Sales Exponential

The now-calm other guy will often be startlingly vulnerable to a non-political pitch. Even eager to hear what you have to say.

In other words: Letting a prospect blow off some steam can be part of a bonding process. It’s very Zen (though I doubt Dale, back in the 1930s, had ever heard of the Eastern art of non-resistance). And, as far as being a form of social engineering, it’s about as devious as smiling. Really. It’s a simple rule of classic salesmanship: No one’s mind, in the history of mankind, has ever been changed by arguing. So… don’t argue.

Instead, listen. You don’t need to agree — just keep your clever retorts and superior grasp of events to your own bad self. What’s more… forcing yourself to listen, with a pleasant look on your face, may even enlighten you to a few things.

(Side note: There is stunning power to being a good listener.

Long before I studied salesmanship, I observed that – in the many jobs I applied for during my drifting years – there was a direct correlation between how little I spoke during the interview, to me getting the job. The more the interviewer jawboned… while I listened intently, nodding and smiling non-committedly… the more I knew I was already hired. Weird social observation…)

Now, of course, I’m not suggesting you start your sales pitch by getting your prospect worked into a lather over politics. Though, I know marketers and copywriters who do exactly that. (Mostly with disastrous results.) No. I started out with politics, because it’s such an obvious example of the way people get mad at each other.

The advanced lesson here is based on the observation that even seemingly-innocent issues in marketing — like choosing one cola over another, for example – still involve the same parts of the brain that get people into pissing matches over who is and who isn’t a fascist pig. (Or which conspiracy theories are bunk, and which are “obviously” true.)

This is where my own “doh!” moment comes in. I recently stumbled onto a bunch of articles on the wonders of new neuroscience discoveries – the study of how our brains work. The boys in lab coats have been using “magnetic resonance imaging” (MRI) to monitor what sections of the brain act up during specific emotional events.

Like, oh… political discourse. What Social Scientists discovered in the last fifty years explains a lot about the irrational behavior of most folks. (Which includes all of your target market.) Turns out that any strong opinions you have are very likely hard-wired into your brain. The “reasoning” areas just shut down when you are confronted with ideas, facts, or discussions that run counter to your beliefs. And your emotional sections light up like a Christmas tree, to protect your original stance.

So, illogically, the more your opposition presents facts and statistics, the more you feel convinced – absolutely rock-solid convinced – that you’re right, and the guy with all the logic is wrong. Once your mind is made up… your brain makes it mostly permanent by not allowing reason to interfere. When reason butts up against emotion, forget about it. Emotion wins, hands down, every time. It’s not even close to being a fair fight.

Now, researchers haven’t experimented with any salesmanship-style social engineering, so this discovery is really just a starting point for a long look at human behavior. But it sure explains why Dale was so right-on about doing end-runs around arguments in order to get the desired result. When you’re writing copy, there is often a logical urge to pile on the stats and figures. You want to scream “Just LOOK at the preponderance of facts here! How could you possibly not want this product, given the rational TRUTH of its fabulousness?”

This logic will get you exactly nowhere. Your prospect will trump your facts with emotion. Game over. This is why we saddle up every feature with a benefit. When you’re selling a new product, in an un-crowded market, this is how you establish your baseline advantage over competitors, when they arrive.

Features please the rational side of your brain. Benefits tickle your emotions. This new neurological evidence has finally made the connection between emotion and action clear to me. I know — you’d think I would’ve made this connection a long time ago, being a salesmanship expert and all.

But I didn’t. I knew that emotion was the key to making sales… but I remained baffled at how people could confront incontrovertible facts that made their long-held beliefs look silly, and not give an inch. I get it, now.

I’ve always written as if my prospect were the most stubborn person in the world. Turns out, I was right all along. Still… all this also emphasizes how important it is to master classic salesmanship. Because the punch line is this: While you won’t ever win an argument with anyone… you can still persuade them to change their minds, once you understand the neurological process that must occur to uproot emotionally-cemented beliefs.

As I’ve said before — great salesmanship isn’t part of your original equipment, and it’s often counter-intuitive. So it takes most of us a few doh! moments to finally understand the really advanced stuff. Okay, I’m done.

John Carlton’s 25-year career is legendary… as an expert copywriter, a pioneer in online marketing, and a teacher of killer sales copy. He knows marketing inside and out. To read more from John (including accessing the 5-years-deep archive of hard-core tactics and insight and advice, for free) just dive into his globally-read blog: