Emotion or Tech?

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If you’ve taken any of my efficiency sales workshops, you’ve probably heard me say that “most decisions are made emotionally and then justified financially.” Unless your prospect is an efficiency professional and knows everything about the technology you’re selling, he or she is probably not going to be interested in therms or kilowatt-hours. What’s going to sway your prospect is the emotional appeal of your product or service, not the technical specs.

In Simon Sinek’s TED Talk, “How Great Leaders Inspire Action,” Sinek notes that the limbic brain controls both decision-making and emotions. Once we’ve made a decision emotionally, we fill in details about the “how,” “why,” and “what” later. So put aside the technical aspects of your efficiency projects and think about how your prospect might be drawn to your project emotionally.

One of my colleagues sent me a car commercial that perfectly exemplifies this concept of emotional selling. This 30-second Infinity commercial is packed full of emotion and does not mention a single technical spec.

Emotional appeals in the commercial:
-Relying on others
-Staying connected
-Feeling accomplished

Impressive technical specs NOT in the commercial:
-Horsepower: 400-hp 5.6-liter V8
-Torque: 413 lb-ft @ 4,000 rpm
-7-speed automatic transmission
-4-wheel Anti-lock Braking System (ABS)
-Leather seats with heating
-Bose® 13-speaker Premium Audio system
-Tri-Zone Automatic Temperature Control System
-Moonroof

I highly recommend you all watch this short commercial as an example of effective emotional selling:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Zx0Qx2xX0U

 

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