Something for you to ponder this morning…

“People buy based on emotion”.

You've probably heard that before.

Like me, your experience probably tells you it's true too.

But what can you actually do about it? How can you harness emotion to help you market and sell your services better and get more clients?

Let me ask you this:

When was the last time you were moved to tears by a powerpoint presentation?

Or inspired by a list of benefits or a business case?

Yeah – pretty much never.

But what has moved you, harnessed your emotions recently?

How about a film, a book or a play?

That's much more likely.

The difference? Films, books and plays are about stories. Stories with real human characters we can empathise with. Heroes we can cheer. Villains we can boo. Plucky orphans we can root for and unsuspecting victims we can be frightened for.

It turns out that the ability to empathise is hardwired into our brains. Thanks to something called “mirror neurons”, when we see a big nasty spider crawling up someone's arm our own flesh creeps, for example.

But we don't have to see things in real life to empathise. We can read or hear stories and it can evoke deep emotions and visceral reactions.

And that's the secret of how to help your clients “buy on emotion”.

Instead of pounding them with facts and figures to illustrate your point, tell them a story. Preferably with one of your previous clients cast as the hero.

Tell them how (with your help implied, of course) they overcame seemingly insurmountable obstacles to win the day. How they saved their company from ruin. Or found that great new career that allowed them to lead a fulfilling life. Or clawed back that tax overpayment despite the tax man's best efforts to thwart them.

When I was with Gemini Consulting in the 90s we differentiated ourselves from typical “vendors” in sales meetings by sharing stories of client successes rather than boasting about features and benefits or our USP. And it powered our growth for many years.

You can do it too. Think back to some of your client successes and the challenges you helped them overcome. Think of the ones similar to the challenges your future clients are likely to face and construct a handful of little stories.

You can then use them face-to-face in sales meetings – or in your marketing.

They'll have a powerful effect, I promise you. Less selling, but more sales.

(Of course, you've got to use powerful techniques like these ethically. With great power comes great responsibility, as Ben Parker told young Peter).