We’re all taught that selling fear is a powerful closing method. The reality is, it’s not.
Clients have been asking me about the sales “experts “who claim that a powerful way to control a buyer’s mind is to create fear, to trigger our reptile or lizard brain. Some are claiming we can use power of the amygdala and the human fight or flight response to our gain.
Not really.
Selling Fear, Playing With Fire
You see, there’s a 3rd option included with the fight or flight response. It’s called FREEZE. And that’s what we humans most often do when confronted with fear.
Here’s the reality of what really happens when we trigger fear, aka the fight, flight or freeze instinct, in the mind of a prospect.
- Whenever we step into a non-life threatening fear, we do not fight or flee. We freeze.
- Our brains release a chemical that triggers we humans into a state known as status quo bias. The same thing happens to your prospect.
- That state drives us to hunker down in what’s safe and known…. aka the status quo. For your prospect, that means a strong drive to stay with their incumbent vendor.
- If you want to break the stranglehold that the incumbent vendor has on that buyer – the last thing you want to do is trigger a fear response. Unless you want to help that competitor keep the business.
- And yes, if you’re an incumbent vendor, go for the fear. It will work, at least for now.
So why on earth would anyone tell you that selling fear is a positive method?
Here’s another little tidbit we all should keep in mind (pun intended).
Our brain defines fear in a very different way than we consciously define it.
Here’s the scoop from a psychology perspective:
- Our brains create a pattern of what we expect to happen in any given situation. Based on our past experiences.
- Any, and I mean any, deviation from what we expect as “normal and safe” can and will trigger that same chemical release and push us toward the status quo.
- It doesn’t take a big scary event to trigger that chemical. Any delta between expectation and reality will trigger the fear response. The only question is how much of the chemical is released – which drives how strongly we’ll seek the status quo.
Yep, that’s why we fight change so strongly. Change creates the same chemical reaction as what we would consciously define as fear.
So if you’re trying to change your prospect’s mind about their current vendor – forget the fear!
The Bottom Line
When you’re selling and marketing to new prospects – forget the fear. I don’t care what we’ve been taught. Modern brain science has proven that it’s exactly the opposite of what you want to do to win new clients. All you do is put their minds into a preprogrammed response that is anything but positive for you.
On the other hand, if you’re the incumbent vendor, a bit of fear is a good thing. You’ll keep your customers’ brains in a. bit of status quo bias, and that means they will stick with you. But be subtle, blatant fear and threats don’t work for anyone anymore. Oh, and while you’re at it, be careful how much you push the need for change. Be subtle!
Sure, you can go ahead and keep selling fear. You’ll send your new prospect flying right back into the arms of their status quo – and they’ll stay with your competitor. Or they’ll select a new competitor who used modern approaches to create an influential relationship that makes your prospect want to trust you. Either way, I’m sure that competitor will appreciate it!
