Buyers Brain

The Science Behind the Purchase.

The neuroscience behind how our purchases are made may surprise you.

This is fascinating to a geek like me. Another great Social Media Examiners' podcast with host Michael Stelnezer. Most of this article is a condensed version of this week's interview Neuroscience and Marketing: How to Hack the Buyer’s Brain, guest Kenda McDonald of Automation Ninjas was fascinating as she broke down the scientific process we humans use to make a purchase.

I’ll be replaying this podcast a few more times in order to completely understand the process. I'll probably buy the book too, Hack The Buyers Brain.

According to Kendra, there are two main points to a buyer's decision,

Rewards and Pain

When your product or service is needed by the prospective client it becomes the reward aspect of your customer's journey. We are hard-wired to solve our problems by using as little resources as possible and our brains reward us when we do.

So the reward is your offer! What is their reward for connecting and purchasing from you? How are you going to make your buyer's life better?

The pain point is “What is the cost to them”. No matter what, you will need to be upfront about this pain point. You can lessen the sting with value and comparison statements but they will experience pain. The goal is to tip the scale toward you with heavy on the rewards and away from the pain of paying the price.

This is the starting point of the customer journey, the next step is awareness and this can be the reward activator to get your scales tilting in the right direction.

Problem Aware

In order to even begin the journey you will need to define the problem for your customers. How many times have you seen an ad and wondered “Is that even a thing?” only to find yourself purchasing down the road? Think “Got Milk?”.

Solution Aware

Letting people know there is a solution to their problem. Giving them all the ways they can go about solving the problem by educating them on all the features they may need or want. Now, they may not want all your business has to offer but this is a good time to weed out the DIY’ers and bargain hunters. The pain of cost is just too great and it’s not worth the energy convincing them. This is where people start to comparison shop.

Product Aware

Now is the time for you to shine. The customer is ready to purchase so tip the rewards scales in your favor. This is where you pull out all the benefits your business has to offer and attach them to the rewards the customer will gain in choosing you.

Leading your customers down the path to a sale is a journey. We as buyers want to be led with direction not slammed into the BUY NOW wall at 60 mph. And, you as a seller, can offer off-ramps to those who just will not pay the price for the rewards you offer, saving you time and money down the road.

This is a very short recap of an in-depth interview. It’s worth the hour-plus to listen to the podcast. Kenda McDonald is an expert in the neuroscience of sales and a fascinating listen for a marketer like me. I’ll be adjusting my campaigns to incorporate what I learned this week.

Reach out for a talk over coffee or a hike I give information freely. I only ask to be paid when I do the work. tgold@bigwaterci.com

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Trina Gold

Master Creator