Neuro-selling vs Neuro-marketing

Neuro-selling and neuro-marketing are revolutionizing the sales industry. Many think the two are the same, but that’s not true. Although both do use neuroscience-based resources, their tactics and strategies are quite different.

Neuro-selling: Smart Sales in Motion

We live in an ever-changing world where the heartbeat of the economy is chaotic. The haphazard habits of buyers these days reflect that uncertainty. Sales strategies of the past no longer produce the successful results they used to. It’s time for a new game plan. Thank goodness, a new approach has emerged through the advancement of this new trend in “brain buying”. 

Neuro-selling is the act of applying information gained in neuroscience to understand how the brain of a buyer works. It is a technique used to implement that knowledge into sales strategies which are carried out by the seller. 

Aquila London Limited CEO, Tim Dingle, hit the nail on the head when he wrote, “Sometimes it is easy to forget, in this fast-moving digital age that all sales eventually involve interacting with people.” He went on to state that individuals tend to buy from people they know, like, and trust and acknowledged that buyers have brains, feelings, emotions, and needs. He accredited the new discoveries in neuroscience with the new wave in the buying and selling experience...neuro-selling.

When Mia travelled from her homeland in Japan to pitch her anti-ageing beauty product line, she was a bit nervous. Sales was not her passion. Her beauty line was though. She knew she had to find a way to become a star saleswoman overnight if her products were ever to hit the market.

As Mia sat captive on the long flight, she began to thumb through a book on neuro-selling that a friend had given her. Wheels began to turn within her head as she soaked up all information she could about how to use neuroscience to win over Mark, the CEO of one of the largest beauty brands in the United States. 

When Mia met with Mark, she began to put her knowledge into action. She made sure to present herself in a non-threatening way so he would give her the attention she needed in order to make her presentation. She also noted that he quickly got bored with the facts and figures she was spewing out about her line. His neomammalian brain was clearly not what needed to be targeted.

As the fifty-something-year-old CEO yawned and almost fell asleep, Mia thought of giving up. But she had spent the past ten years of her life formulating the products so that was not an option. She knew she had to appeal to the emotional side of his brain. Based upon what she had read in the book, she had to ignite some excitement to induce the “feel good” brain chemicals by appealing to his paleomammalian brain. So, that is precisely what she did. 

“No matter if you are a man or a woman, when you look good, you feel good,” she told him, energy radiating from each word she spoke. He began to perk up. That is when she detected that the CEO was worn out, emotionally and physically.  He longed to feel good.

The more excitement she used in her presentation, the closer he listened. Her enthusiasm was contagious, and by the end of the day, she had awakened a sleeping giant. The CEO not only bought her line, but he also did so with the stipulation that she would play an active role in the advertising of it. More than selling her product line, Mia had sold herself.

According to Harvard professor Gerald Zaltman, 95% of all decisions are made subconsciously while only 5 % are made consciously and rationally. That fact sums up the importance of neuro-selling in a nutshell. It’s all about figuring out where the sweet spots are and how to tap into them.

Neuro-marketing: Captivating an Audience

Marketing is the act of presenting companies, brands, and products in such a manner that they get noticed and, that they ultimately produce sales. This process involves market research and advertising. Unlike sales, marketing focuses on a general audience than it does with an individual buyer.

Neuro-marketing relies on neuroscience for enlightenment about how the brain functions in regards to deciding what it likes and doesn’t like and what gets its attention and what doesn’t. Some top companies, like Frito Lay, Campbells, Hyundai, and Coca-Cola, even have devoted neuro-marketing departments that are designed to optimize consumer response to their ad campaigns.

As stated in our previous articles on the subject of neuro-selling, neuroscientist Paul MacLean introduced that the old brain, or reptilian brain, is largely responsible for determining what a person will pay attention to. The first filter defends against danger. That is why it is imperative, as a salesperson, to immediately establish yourself as a safe and trustworthy person. Providing you make it past that filtration, other parts of the brain kick in to determine the buyer’s response. 

The way in which this is approached in neuro-sales differs from how it is applied in neuro-marketing since neuro-sales focus on the individual sale and neuro-marketing is about the general, overall “saleability” of a brand, product, or company.   

Using psychology for marketing purposes is certainly nothing new. For decades, product label covers have carefully chosen to produce a desired emotion or belief about the product they represent. Cleaning products are notoriously adorned in blue and green colored labels and packaging while toys lean-to bright attention-getting colors.

The progression of neuroscience is bringing about a whole new level of neuro-marketing. Before, marketing experts knew the colors blue and green were conducive to presenting a product as being fresh and clean, but now the exact procedure the brain goes through when processing that information can be pin-pointed. 

Since neuroscience has determined that emotions initiate in the cerebral hemisphere or, in MacLean’s model, in the paleomammalian brain, marketers now know to target that brain area in order to generate their desired response. 

On the other hand, the rational part of the brain, the neomammalian, is where rationalizing takes place. Logical information in marketing is presented to that area of the brain, such as prices and value. Interestingly, not so long ago, the neomammalian brain was responsible for more buying decisions than it is today. 

Several decades back, consumers were more concerned with getting a great bargain than they are today. That was their primary objective when buying a product. The tide has shifted, and consumers are more emotionally driven. Value and price still play a role, but in general, it is considerably less of a factor than they used to be. Wise marketers keep on top of the trends and know just what part of the brain to focus on accordingly.

Neuro-marketing is best when appealing to both the rational and the emotional parts of the brain. However, because 90% of decisions are emotionally based, savvy marketers determine that more emphasis should be placed on the emotional presentation than on the rational.

An example of rational and emotional based neuro-marketing is when a brand is advertised for its great value and affordable price and also for the emotional experience buying it will bring. 

The website BeKindPetFind provides an excellent example of emotionally based marketing. “Feel good shopping at these socially conscious companies that support animal causes” the site advertises above their list of links for various products that donate to animal shelters and other projects. This site is built on the fact that consumers rationalize spending money on products when you tug on their heartstrings. 

The Merging of Neuro-selling and Neuro-marketing

Although neuro-selling and neuro-marketing are two different types of neuroscience applications, they do have the same ultimate goal - to sell. When the two methods are creatively and strategically brought together to promote a product or service, you can bet the results will be astounding.

Mia’s neuro-selling approach of using her personal energy and enthusiasm to sell her products was so powerful, the CEO was wise enough to realize the same approach would be successful in the neuro-marketing of the line as well. He decided to promote Mia’s youthful vitality in the advertising of the products. In addition, he also made plans to coach those in direct sales to use the tactic of enthusiastically selling “youth in a bottle”, an awesome example of harmoniously combining neuro-selling and neuro-marketing.

When it comes to neuro-selling and neuro-marketing, it’s vital to know the difference between these two to effectively implement them to produce sales. In my POV, if you can take it a step further and learn how to combine the two creatively, you’ll have a sales strategy that can’t be beaten.

Where the Rubber Hits the Road

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What are some ways you can implement neuro-selling to boost your sales? 

What can you do to incorporate neuro-marketing into your sales strategy as well?