Connection Between Storytelling, Neuroscience, and Sales

Neuroscience and business are two industries that may not seem to go together, but new technology and research have generated an opportunity for science and sales to collide. Through neuroscience, companies can get their message out there in a way that actually resonates with the client on a real, genuine, biological level.

The Impact of Storytelling:

Most people and most cultures come from oral traditions, where important messages are handed down from generation to generation, and storytellers and poets were highly celebrated people in the community. In the age of technology, it may seem as if we have gotten away from this tradition, but neuroscience has proven that the impact of a story still remains. This makes a lot of sense when exploring deeper. A story is relatable. It’s visual, it’s emotionally connected, it speaks to our brain at a root biological level, and in essence, it is how we were designed to connect and relate to things. Sales and businesspeople can use this to develop deep and genuine relationships with their clients and tap into the part of the brain that biologically wired to receive communication.

Circumventing Human Nature:

Human beings are self-wired for preservation. It’s part of the biological drive that has helped us as a species survive. Your buyer is no different. Intentional or not, this is the mindset that they will walk into any sales conversation with. When you show up and start telling them about how great your product is, it triggers their self-preservation mechanisms and puts them on the defense, because they are not thinking about your product, they’re thinking about their needs. You are communicating something that you need, instead of thinking from the customer’s perspective and exploring the problem that your customer is trying to solve.

The Order of Communication:

The order in which you communicate with your clients is absolutely vital. When the human brain is under pressure or stress, it will always communicate subconsciously from its highest level of training. In sales, the highest level of training is usually on the product, because that’s what most salespeople focus their learning on. This means that when you’re in a pressurized sales conversation, the salesperson usually focus on product information when it really should be centered around what the customer needs and wants. A good communicator can tap into the emotions of self-preservation of the customer first, and then come back later to explain why their product can solve that problem; Not the other way around.

Connection and Credibility:

It’s important to have both connections and credibility. Often times, salespeople are trained so that they are credible. They know the market, they know the product, and they become an expert on what it is that they are selling. However, how to form a connection is a huge part of what’s missing in sales training. Without developing a connection with your buyer, the credibility doesn’t matter. We have to train on a product, but we need to train on the problem that we solve with equal, if not more measure.