Your Product is the Logical Best Choice for the Prospect...
So Every Prospect Should Buy...Right?
Your qualified prospect has the ability to weigh the advantages of your product/service against the competition, compare price and come to a logical conclusion of which is a better choice. Right?
Well, not exactly. What is missing in this formula for determining value is emotion. It has been documented that 80% of buying decisions are made on emotion. That doesn’t seem to make sense, but it is true.
Think about it…Why does the consumer pay so much for a car if all they need is a vehicle to get them from point A to point B? Growing up, my family owned a 1968 Volkswagen Beetle. It was cheap, dependable and small. My father saw the value even though he was 6 feet, 4 inches tall. Through marketing and advertising, the automobile industry has made sure that the consumer’s decision on which car to buy is more about what the vehicle says regarding the driver than it is about transportation. The perception of how you feel (emotion) in a car significantly increases the value of the car you choose. To prove my point, follow this LINK to view Cadillac's "Hammer" commercial.
Here is a list of the most common, gut level motivations that humans experience when making buying decisions:
Curiosity
Envy or Jealousy
Greed
Fear
Insecurity
Laziness
Lust
Pride
Vanity
Does your prospect experience any of the motivations listed above when considering the purchase or your product or service? Many of these motivations reflect the weakness of the human condition. Have you been able to leverage these emotions in a positive way to promote your product or service? There is a list of over 50 emotions and motivations on page 8 of the Marketing Accelerator Workbook #201, a new publication from Teakwood Marketing. Find out more about the Marketing Accelerator here.
Don’t Read This If You Have A Victim Mentality
Speaking of perceptions and emotions…I received this insight from Perry Marshall (website) today and thought it was relevant to every small business owner.
“Did you know that ABC, NBC, CBS and CNN have predicted 40 out of the last 2 recessions? The recession is a fabrication of the media, but becomes a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy.”
A recession is simply a decline in the USA’s gross domestic product ( GDP) for two or more quarters. Did you know that if Ohio was a country, it would be ranked as the #22 largest economy in the world. Yes, that’s right, the world. (Wiki Reference) Our little Midwestern state has a larger economy than Belgium(#23), Turkey (#24), Sweden (#25) and plenty of other countries.
Choose not to participate in the recession. This is America. Opportunity surrounds you. Go out and grab it.
Till next time,
Drew
