If 95% of our thought is unconscious, how do sales and marketing address this in their communications? The first step is understanding how the brain functions.
We all know what we think. Or think we know. What we don’t know is how we think. How is it that we arrange all the facts and observations from our environment into some logical structure from which we can take action? The answer is that we don’t. The brain possesses a set of filters and shorthand that allows it not to be overwhelmed by input and allows us to function efficiently.
One shorthand structure the brain uses is narratives. Narratives are shorthand stories that allow us to reduce complex ideas into short sequences of information we can use for processing. You might be aware of these when you watch a movie. For example; the “Chick Flick.” Boy meets girl. They like each other. Unforeseen circumstances present obstacles to their love. They split. But then they overcome the obstacle, find each other again and live happily ever after. We recognize this narrative. It’s familiar. We don’t need to think through all the details of it to understand it.
Underlying the narrative is a set of words or metaphors that is even shorter. They are: Girl, Boy, Difficulty, and Love. With these words, try not thinking of Romeo and Juliet, or maybe Sleepless in Seattle. These four words used together and by themselves allow us to construct the narrative. In a similar fashion, the words; Buyer, Seller, Money, and Purchase allow us to construct most of the information we need to understand a transaction. Add the single word ‘Swindle’ and we may understand that the buyer has paid too much and has been tricked and that there is conflict.
With four words plus one we have activated a potential narrative. One narrative is the “Triumph Narrative” where the swindled buyer gets his money back. Another is the “Fool Buyer” where the buyer gets what he deserves. We can create these narratives with a device called frames. I’ll cover frames in more detail in another post, but frames are short word devices that contain three things: first they frame or limit the discussion or argument in a particular way, second, they tie the experience to a story, and third, they evoke emotions.
For example, “Cut and Run” (originating with the act of cutting a purse string and running away with the purse) has a negative connotation. We can all imagine the act. It is cowardly. It creates anger. So if one is positioned as “Cutting and Running,” we create an association between some current action and cowardice, then reinforce it with the emotion of anger. We have no chance to think about the situation differently because our brains are hard wired through experience, metaphor and narrative to associate cutting and running with a negative emotion. A whole unconscious thought process takes place in a few words that connects an action or situation to a negative emotion. (A frame can also be positive and create a positive emotion. For example, and in the same cut and run vein: Robin Hood (a thief) had a heart like a river. It flowed broadly and nourished those less fortunate.)
The point behind this post is that if we want to change minds, we need to change brains, because most thought is unconscious. Even in a B2B marketing or sales world, relying on logical persuasion, features, advantages and benefits is a poor and partial way to get a prospect to buy. Understanding how the brain works, how we think, and how to activate the narratives we want, will make our sales and marketing jobs easier. These are subjects for upcoming posts.
* Latin for “I think, therefore I am.” Attributed to Rene Descartes.
Lee Stocking
Prairie Sky Group
Driving Sales Through Customer Focused Marketing
lee.stocking@gmail.com
651-357-0110