Best Sales Secrets -"Sales Seduction, Why Do You Say Yes?" By Rhondalynn Korolak

One day, searching for Free Amazon kindle books I came across this sales book that blew my mind after I read it, trice!! Yes, it is that good, especially for its scientific and neuro-marketing explanation on how humans think and behave when shopping or buying something based on our primary or reptilian instincts. The author, Rhondalynn Korolak is apparently a sales guru and advisor for small company owners. Every chapter is opened with a real life example with some of her clients. Not only does she give deep and useful information on how to improve some aspect of a business strategy, but she gives out the results from her coaching with KPIS or performance indicators.

The book is no longer free on Amazon but the Kindle edition is still the cheapest option for $9 dollars. But I totally recommend it; it’s an easy read and very insightful. This article is a walkthrough of the book from notes I took and examples created by myself through my interpretation of the lecture given.

By the way, if you´ve got any other recommendations of a good Sales e-book for kindle let me know at the comments below.

The art of seduction in sales has little to do with conscious thought; it is rather more related to primitive instinct or survival impulses that happen below our level of awareness. Thinking actually happens sometime after a decision has been taken.

Neocortex: This is the New brain. It reasons and processes data lighting up into activity when you process data, numbers, words, problems, spatial comparisons etc. When it thinks it uses up tons of energy which prolongs the decision process (uses up 25% of all your energy, something that stresses you up when a tuff decision with lots of thinking has to be made).

Mammalian Brain: The middle brain. It FEELS. This is where you perceive emotions.

Reptilian Brain: The old brain. It DECIDES. This is where you act and react.

• Includes all bodily functions that emanate below the level of consciousness.
• It was the first part to form in your body.
• It is always at work scanning the environment for your survival.
• We share it with all other animals.
• Its older than writing and language, so it understands images and sounds better.

Another important aspect to know from the reptilian brain is that it houses the Amygdala, a chemical factory that regulates emotional reactions and your body´s responses. It lights up when you DECIDE. It does so even before you are conscious that you have taken a decision because it sees things 500 milliseconds faster than the Neocortex.

It tends to dominate the other parts of the brain especially when it comes to survival. And almost every situation in our life is related to survival, even when we don´t notice any real danger. When you review products and prices in the supermarket, aren´t you thinking in the welfare of your family or yourself?

Many sales trainees or gurus teach closing techniques or “calls to action” that don´t always work, annoy customers, or can even create negative results. The answer is because most of them are designed to trigger the wrong side of the brain, the neocortex. Once you trigger the neocortex your customer starts thinking, and you don´t want that. Thinking involves making product comparisons, price vs. quality analysis, “do I need this now?” and other similar questions that scare the client from buying right away. The more complicated the system and information your client receives, the more energy his brain uses, and the more time he will need to take a decision.

After saying this here is a preview of a good sales closing technique video from the 90´s that follows many of Rhondalynn´s steps.

Your goal is to give a REASON for the customer to come back. So you will need to give them something that is attractive to them and makes them want to come back for more.

Self-centeredness

Most people like to talk about themselves, how a product or service made them feel better or took away their pain. Sometimes that product even made their life better or defines who they are. Your own survival and self-empowerment is central to your reptilian brain. Make sure your product actually improves something in your customer’s life, this way he will always come back for more to keep improving himself.

How is your product going to make him:

• Fit
• Rich
• Save money
• Healthier
• Smarter
• Efficient
• Happy
• Sattisfied etc.

Focus your marketing message on how you are going to solve your customer’s problem and keep him safe. Don´t waste your time on low prices and product features, your customer only cares on improving, healing or securing something in his life. Be it love, status, wealth, health… you name it.

Every time your customer is faced with your message he will always ask himself internally, “What´s in it for me?”

Let us say you are a web developer and have a potential client in front of you. You can start talking about price discounts, the different features the webpage could have, hosting services, your experience in the market and all kinds of things about you. Or you can picture him and his online business in the future making and extra profit thanks to SEO tactics that reach out to more customers around the globe, the growing number of returning customers thanks to an effective email strategy and talking to his customers in social platforms. It is more seductive to speak about him and what he´s missing for not hiring your services right away. Make him feel the PAIN in opportunity loss in the present, and how you can HEAL that pain starting from now.

Your brand and message is just one in a sea of thousands. Market your message differently to draw attention of the reptilian brain.

The reptilian brain is constantly scanning the environment for anything that is different or out of place. CONTRAST. It notices differences like big/small, hard/soft, dark/light, rough/smooth etc. It is a survival instinct that quickly detects any threats in order to take action and keep you alive.

