Building Emotional Connection for Your Products

We cannot stress enough the importance of creating a positive emotional connection with your buyer. Without that "good feeling", achieving the final sale will be elusive.

Positive emotional connection isn't just about interpersonal interactions. The buyer's emotional response is based on all of the buyer's interactions with you, your product, and your brand -- not just your sales team.

Let's reiterate again the emotions you need to create throughout the buying process in order to stimulate a sale.

1. Likability
2. Trustworthiness
3. Desirability to work with
4. Without fears
5. Supportive
6. Excitement

Now, the hard part. How do you create these positive emotions in your buyer? You create strong emotional connections by driving emotional consistency across all of these areas:

• Look and feel of your web site, content, and communications

Do not underestimate the emotive power of your look and feel. Lightness and space create a sense of openness, of breathing room.

• Voice and tone of your content

Tone and voice create a sense of sincerity, honesty and approachability. Does the content tone depict you as personal, professional, and encouraging?

• The content itself

The content should be about the buyer, not about you. Does your content portray you as a distant entity or a personable, trustworthy associate.

• Integrity of personal relationships

Say what you mean, mean what you say, and stand by what you promised. Listen and affirm. Learn and grow. Really care. Be a servant not a ruler.

So, what happens if along the way the buyer starts forming a negative connection with you? Is the sale lost?

The longer you let negative emotions build, the more difficult it is to turn them around.

But to get the sales you must turn around any negative emotions. It isn't easy.

1. You must understand what the emotions are and how they were developed
2. You cannot dismiss these emotions - the buyer must feel heard and understood
3. You will need to take action

Changing the emotional tenor at this stage requires a personal touch. You must be open, not defensive, willing to do what it takes to make the situation right in the eyes of the buyer. This must be done with unfailing attention to consistency of your behaviors.

But negative emotions can be turned around. It will take an investment to do so. In cases where you succeed, the war stories can do more to build your reputation than anything else you could try to orchestrate.