Secret Triggers That Motivate Customers to Buy

By Debbie Allen, All Rights Reserved 

Most buying decisions are based on emotions.  Your customers may tell you that they are buying out of logic, but much of the time, they are buying out of emotion.  When our emotions are high enough, we form logical conclusions that trigger us to buy.   

When emotions take over logic, we begin to search for more ways to own what we want, to own what we are most emotionally attached to.  The more emotionally attached your customer becomes, the more likely they are to buy from you.  Therefore, triggering your customer’s emotions during the sales process is a powerful way to increase your sales.  

Learn how to implement emotional psychological triggers in your sales message to create more emotion, enthusiasm, and excitement in your prospects.      

7 Psychological Triggers That Motivate Customers to Buy     

1.      Trigger existing customers to buy more from you.   

Business owners are at all times hunting down their next prospect, the next person to buy from them.  This hunt is always set in high gear.  Yet most spend way too much time hunting down new prospects than discovering ways to sell more to their existing customers.  Sure, you must seek out new prospects all the time, but when you focus more on the customers who already trust and love you, you’re chances of increasing sales will dramatically improve. 

Think about your very best customers–those VIP customers who are loyal, refer you to others, and always purchase the high-ticket items.  Got a few names in mind?  You can’t afford to lose even one of them.  If you lost them, you also would also be losing out on your biggest sales.  So that being the case, what are you doing to generate more business from them?  What are you doing to market to them more effectively and at a higher level than other prospects who don’t buy as much?  Most salespeople spend the same time, money, and effort on selling to their very best customers instead of investing more in them. 

Trigger their emotions by learning more about them.  Discover new ways of selling to them and servicing them.  Go after your customer’s mindshare instead of hunting down more of the market share available to you. 

2.      Trigger your customers to return more often. 

Are you losing sales by NOT ASKING your customers to return?  Your customers are not going to return to buy from you again if you allow them to forget about you! 

The number one reason why customers don’t return to a place of business where they had a good experience is because they where not reminded to return. 

Give your customers more reasons to return when you create a membership program that relates to the products or services you sell.  Customers love belonging to “A place” because it creates a feeling of comfort and consistency that we have learned to trust and expect. Smart companies create membership programs that give their customers more value and more reasons to return.

Trigger reminders often by direct mail about your organization and what you have to offer. How many times a year do you send out a direct mail piece to your customers to remind them of you?  Eight times a year, 6 times a year, 3,times a year, or less?  To stay in touch, you should be sending them a marketing piece in the mail at the very least 8 times a year, and I would suggest 10 to 12 times a year is even better. 

Your direct mail marketing piece does not have to be elaborate nor does it have to make sale offers, but it must have some type of BENEFIT that triggers them into taking action.  Postcards and greeting cards are both inexpensive marketing tools that can personalize your message and allow you to stand out.  Note that the more personalized your message is, the more likely it is that your customers will respond.       

3.      Trigger your customers with reasons why.

Look at what you have to offer and how you promote it with new eyes-your customer’s eyes. See, feel, and think like a prospective customer by stepping outside of yourself. 

Often, we are too close to our own businesses to see the most obvious things that our customer sees.  Discover the most powerful benefits and values from your sales message that connect with prospects on an emotional level.  Build structure in your sales and marketing message to stay in touch with your customers often via e-mail, phone, and/or postal mail. Don’t assume you know how they would like you to communicate with them.  Ask them how they would best like you to connect, and then be sure to follow up with them.

4.      Teach your customers how to consume.

Teach your customers to support, refer, and stay loyal to you and your organization.  When you can get your customers into a habit of doing business with you over and over again, you’ll have them for life. 

Some companies are so brilliant at developing programmed consumption in their customer’s mind, that they actually “own” their business. Take Starbucks, for example.  When we think of treating ourselves to a special cup of coffee, we think of Starbucks.  They have branded themselves directly into consumers’ minds around the world. 

   5. Trigger your customer’s emotions by answering objections upfront. 

Most of the time when customers have a problem, salespeople take it personally and retreat.  When a customer calls to discuss a problem or issue they are concerned about, salespeople either wait to return the call or don’t return the call at all.  That makes a customer even more upset. 

Did you know that most customers who bring up a concern are usually trying to tell you how to improve?  Most likely wouldn’t care if they didn’t plan on continuing to do business with you.  They want you to improve so that they feel good about coming back.  So don’t take it personally.  Think of customers voicing their concerns as an opportunity for you to get better. When you think of it as a complaint, personal attack, or criticism, you’ll most likely alienate the customer and lose them forever. 

The best way to trigger their trust factor is to put obligations up front.  Yes, come right out and tell them the answer to what they may be thinking instead of hoping they avoid bringing it up.  Believe me, they already are thinking of it if you are. 

6. Trigger your customers by building curiosity, interest and trust.  

Infomercials are brilliant at triggering emotions.  If you want to learn how to trigger your

prospect’s emotions, you can learn a lot from watching infomercials. 

Watch how they demonstrate the many different uses and/or benefits of the products.

 Feel yourself drawn in with the special free bonuses when you act now.

 Listen as they share amazing testimonials that build curiosity, interest, and trust.   

 Be aware of how they overcome objection with four easy payments of just $X.

 See how they trigger you to take action with the fear of loss by not acting quickly.

         7. Trigger your customers with demonstrations and freebies.

Demonstrations, try-before-you-buys, ethical bribes, and freebies are all brilliant marketing strategies that touch customers’ emotions.  Nothing works faster to get them to interact and respond to an offer.  

For example: Have you ever been to Costco, Sam’s Club, or a similar type of retail warehouse on the weekend?  If so, you have witnessed for yourself the mad feeding frenzy created at the food sample demonstrations. 

We all love to get FREE stuff, and when we do, it triggers the obligation factor.  Humans just naturally want to return the favor when receiving.  Give something away for FREE and it will come back to you many times over in increased business and customer loyalty.

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Bio: Debbie Allen is one of the world’s leading authorities on sales and marketing.  She is the author of five books including Confessions of Shameless Self Promoters and Skyrocketing Sales.  Debbie has helped thousands of people around the world attract customers like crazy with her innovative, no-cost marketing strategies and secrets to sales success.  Her expertise has been featured in Entrepreneur, Selling Power and Sales & Marketing Excellence.  Sign up for her FREE 6-week e-Course Business Success Secrets Revealed ($97 value) and take the online business card quiz to rate your marketing online now at www.DebbieAllen.com.