Have you noticed how everyone that drives by near a car accident slows down when passing by trying to get a glance and understanding or the crash´s magnitude and injured? Or how the person with a really big afro that gets on the bus suddenly attracts your attention. These are things that you don´t encounter every day and by instinct call your attention before the neocortex politely tells you it is rude to stare.

Coca-Cola is known for doing surprisingly creative guerrilla marketing campaigns that generate positive reactions amongst crowds. In a very memorable one known as “Coca-Cola Hapiness Machine”, a Coca-Cola bending machine was placed in a university in London. Students would walk up to it and introduce the coin to buy a soda. But when they did, what came out the vending slot where random things all associated with happiness like: A hot pizza for all the friends, hugs, flowers, a huge sandwich and more

“When selling a fire extinguisher don´t waste your time speaking about the features and benefits of your product, just light a fire.” - Rhondalynn Korolak

This campaign was memorable, which means people talk about it sometime after it happens, they remember it, share the video through social media making it go viral. In order to remain as a powerful elixir of happiness on people’s minds Coca-Cola creates contrasting messages that callout the reptilian brain´s attention. Once we are watching it points out how well we feel when sharing happiness amongst us. And it does it through images, actions and songs, our primitive language.

If the old brain detects significant contrast, it will feel compelled to take a decision now. It then has to decide if the new thing in his environment is a potential threat or gain that requires immediate action.

Your customer needs to feel the difference between your solution and your competition´s solution. Are they better off doing it themselves? Do they gain heavily by taking your side? Or should they do nothing and wait for better options? If they are taking some time to think about it, it is because you either did not touch them in the wound or they have no such wound and you are targeting the wrong customer.

If the customer decided to hear what you have to say it is because he has a pain that needs some healing. Your first step would be to hear him out and determine his pain.

Once you have determined his pain, tell your story in a way it solves his pain. For a travel package make him picture himself holding hands under a beach sunset with his wife feeling just like in the first days they met, the joy of spending some family time with his children in a paradise island. Leave the price discounts and paperwork nuisance for the last, just let him dream and grasp how it would be like if he were on that trip right now. Don´t forget to let him know that only you can provide what he is visualizing, that you will take care of fulfilling his fantasy, guaranteed. Once he has caressed the medicine to his pain and decided you are the one to deliver it to him, he is ready to take a decision.

As an extra video here are the BEST Old Spice commercials, and you will completely get CONTRAST.

What happens when there is no distinction between two competitors? The prices are the same, the product basically the same and they target with the same message.

When there is no contrast between two competitors your old brain can´t make a decision, this requires some thinking so it passes the information up to the neocortex for evaluation. The neocortex will then advice to search for more information on the internet, check some reviews, price comparisons, positive news, ask around… and the customer will take forever to make a decision. This is when un-competitive products go into price battles because the only gain the customer sees from buying from one brand or the other is in saving some money.

There are a lot of small battery makers in the world. But you probably can think of two brands right now, Varta and Energizer, and from those two Energizer takes the win. Why? Because of the ongoing bunny with cool looking Ray-Ban sunglasses. The message is clear and memorable with lots of contrast, Energizer batteries last longer. So whenever you need to buy new batteries, you go down into the nearest market, find yourself in front of dozens of battery brands and buy Energizer because you know your appliances won´t die on you. Energizer makes you feel safe.

By announcing that you are the best company in providing the product or service you offer you are essentially telling your customer to inquire if this is actually true. If you are #1 then there must be a #2 working hard to knock you off, so your potential customer will search and compare you with the competition.

You are not the best at what you do, you are the ONE that does it.

There is no competition that have accomplished what you have. Communicate how you fix a certain pain in a way that no other competitor does it in the best of interest to your customer.

Grab your customer pain with your hands and squeeze it so he can really feel how strongly he wants to heal it. It is the old brain´s job to care about immediate threats and to act immediately to solve them. No time to ponder when it comes to caring for your family. Give him a solution now to that great pain and he will not take the time to think because it needs an instant resolution.

Up till now we have analyzed the first two chapter from the book "Sales Seduction: Why Do We Say Yes" by Rhondalynn Korolak. Here we understood the basic comcepts on how the Reptilian Brain functions in relation to its survival instincts, how to call its attention with contrast, higlight your prospects fears and provide the remedy for it.

In the upcoming article we will contine analyzing the different stimulus of the reptilian brain like how to better communicate to it.

In the mean time check out these other books by Rhondalynn Korolak:

Remember to leave your suggestions and recommendations about a great sales e-book that is available in kindle eddition or in PDF format (I can convert them to kindle format). I love to read marketing and business related e-books to increase my skills in these areas.

If you are just the sales or marketing enthusiast like Iam, feel free to follow the comments of this article by following them or my profile.

Soon more chapters from "Sales Seduction" will belinked to this hub. Until then!