Yes, money informs all business decisions. But emotion propels buying decisions—including the decision to buy your product.
Your product not only has to be the right choice; it has to feel like it. Without that feeling, all options seem pretty much the same.
Leading with the detailed financial arguments needed to seal buying decisions can take the wind out of your sails (pun intended).
So before piling on proof points, rouse your customer.
Tell attention-grabbing stories of "before and after" transformations experienced by other customers.
Omit those stories and you'll find yourself merely reciting a lot of facts and figures, which feed the brain, but starve the gut.
Sales gurus Erik Peterson and Tim Riesterer, in Conversations That Win the Complex Sale, caution:
"One of the most common mistakes sales professionals make when selling is that they lead too early with proof. They believe that all they need to do is use the brute force of facts and logic in their pitch, and the prospect will buy from them. What you need to understand is that proof has its place. But it should come only after you've created the emotional momentum in your prospect that makes him want to move from where he is to where your solution can take him."
