Why do we choose some brands over others? Why do we stay loyal to a particular company over time? Why do we make illogical purchases we often come to regret (looking at you, exercise bike and acoustic guitar)?
Whether you're directly involved with sales or not, understanding the psychological principles of why people buy will make you a smarter marketer. You'll be able to better understand your customers and their motivations, tailor your messaging to meet their needs and, ultimately, close more deals.
Before we dive into the sales psychology all marketers should know, is using sales psychology unethical?
I'm sure you’ve come across manipulative, gross and (borderline) unethical marketing which uses sales psychology. It might work if you're selling certain products, think MLM or diet supplements. But, to get on my high horse for a moment, who wants to stoop to a level which generates profit by manipulating and tricking people?
People have problems and desires. As marketers, it's our job to understand and empathise.
Getting to grips with sales psychology is about better meeting your customers' needs, showing how you can help them, building quality relationships and turning them into happy, happy customers.
So, let's get into it.
1. Sales Psychology and Buying Behaviour
The first thing to understand is there are two principles that motivate our buying behaviour: a desire for gain and fear of loss.
We humans are motivated by improvement. We want to be better off or feel better with a purchase than we would without it – this is desire for gain.
Whether the results of the purchase mean prestige, power, popularity, comfort, self-actualisation or knowledge - we want to obtain something beneficial as a result of buying.
On the other hand, fear of loss is thinking we’ll be worse off or miss out on an opportunity for failing to buy. Ever felt bad when you realise you needed something but didn’t get it when you had the chance? That is what your brain is trying to avoid.
Which is More Powerful, Desire for Gain or Desire for Loss?
I probably don’t have to tell you, but our FOMO is strong. Sales psychology studies have shown that telling people what they stand to miss out on - fear of loss - is about twice as effective as a motivator than telling people what they stand to gain.
When you see messaging like “1 left in stock”, “24-hours left to buy!”, this is leveraging the fear of loss. It tells you you’re about to miss out on something and creates a sense of urgency. This sparks a stronger motivation to buy than if there are unlimited quantities and an unlimited time to purchase.
Creating urgency also creates a competitive environment - someone else might get it instead! - pushing you to make that purchase.
Leverage Both Gain and Loss Messages for Bigger Impact
The most effective sales psychology messaging demonstrates both motivators. Trying to motivate buyers purely based on what their life is lacking or why they'll regret not buying can come across as too aggressive or threatening.
It’s important to tell them what they stand to gain too.
Let’s say you’re selling a boat to someone lucky enough to be in the market for one. You highlight what they stand to gain – a long term investment, a second home, the perfect way to bring the family together. If they’re not quite sure, you inform them that it’s the last one available, or that the sale ends today and they won’t get it at this price again. Combining loss and gain makes an offer more compelling.
2. Why People Don’t Buy - Fear of Disappointment
A fear of disappointment - learned from a previous bad experience - is one of the main things that stops your customers from moving forward with a sale.
We’ve all been burned by a purchase that didn’t quite live up to our expectations. Or we bought something on impulse and then wondered what the hell we were thinking. Not getting what we expected never feels good.
Because disappointment is such a powerful (sometimes painful) experience, we avoid disappointment far more than many other emotional experience.
Reassure them that they are going to get what you say. Use case studies to show how you’ve helped other people and delivered on your promise. Use customer testimonials that validate what you’re saying about yourself. Add safety nets like money-back guarantees. As a final touch you can also emphasise the cost of inaction (fear of loss).
3. Why People Buy - They Have Their Reasons
Your customers buy for all sorts of reasons. But the most important thing to remember is that they buy for their reasons, not yours. A lot of marketing falls short because instead of identifying the needs of the customer, it talks about the product or service and how great it is.
As customers, we don’t really care about what the product or service is. We care about what it will do for us - how it can solve our problems, help fulfil our aspirations, the reward at the end, and how our lives will be better for it.
It’s important to identify and understand a customer's motivations by putting yourself in their shoes. Stop talking about how awesome your product is and what it does. Start thinking from the perspective of your customers and what it will do for them.
People Buy a Better Version of Themselves
“Sell a good night’s sleep – not the mattress.”
You might have heard this adage before, but it’s worth revisiting here.
Sales psychology tells us that people don’t buy features and benefits, they buy a better version of themselves. They buy solutions to their problems. They buy ways to satisfy their needs and aspirations.
So if you are selling a mattress, you are selling the customer a good night’s sleep. But ultimately, you’re selling a better version of themselves – a healthier, happier, more productive, more energised human that can go and kick life in the balls.
4. We Buy From People and Brands We Like
Likeability is a key factor in whether a person will buy. We like to deal with people toward whom we feel friendly. We want to know that a person or company has our best interests at heart and that they’re not going to steer us in the wrong direction (that fear of disappointment we talked about earlier).
