How the emotional state of consumers impacts their buying decisions

Think about your last purchase…was it an emotional one? On today’s show, we’re pleased to welcome Jeff Shore, founder of Shore Consulting, trainer, and author to discuss the emotional aspect of a purchase decision. Shore’s work has been featured by NBC News, Fox Small Business, Success Magazine, Inc., Entrepreneur, and a host of other leading publications.

When making a purchase decision, it’s more emotional than we think says Shore. A buyer’s decision is usually 80% emotional and 20% analytical. The connection between like and trust is quite profound. Shore says, if I like you, I’m far more likely to trust you and if I trust you, you have that persuasive influence over me.

Some people don’t appear to be particularly emotional in the purchase process. There’s no such thing as a good deal, on a product you don’t like so much. Shore says if you have a customer coming in, you just have to have empathy for the situation and recognize they’re afraid and they might not know how to engage emotionally. A skill set for a great salesperson is figuring out what the customer loves first.  

It turns out when customers are in that shopping mode, they’re evaluating a product and stepping into their future and then asking the question, how does this feel? The purpose is to get the customer into that mental stimulation. Shores says the curse of salespeople is they want to talk about features and prices but never allow the customer to step into their future, which is a huge mistake.

Another thing Shore sees in consumer behavior is the connection to video and the comfort with video. In December 2019, Zoom had about 10 million subscribers. Today, Zoom has over 400 million subscribers. He says, he’s thrilled about that, but it’s still underutilized. It’s a great opportunity to connect with your customers.

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