Why People Buy

It’s important that we understand the mechanism of the purchasing process – actually WHY do people buy things – what makes them part with money. Actually we all have far more to do with this process than we realise: after all we have all been customers many times. We like to think of ourselves as independent free thinking agents totally in control of all of our decisions and we don’t like to think we are buying things because in some we have been ‘sold to’. But don’t kid yourself… In reality, every single product or service we purchase has been the focus of somebody’s sales and marketing efforts. That’s how big companies get bigger and make massive profits, it’s because they have an acute understanding of both sales and marketing.

On another occasion I will talk to you about the deeper psychology behind the buying process however at this point let’s deal with a few of the all-important basics. In reality, the buying decision is based upon fairly basic criteria. Firstly, the customer has to feel the product or service will do the job, that it will solve the problem, that it will, in effect, satisfy a need. Secondly, they need to feel that the product is good value for money. It needs to be a lasting solution; they will need some security in their buying decision unless they are buying from a well known and very credible source the will need some reassurance either by way of testimonials, recommendations or a credible guarantee. Customers are averse to taking any unnecessary risks. Thirdly, it must be affordable. They must either have the money available within their budget or be shown a financial plan or scheme that makes it affordable to them now. Fourthly, they need the motivation or desire to make the buying decision. People are natural procrastinators; we must overcome any inertia towards the sale.

At the risk of stating the obvious, whatever product or service you are offering in your new business you will need to be able to market your solution well so you can get yourself in front of potential customers ‘somehow’ (we will deal with this another time) and then you will need to have a structured, convincing presentation delivered in a persuasive way. Failure to understand and give due attention to this vital step is one of the major causes of business failure.

Even if you have awesome products and a to die for service, don’t make the classic mistake of thinking it will ‘sell itself’. The ability to be able to persuade others effectively is an essential skill of every successful entrepreneur! Remember there are more millionaires from the ranks of professional salespeople that every other profession combined. Ignore this fact at your peril.

What’s Driving Them? Is It Emotion Or Logic

Interestingly when considering the buying profile, what might have missed your notice is the fact that all these ‘elements’ are subjective. They all have to do with feelings and emotions.

Some time ago a very well respected Business University completed an in-depth research project into the factors that influence a buying decision. They set out to establish how much of the buying decision is based upon emotion as opposed to logic. The final results were quite staggering – they showed that 84% of all buying decisions are based upon emotion as opposed to only 16% based on logic.

That means that for our presentations to be successful it is not enough to simply present facts – no matter how logical it may seem!

Think about what influences our decision when buying clothes – do we always look for the cheapest, hardest wearing, most practical fibres? Do we always buy the same colour because in that way everything matches? No, of course not, we want to look good and feel good – it’s primarily emotional.

When we purchase a car, how much of the decision is based upon logic? Next time you watch the car adverts consider how much emphasis is given to emotion.

And what about the biggest decision you make in your life? You decide to get married! Is getting married based upon logic? Well, of course it’s not – people fall in love – it’s an emotional decision.

The Need For Creative Selling

Often when we think of the term ‘creative’, what springs to mind is an artist or painter, or perhaps a sculptor, we may think of a creative film director. What all these people have in common is that with their ‘creativity’ they are able to make something out of nothing: to create something that previously didn’t exist.

The skills at which they have trained, practised and developed enable them to create in their minds a picture or a setting and then to transmit or communicate that into a finished product.

So it is with the Creative Salesperson that has truly mastered his or her skills as a professional communicator, presenter, persuader – a professional mind-maker-upper. A Creative Salesperson is able to paint and shape powerful images and pictures on the mind of the prospect, even creating a need or the awareness of a need that previously didn’t exist. Establishing or creating awareness for a need means that quite often we have to sell the problem – before we sell the solution.

Reflecting again, however, on the skills of an artist, you could be forgiven for assuming that they were just born with a natural talent. But in reality, almost universally, you couldn’t be further from the truth – almost every great painter in the world has learnt the skills. They learn composition, colour balance, perspective – they develop the necessary skills and you will need to do the same with sales and marketing. Creative selling is about changing a person’s perspective. In painting, perspective is used to bring important things into the foreground and move less relevant items into the background.

To show how our attitudes and feelings can be deliberately changed and molded, consider the following piece of research.

Research tells us that at the beginning of the 20th century the average man had approximately 72 wants and about 16 needs. A more recent survey showed that the average man today has around 474 wants of which 92 are needs – absolute necessities that he could not function without. Now, what has changed? Perspective!

These fundamental changes in perspective have been brought about by the creativity of sales and marketing professionals. More than any other professional in the business world, the Creative Salesperson will impact on the lives of people in a powerful way. It’s no exaggeration to say that in today’s world what keeps the wheels of industry turning is professional sales and marketing. These are skills that you must systematically learn and continually develop if you want your new business to succeed.

Most companies who wish not just to survive, but to grow in today’s market, must have a strong sales profile. They need a strategy for success that permeates the whole organisation. Even if you intend to recruit, train and motivate a team of professional sales people to do all the selling for you, which I heartily encourage, you must still be able to harness these skills yourself otherwise you will never be able to lead effectively and your sales people will eventually hold you to ransom.

As Creative Salespeople, we have the power to sell people things they didn’t know they needed, let alone wanted. We can create that need and want where none previously existed and leave the customer delighted with the buying decision – that’s the incredible power of Creative Selling.