InsuranceNewsNet Magazine February 2012 : 13
THE sCIEnCE OF sALEs | FEATuRE W e’ve all experienced those perfect presenta-tions, when everything went right and your product was a clear solution to your clients’ problem. But, for some reason, they just didn’t buy and you can’t point your finger at the reason why. You ask your client why and they may not know either, other than it just didn’t feel right. Perhaps, the real reason resides deeper inside the body than you thought... Last July, we spoke with Christophe Morin about his research into why con-sumers buy as well as how the human brain makes buying decisions and reacts to sales presentations. Since we received such positive reader feedback and won an editorial award to boot, we decided it was time to revisit the inter-view and delve deeper into what we felt was groundbreaking and yet still con-troversial for some of our readers. In our previous interview, Morin explained that the majority of decisions are made from a small part of the brain called the limbic system, which he com-monly refers to as the “reptilian brain.” This area of the brain is also responsible for many of the survival skills that we are born with and is the heart of where buying decisions are made or lost. This science, called neuromarketing, is now being used by advertisers, mar-keters and direct sales companies across the globe to understand what drives and influences consumer buying decisions. That’s where Christophe Morin lives. His research and training has helped thousands upon thousands of people, from CEOs to salespeople, understand how to more deeply bond with pros-pects and clients. In this interview with InsuranceNews-Net Publisher Paul Feldman, Morin says it is not enough to just engage the “rep-tilian brain,” you have to stir emotion to trigger the chemicals that lead people to take action. FELDMAN: In your latest work and research, you say that most people are selling the wrong way. What should salespeople be doing? MORIN: Resist the temptation to explain before you actually sell. A lot of the clas-sical school in selling would still say you have to allow your customers to think about your value proposition. And they need information in order to do that. We’re turning this model upside down because evidence from the scientific community shows that we are wired to engage at the higher level of our brain, the cortex—but only if we are excited at the reptilian level. Therefore, you have to seduce and sell before you explain. We’ve all met peo-ple who, within literally seconds, give us that excitement, confidence and response that really motivates us to seek more information and details about how we can do business with them. FELDMAN: Is there a particular style of communicating with the reptilian brain? February 2012 InsuranceNewsNet Magazine 13
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