In my experience, too many sales people simply take the value proposition given by marketing and restate it to the prospect. This is the worst use of a value proposition. If you are in Marketing and you enable your sales team this way, then you are not helping.
Read MoreI just read a survey that said that only 30% of Americans trust corporations. Marketing and sales own this problem. My three year old grandson has an answer for how to deal with this.
Read MoreOver the last set of posts, I’ve discussed the subtleties of messaging in relation to how we think and how the brain works. I have a strong conviction that most B2B messaging is still stuck in the facts and figures mode, and most companies are trying to use reason and logic alone to persuade prospects to buy their products. As a result, they are missing huge marketing and sales opportunities, especially when positioning for market growth.
Read MoreRecent research (O’Keefe & Jensen, 2008) indicates that the negative frame will only take you so far in influencing behavior through messaging. Their research finds that there is a slight positive effect at persuasion for messages that were positively framed. It may be simply that we prefer thinking about the beautiful lady and not the leopard, pleasant thoughts compared to dark thoughts. However, I believe framing in a positive way helps activate the dopamine circuitry in the brain that is associated with positive emotions, happiness and satisfaction.
Read MoreWhat’s a two year-old’s favorite word? It’s “NO!” of course. And why do they use this word? Just to piss us off? How engaging! But that’s exactly why they learn and use the word… to be “engaging”. In a discussion of the way the brain works and metaphorical thinking, this is the single most powerful metaphor we learn to use. Here’s a quick way to improve your odds of engaging.
Read MoreI once had a competitor say to a prospect that if they bought from us, we would nickel and dime them to death. Of course this is a lousy way to sell, and I would never advocate disparaging your competition like this. But having been presented with this “negative frame” and hearing it repeatedly in the marketplace, I had to do something.
Read MoreWhile it is fun, it is not necessary to make up metaphorical language about beavers. Rather the point is that we think metaphorically. A metaphor exists in the brain as a connection of synapses and neurons. It can be expressed by language. Knowing this, we can create messaging based on language that fits naturally into the narratives we already have in place in our heads and that are activated by metaphorical thinking. The most influential metaphorical language construction is the “frame.”
Read MoreWe are our stories. It is who we are and how we think. Our brains are wired for stories and narratives. We identify with familiar stories. They evoke emotions and expectations and hope. If you want to sell something, convince someone of your position, or market your products or services, you first need to tell a story. Here’s why.
Read MoreIf 95% of our thought is unconscious, how do sales and marketing address this in their communications? If we want to change minds, we need to change brains. 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.
Read MoreIt would be odd to hear a medical pacemaker company say their device can “Take a licking and keep on ticking,” (an old Timex tagline) Or maybe not. It’s something I would want if I had a pacemaker. Alternatively we could say that the device has a mean time between failure of .63 trillion seconds. Which will you remember?
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