Are You Providing Enough Contrast?

In our modern, busy world the brains of people that you want to persuade and influence are being bombarded with sales and marketing messages every hour of every day. For your sales message to get through this cacophony you must provide their brains with a clear contrast.

Your customer’s and potential customer's brains (including the all important more primitive reptilian and emotional brains) responds positively to clear contrast.  To help it make the right decision to buy what you have to offer you must provide it with a very clear contrast.

For example:

Provide a very clear contrast between what the customer’s current situation is now and how much better the situation will be once they have chosen to purchase your product or solution.   Show them how their future (if they make the right decision to buy from you) will be an improvement on their present circumstances.

Your contrast needs to provide a   summary of their current state or situation, the problems they are experiencing and the costs / impact associated with these problems.  This provides the "Stay Away From Pain" motivation for their brain to want to move away from. This "Stay Away" response is hard-wired into our brains and is a powerful motivating force.

Then provide them with summary of their desired future state situation that shows the rewards and benefits that they will experience once their problems have been solved by the purchase and implementation of your product or service.  This provides the "Toward Reward" motivation (which is also hard-wired into the brain) for their brain to want to move towards.

Then show your product, service or proposal as the enabler that allows them to move between these two contrasting situations - from where they are now to where they want to be.

A further point of contrast that is important for you to consider is to demonstrate how you differ from and are superior to your competitors.  A good way to find out is to ask your existing customers why they buy from you and the advantages they perceive you to have.  What you may think differentiates you might be different to what your customers think!

If you ask your key customers your points of difference then you will rapidly develop clarity about what they are as common themes will occur.  You can then incorporate these into your sales pitch.   Your message needs to clearly differentiate you from your competitors and provide a strong point of contrast.  

Provide the brain with the contrast it needs to make a good decision - the decision to say "yes" to you.

Simon Hazeldine MSc FinstSMM is an international speaker and consultant in the areas of sales, negotiation, performance leadership and applied neuroscience. 

He is the bestselling author of five business books:

• Neuro-Sell: How Neuroscience Can Power Your Sales Success
• Bare Knuckle Selling
• Bare Knuckle Negotiating
• Bare Knuckle Customer Service
• The Inner Winner

To learn more about Simon's keynote speeches and other services please visit:

www.simonhazeldine.com

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