Companies in general – and sales people in particular – are often in the dark when it comes to knowing the real reasons their customers buy from them.
In a nutshell, when choosing products or services, your customers will be motivated by one of two things – pain or pleasure. In life generally it’s in our nature to minimise one and maximise the other.
It’s the same in business. And never is the pain and pleasure principle more apparent than in the selling arena.
Therefore it’s crucial you know whether your customers and prospects are motivated towards what they want (gain/pleasure) or away from what they don’t want (pain/problems). Once you have established whether they are pain or gain motivated you can communicate with them in a way that is bound to build rapport, make them feel understood – and more likely lead to a fruitful business relationship.
Typically, when selling a product or service, the seller concentrates on the positive features (pleasures/benefits). It will do this, so you’ll get more of that. That works really well when the buyer is goal-focused, ‘towards’ individual.
But what if the buyer is not motivated by moving towards a goal? What if they’re very ‘away from’ in their outlook?
Whilst you’re drumming in the positives of the product or service, they’re not listening because all they want is for someone to ease the pain they perceive they’re in.
By ensuring your content includes both ‘towards’ and ‘away from’ language, you’ll engage many more potential customers
It’s the same scenario – but two completely different perspectives.
You will have a natural pain or gain motivation yourself. Up to now you will have unconsciously imposed that on your customers, prospects and colleagues... in fact, anyone that you’ve communicated with!
To those with the same inclination, you will have had great rapport and connection. To those with the opposite inclination, you will have noticed less connection and rapport... even friction!
From now on you know you can achieve great rapport every time just by matching their preference!
Ascertaining their pain/gain motivation
Clarifying their pain/gain motivation is very straightforward. Simply ask a few open questions and check their responses.
If they start to talk about things they don’t want or are keen to avoid then it’s clear they are motivated away from pain. From there on in your language should acknowledge their problems and how a relationship with you will resolve their pain or help them avoid it.
If they talk about what they want to achieve, what a new product or service would give them, their goals, then they are clearly gaining motivation. You should therefore talk in positive terms of how they will benefit from a relationship with you.
There isn’t a right way or a wrong way regarding pain and gain. Just talk in their language and what’s right for them.
If you find yourself presenting to a group where it’s not possible to clarify their individual pain/gain traits, use both 'towards' and 'away from' language to cover all bases.
In your marketing, brochure, websites, email campaigns, be sure to include both ‘towards’ and ‘away from’ language to ensure you engage with everyone. Currently your marketing content will most likely be based on the traits of the person writing it, which engage some readers and exclude others.
By ensuring your content includes both ‘towards’ and ‘away from’ language, you’ll engage many more potential customers.
Pick out your top five customers. When you next meet them, make a point of finding out their pain/gain motivation.
Identifying the pain/gain motivations of the people you come into contact with will increase your ability to connect at a deeper level, ascertain exactly what will motivate them to buy and close more sales!
Use ‘you’ language
You can increase the impact of your communication even more by tailoring your language to incorporate ‘you’-focused questions and statements. Whether it’s verbal, in e-marketing, letters, advertising copy, or your website you will increase the level of engagement you create.
Many companies fall into the trap of talking about themselves using ‘we’ language – we do this, we can do that etc. This type of language does little to engage the customer or prospect.
Instead use the word ‘you’ as often as possible - eg, 'if you’re looking for’, ‘you will find the answer here’, etc.
Check out your website. How much ‘we’ language is there? Make a point of converting the copy to become more ‘you’-focused.
How about your other marketing materials? If you can’t get this done immediately then do it over time. Be aware though that for all of the time you are using ‘we‘ language, you are limiting your customer potential.
Ascertaining the pains and gains of your customers and prospects and reflecting their preferences back in your own written and verbal communications will turbo charge your sales results. Add in lots of ‘you’ language and you’ll see a transformation in your customer relationships... and your sales results.
