I don’t think that we, salespeople, sell a great deal of things.
Truly.
Now you’re thinking, “Gosh, I completely disagree, Tânia”, and you may invoke several reasons.
But hear me out.
I dare you to think beyond the obvious reasons.
You might think we, sales folk, sell a specific product for a specific need.
Let me tell you. You are not, and neither I’m I.
We’ve written about the reasons why people buy.
And how they buy.
People try to fulfil basic innate needs whenever they buy anything.
In my career, I can confirm it.
10 years taught me only two things can drive people to take action:
- Desire
- Fear
See, pretty basic, right?
Let’s get into it for a little bit.
The Desire Axis
We sell desire whenever we call on dreams and ambitions in our copywriting or sales pitch.
If you are drawing an idyllic scenery your persona is meant to want to live on and using your product/service as a tool to reach that dream — you are using this axis.
Here is a list of your most common desires:
- Having more free time
- feeling happier
- looking more attractive
- becoming socially popular
- earning recognition for something you value
- feeling healthier
- feeling sustainable
- having a successful career
- having a successful business
- earning lots of money
- being considered smart
- travelling
The list goes on!
Now meet desire’s twin evil brother, and my favourite to work with:
Fear.
The Fear Axis
You are using this axis when you expose your persona’s biggest fears.
Ask your target audience what worries them,
what is stealing their sleep, and what scares them.
Then, offer your product/service as a solution that avoids/solves this heartache.
Money and money-related fears are great examples.
We are all scared of financial trouble.
Having no money brings out strong emotions that can easily drive us into action.
A list of some fears we have in common are:
- Health trouble
- felling ugly
- looked at as graceless/clumsy
- causing a bad impression
- being unhappy
- the people they love lose happiness/health
- being all alone
- not having a partner
- losing their job
- losing money
- losing their business
- losing their peer’s respect.
You can’t have it all.
There is no better axis than the other.
The best axis to use in your communication depends on your target audience, period.
Of course, you can’t please Greeks and Trojans (this is a Portuguese popular adage meaning you can’t please everyone), plus you are not supposed to.
Extremely optimistic people will deny your fear-based message.
Extremely pessimist (disbelieving) people will deny your desire-based message. They may even be snarking at it.
Remember, they are not your audience.
That is why you should never mix the two axis.
They are gonna call on two opposite audiences.
You can also work around these extra emotions:
- Jealousy
- pride
- altruism
But even these emotions, when looked at through a closer lens, are:
Jealousy → lack of confidence, fear of not being competent, pretty, special, interesting, or smart.
Pride → fear of losing a business, a job, a position, or leverage.
Altruism → being respected, generous, good, smart, and admired.
Closing thoughts:
I’m sure, at some level, you already knew this.
But it’s one thing to know it subconsciously and another to have this fully present end writing or pitching your next client.
I’d say there is no secret. It is most important to dig into your customer personas and find what moves them.
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