciously aware of it but that is why they workout. You must look for the emotions and motivation behind what they tell you to figure out how to best address their needs and wants. You need to dig down to find someone’s true motivation and the emotions connected with the end results.
For example we have one woman Karen who has her high school reunion coming up and it is finally her chance to stick it in Trudy’s face that she is hotter than her now. Becky just caught her husband with a twenty year old and now wants to get a hot body so she can attract men better than her husband to validate herself and rub in her husbands face. Stacey is getting insecure because last week at a party she went to with her sister all the guys there ignored her and talked to her younger sister and this is the first time this has happened. Stacey is now scared that she’s no longer hot and wants to get a better body so men will pay more attention to her than her sister.
Now no woman is going to admit any of the above yet these are all a hell of a lot more motivating than “get healthier” or “be empowered”. Or whatever.
Emotions, Emotions, Emotions
Emotions sell people. Logic is used to justify emotions for the vast majority of the population and is key to making sales and having your product or service appeal to people. Appeal to their logical side and don’t expect to make much. Appeal to their emotions and prepare to make some dough. You must find out what people really want, not what they tell you that they want. This is key to increasing (or even making) sales.
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-Charles Sledge
