In Mad Men, we get a good example of how emotion can be used in sales and how having that connection to pain and feeling to your product can really offer you an effective way to get on the same wavelength as the person you want to sell to. Finding that connection and point of similarity and struggle in a super key part of sales. In this movie, Don Draper seems to know immediately what the 2 men he’s meeting with are going to say. He knows that his product is different from those currently on the market, but there is nothing inherently impressive or special about having a carousel, or simply a ‘wheel’ as the men call it, integrated into your projector to make a photo carousel.
Customers couldn’t care less that a projector has a spinning wheel on top. If it works it works. So it doesn’t set itself apart from anything else. But as Don sells to Kodak, he talks about how, more than just having something new, incorporating nostalgia into your product is a very potent way to demonstrate that your product is more than just something that sits around. It serves a meaningful purpose. And with that, he uses the projector to play through tender and heart warming slides of good moment his life and of his family. By the end of the slide show, you could tell that he made an impact on the 2 men there and that they could finally see the emotion and meaning behind the carousel product.
This is so important to selling and can be a essential key that could make or break a sell. You have to be observant and realize whether for a certain client it might be necessary to really give a meaningful real life connection with them to the product. Emotion and buy in is everything in sales, and so nostalgia, as Don says, can be one of the most potent ways to create buy in really boost your effectiveness as a sales person.
The clip of the Mad Men that I am referring to is down, below. Enjoy!
Some recent Liberty Mutual commercials have used this same tactic for comedic purposes. Nice post!
Great movie! Emotion is very important when it come to selling and this is a perfect example of exactly just that. Tonality is an important tool when trying to reach someone on an emotional level as well. What I have learned most from this class is to be intentional and genuine when it come to making relationships with prospects; which emotion has a huge part in.