If we experience a negative interaction with a person or brand - for example, someone too pushy or not listening to our needs - this bad experience creates negative feelings. These negative feelings trigger a fight-or-flight response in our bodies (our sweet, dumb primal brains can’t tell the difference between an actual stressor, like being chased by a lion, and a perceived stressor like having to deal with someone we dislike). In our heightened state of arousal, our negative/ fearful instincts are amplified and cause us to feel bad.
Sales psychology tells us that even if we are presented with exactly what we’re looking for with a reasonable price tag, if the salesperson is pushy we’re still unlikely to buy from them due to the negative feelings they create for us.
Ever gone out of your way to avoid buying something from someone or a company you dislike? Ever bought something you weren’t really in the market for simply because you were charmed by the person? People like to buy from people they like.
5. We Buy From People and Brands We Think Are Credible
Before buying anything, we need convincing we’ll actually get what a company or person is offering. Again, we’ve all been burned by something that overpromises and underdelivers, so if we’re not convinced, we won’t buy.
Reputation and trust matters. This is one of the reasons we’ll spend more on a brand-name product where we know the company name over an unbranded one, even if it’s cheaper and probably does the same thing.
6. Follow the Herd. We Buy Because Other People Buy
For better or worse, we are heavily influenced by the actions of our peers. This extends to our consumer choices. Known as herd mentality, we’re naturally swayed or feel pressure to do what other people are doing.
Popularity signals that something has value - if other people have it, it must be good right?
If the friends we admire all have the latest iPhone, we might feel compelled to buy it. If everyone at work is raving about a brand new restaurant, we want to try it too.
7. The Emotional Life of Your Brain. Why Buying Decisions are Emotional
Most of us believe we buy things as a result of rational analysis. Weighing up the pros and cons, comparing the options to make a sound judgement. A logical purchase! Sorry to break it to you but buying decisions are emotional.
The reason we might think we make rational decisions is because we identify ourselves with the conscious rational mind. But emotion is a necessary ingredient to almost all decisions. When we have to make a decision, we use past experience and emotion to determine a preference which leads to our final decision.
It's hard to believe that all our decisions are driven by emotion, but you can’t argue with science. Neuroscientist Antonio Damasio found that people who could not feel emotions due to brain damage were unable to make purchase decisions. MRI scans show that when we evaluate brands we use emotions (personal feelings and experiences) rather than information (facts and features).
As marketers we cannot fully understand purchasing behaviour or sales psychology without acknowledging the importance emotions have on decision making - they are a critical ingredient.
Think of that factor of likeability we mentioned earlier - that’s emotional - that salesperson might have exactly what we need at the right price, but if we dislike that person and they make us feel bad, we don’t want to buy.
Which Emotion Matters Most?
We humans have a lot of emotions. And buying behaviour might trigger emotions that are at odds with one another. For example, the desire for self-improvement a book or course offers might be at odds with the fear of disappointment in making a purchasing mistake because it could be yet another course filled with common sense ideas.
Ultimately, the stronger emotion will win and dictate how we act - whether we buy or not in that moment.
8. Hit ‘em with the Facts. Evoke Emotions, But Don’t Forget the Logical Brain
The rule is that people decide emotionally and then justify logically. When we say to ourselves we’re going to buy something because it’s the most “rational option”, what we’re really revealing is that we have more emotion invested in that course of action.
When emotion leads us to desire a product or service, our brain kicks in and seeks to fill the void. Common questions emerge - “will I regret buying this?” “Do I really need this?” “Is there a better option out there?” To satisfy the brain we respond with logical justification for the purchase to put our minds at ease.
So there you have it, a crash course in sales psychology. It’s always worth knowing how our sweet dumb brains work. The more you understand the mind of the customer and what drives human behaviour, the more you can create powerful messaging that resonates.
There’s a lot to take in, so here’s a quick overview.
Can you show your customers what they stand to gain by purchasing your product as well as what they stand to miss out on if they don't?
What’s holding customers back from making a purchase from you? Help them overcome that fear of disappointment by making your offer convincing and credible.
Get to know your customers and their aspirations. Use this information and tell them how the product will help them become an even better version of themselves.
Leverage the power of herd mentality by using testimonials of other happy customers and their transformation thanks to your product. Show them what their life has the potential to be.
Trigger emotions and make your customers feel something by telling a story. But be sure to back things up with facts and figures to satisfy the rational parts of the human brain as well.
About Kim Hobson
Kim is a Freelance Creative Copywriter based in Hong Kong. She helps brands communicate more effectively with words that hook minds and persuade people to take action. She also runs The Freelancer Newsletter, a weekly email helping freelancers to up their careers and grow their businesses.
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