How Hormones Affect Our Sales

We’ve learned a lot over the last few years about the science and biology involved in a selling conversation. The insights provided by science are important, as Sirius Decisions in their 2017 buying study learned that 33% of over 1,000 B2B executives surveyed said the most important content or message was the sales conversation. This was the highest number by far.

If you’ve followed any of our previous blogs, you know that science has proven that human beings make buying decisions based on meaning and emotion, then justify those decisions with logic and reason. What you may not know are the hormones involved in this human equation. More importantly, how they can help or hurt you in your relationships with your prospects and customers.

Remember the infamous scene in Glengarry Glen Ross where the ABC’s of selling are introduced? “Always Be Closing!” It makes for a nice line in a movie, but in practice it will cause the release of a hormone that will have the opposite effect of closing a deal.

Cortisol- The Stress Hormone

When this hormone is present in a fight or flight situation, it’s a good thing. It prepares our central nervous system for immediate action. When it’s present in your prospect or customer, it’s a bad thing. Asking premature closing questions will cause stress in your prospect. Taking control of the conversation in a way that your prospect feels manipulated will also cause stress. There are a number of behaviors that invite the presence of Cortisol into your conversation.

When this happens, your prospect will be closed off to new ideas or ways of doing things. They stop listening. They won’t hear most of what you say as they are trying to figure out how to get out of the conversation. The only time that Cortisol is a good thing is when you are discussing the pain of their current situation. Just don’t leave them there. Make sure you paint a picture of a better world with your product or service before you conclude the conversation.

The next hormone is also very familiar and is largely responsible for smart phone screen addiction.

Dopamine

It is a short duration feel-good hormone. Any time our smartphone beeps or buzzes, we get a little dose of dopamine. We feel important- someone liked our Facebook posts or sent us an email. This behavior is so dominant it can cause a phantom vibration from a phone that isn’t even in your pocket or purse.

Dopamine shows up in a selling conversation as your prospect agrees to next steps or eventually signs the contract. The only problem is that you are experiencing Dopamine, but your prospect is experiencing Cortisol. As they consider the uncertainty of the engagement and the changes they’ll have to make, Cortisol is released and they experience stress.

Oxytocin

The hormone that you want present in any selling relationship is the trust hormone, Oxytocin. Oxytocin is present in the highest concentration when a mother gives birth to her child. Oxytocin floods both the mother and baby at birth to create a tight initial bond.

How can you create the release of Oxytocin in your prospect or customer? There are a number of ways this can happen.

Human Contact

Any time you make contact with another human being, Oxytocin is released. This can be a handshake, hug, and even eye contact, to a certain degree. Ideally you want to make eye contact in a conversation about 70% of the time. Go over that and it starts to get creepy. Mirroring is another way to create Oxytocin in the relationship. Find ways to mirror your prospect with body language and speech patterns.

Intent

However, the number one way to ensure Oxytocin is present in a selling conversation is to make sure your focus is on the prospect. When human beings believe that someone else has their best interest in mind, that’s when Oxytocin is at its highest.

The best way to ensure you have this intent is to answer this question: How is your prospect going to be better off as a result of doing business with you? If that is your intent and focus, you’ll build strong trustworthy relationships with your prospects and customers.

Understanding the science behind selling leads to a clearer picture of how to frame your messaging to your prospects. We understand it can sometimes be difficult to know where to start when building a framework for sales conversations, so we’ve developed a Sales Conversation “Cheat Sheet” you can download HERE.

Call: 678-561-6260, Email: dkurkjian@mastermessaging.com or instant message David Kurkjian on LinkedIn to start the conversation.