Human beings make 100% of their decisions based on emotions, Jim Camp in Starting With No! writes. We make our decisions emotionally and then justify them afterward.
But what are the primary drivers of our emotionally made decisions? What motivates us to make all our decisions?
Pleasure and Pain
The answer is extremely simple. What drives us to make decisions is our evaluation of how much pleasure or pain we will get out of our actions. An example will quickly share light on this concept. As a parent you find Junior watching cartoons. You say to Junior “ go and do your homework”. It almost seems like you didn’t say anything. Junior doesn’t want to hear you. He doesn’t want to go anywhere. Why is this so? Junior is evaluating how much pleasure he is enjoying watching his cartoons versus doing his homework. Doing his Maths Homework loses out. He just cannot bring himself to move. He is not motivated to do anything. He doesn’t make any decisions. It’s that simple.
Have you ever wondered why it’s so hard to keep an exercise habit? Pleasure and pain. It’s painful to start exercising. It is a glorious feeling to finish exercising. The problem is getting past the initial pain. We evaluate then skip the exercise. It seems that the pleasure to keep sleeping or watching TV outweighs that of going through the initial pain of exercising. If procrastination is a problem for you, check out our article on how to avoid it.
So the primary motivation drivers for all decisions are based on pleasure and pain. But we can dive deeper into the complexity of pleasure and find out what actions give it to us. As a salesperson, you want to uncover the needs of the prospect and find out what motivates the prospect.
Basic Human Needs and Wants
There are some basic human needs and wants that can be identified to share some light on what drives most of our decisions. These include
- Wealth
- Security
- Relationship
- Status and Influence
- Heath and Fitness
- Learning (Personal growth and development)
Wealth
There is a basic human drive to acquire as much as we want and more. Money is needed to enable us to live our lives. We need cars, houses, clothes, etc to enable us to have a comfortable life. People buy things they need and want. Many businesses are built on this need to build wealth. Examples included Car Manufacturers, clothing shops, Online Shops, etc
Security
There is a need for us to be and feel safe. We are attracted to the stability of services or products that protect us. Businesses such as security agencies, insurance thrive on our need to defend.
Relationships
This is a big one. Humans are social animals and need to bond and be part of a group. Being in love. Being in a relationship is not just an idea. We have a basic need to be part of a group. It makes sense for survival reasons. We may not always be self-sufficient. And frankly, no one is self-made. Businesses built on this need for relationships include social networks, dating apps, etc
Social status and Influence
Not only do we need to be part of a group, but we also need status and influence. We want to be higher in the hierarchy. We want to be known as the number one. We want to signify our status by what we consume. Businesses built on this need include Fashion houses such as Gucci, Chanel, etc.
Health and fitness
The market for this drive is huge. We all want to live longer. We all want more time. So we are heavily attracted to what makes us look younger and be healthier. Businesses built on these areas are Gyms, Pharmaceuticals, etc
Learning – Personal Development & Transformation
Information is the key to building the Wealth You Want. This is a fact. Educating yourself through building value makes a difference. There is a need for humans to change and develop themselves because information makes a difference to a better life. Most online businesses are built on giving information through online digital products. Examples are online courses and training programs.
Why is all this important?
As a salesperson, it is your job to uncover what your prospects’ hot button is. What is a hot button? The primary emotional reason a person wants to buy an item. For instance, there are many reasons to buy an iPhone. These include quality, durability, status, style, business, relationships, etc. So when you are selling an iPhone to a university student whose primary aim is to fit in, you sell status. When a married man whose wife already owns an iPhone, you sell similarities in the relationship.
The above needs and drives of human beings should give you a framework to elicit the needed emotional triggers to make your sale.
My thoughts
The ability to identify the hot button for your prospect can increase your sales tremendously. You can find that out through asking questions and listening. Remember prospects buy for their reasons, not yours.
Hope these were beneficial to help you start your entrepreneurial journey.
Until next time wealth builders, let’s build wealth
Makeup artist and hair stylist