4 Ways to Change your Buyer's Emotional States | Emotional Intelligence Based Selling

Strategy #1. Utilize emotional cognition.?

You may have stood in the grocery checkout line, grudgingly waiting for your turn, when the clerk greets you enthusiastically begins talking to you in an upbeat manner? Without any conscious effort your mood quickly changes and walk away with your grocery bag, smiling, feeling significantly better than you did before the encounter. This is called “emotional cognition.” Emotional cognition simply says that we “catch” other people’s emotions, kind of like a virus. Moods are infectious.?

Emotional cognition is the emotional equivalent of a cold. When someone dumps their toxic energy on us first thing in the morning at work, they activate in us circuitry for those distressing emotions. Emotions are contagious.?

We are rarely aware that we adopt the emotions of others.?

Here are two ways to help you in shifting the emotional states of others in a sale. Voice inflection can affect your buyer’s mood.Voice inflection can also boost your ability to capture and retain buyers’ attention.

#2 Make changes in the work environment to affect the emotions

Companies come up with creative ways to increase productivity of their workers. Coffee breaks, financial incentives, shorter work days, hybrid work, free lunch, and more. Companies that try these different approaches have found that with each change employee efficiency seems to rise. After trying these different changes and the manger reverts to the original working conditions production continues to increase. It is not the changes in working conditions that causes the increase but because workers know they are being watched. There is a change in the behavior that happens when a person realizes that they are being observed. It is a powerful influencer of human behavior and emotions.?

When attempting to alter a buyer’s emotional state you can leverage this technique by calling attention to their emotions.?

Here are some examples of how you can point out a negative emotional state in a professional yet caring manner:

“Brandon, you look a bit out of sorts today. Is everything okay?”

“John, is this a good time to discuss this? You seem distracted and you have something else on your mind. “

How can this type of follow up on your end, steer your buyer’s emotions towards the sa.e? Here is how. When you bring your buyer’s negative emotions to their awareness they will typically follow their natural human inclination to suppress them by saying “No, I am ine” or “Yes I was just thinking about something that happened earlier today, butbplease go on.” This weaken the emotional state and prompts them to give you their full attention. This will enable you to more easily guide the prospect into positive emotions.?

This technique must be practiced with a concerned tone, and not as though you are writing script. If you are asking John “You seem distracted. Is everything opkay?” it must be expressed with sincerity and not robot like. If you fail to exude compassion the person may respond in a combative manner, which will direct her attention toward you and not her emotional state.?

#3 Discuss topics that naturally trigger positive emotions.?

Talking about things such as family, hobbies, or a vacation may cause positive emotions. It might increase a buyer’s receptiveness.?

If it is possible check out their social media posts. Are they coaching the child’s soccer team? Are they camp counselors as volunteers? If you have that level of information and if it is appropriate, talk about these, to trigger positive emotions. Askin and talking about topics that are fond to to your customer guides the conversation into an area that will enhance the prospect’s emotions state and start the sales call off in an enjoyable way.?

#4 Change nonverbal behavior

Nonverbal behavior can alter emotional states. Behaviors such as clenching your fists magnifies feelings of anger, while slouching with your head down produces feelings of sadness. If a person’s nonverbal behavior shifts, so too will his/her emotional state, most of the time. Why? Because the act of moving the body can interrupt the emotional state and guide one into a more receptive state. If a customer moves physically during your sales pitch, their level of emotional responsiveness is likely to shift as well. If your customer is leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed, you can say “Ravi, would you mind leaning forward so that I can show you this screen on my laptop?” This modest shift in body posture will weaken his current emotional state and heighten your customer’s ability to express more positive emotions.?

These are four ways to appeal to a buyer’s emotional state.?