Neuromarketing summary

In order to optimize the message you plan on delivering to the old brain, you’ll need to do some prep work. Here are three steps that’ll help you prepare most effectively.

Start by diagnosing the pain. Be attentive and listen to your customer, and they will give you insight into their pain – that is, the reason they desperately need your product.

Having primed your communication campaign with the preparatory steps outlined in the previous blink, it’s now time to focus on some practical ways to structure your message – ways that intrigue and entice the old brain.

First, make use of the following building blocks when constructing your message:

Though there are many forms of marketing and advertising, one of the most common is the presentation, where you convince people – face-to-face – to consider, and hopefully purchase, your product. As with other forms of marketing, it’s absolutely essential that you concentrate on communicating to the old brain when making a presentation.

The secret to a great presentation lies in immediately grabbing the audience’s attention. To make a great impression, you need grabbers, techniques that nab your audience’s attention. Here are a few that you can try:

Have you ever had doubts before signing the paperwork for, say, a new car? Doubt is human, and thus a completely natural part of any selling process. In fact, as a salesperson, it’s a good sign when your customer expresses doubt: it means they’re actually considering the purchase.

But you can’t leave doubt unchecked, so you’ll need strategies to handle these last-minute objections.

Would you immediately trust someone that you met on the street? Of course not. You need a reason to trust them. Sales presentations are no different: you need credibility if you want to earn your customers’ trust and close the deal.

Credibility isn’t something that can be faked, and people will know if you are being disingenuous. Luckily, even if you lack credibility, there are things you can do to make yourself more credible.

Think of your marketing message like a cupcake: the real substance of your message (like that spongy cupcake) is enticing in and of itself, but if you really want to grab someone’s attention, you’ll need to add some sprinkles. It’s easy to do this in your sales presentations.

One way is to adjust your language according to the old brain’s preferences. For example, use the word “you” as often as possible, as the old brain likes to be talked to directly.

The old brain developed hundreds of millions of years ago, long before advertising existed – but not before decision-making existed. You can appeal to the old brain any time you need to convince someone of something, like during a job interview.

Ultimately, a job interview is a sales situation in which you sell yourself to the potential customers, the interviewers.