It is called cognitive dissonance.
“Emotions have no place in business unless you do business with them.” – Friedrich Dürrentmatt

Cognitive dissonance is a psychological concept that plays a significant role in the sales and marketing of your business.
Human emotions, then, should be of prime importance to salespeople. If your pitch doesn't hit an emotional high note, your chances of making a sale diminish considerably. Cognitive dissonance can also present opportunities or challenges for sales professionals. When customers experience discomfort, they are more likely to seek information or support that helps resolve the conflict. Something similar can happen when people want to avoid pain by looking for pleasure.
In our personal experience, we (my daughter and I) faced this cognitive dissonance with our clients when we started offering training that didn’t match our culture. I was confused and disappointed, what were we doing wrong? Let’s face it, people like it easy. Everybody wants to get the gold medal, but very few are willing to do the job. Tony Robbins says it like this; sell them what they want, deliver what they need. Genius! That´s why Tony is Tony! This is true, but doing it is not easy, let´s find out why.
"When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but with creatures of emotion.” – Dale Carnegie
The Researching
Then I started to research the why of my client’s behavior (cognitive dissonance) doing this, I found a course called, “Workout for Lazy People” you can bet but they sell it like crazy. The comments were incredible, people were grateful for finding that workout where they teach you how to start moving your legs and arms, which I thought was a normal and natural movement of our bodies. They are even grateful for using the word “lazy” as they consider themselves that. In my Spa, I faced something similar when women wanted results without doing the needed work. I had many experiences with client prospects who considered themselves lazy. And believe me, is not a good idea to try to convince them of the opposite, instead, Tony´s advice is a better chance to make the sale.
But if your product or service is about fitness, for example, it won’t work out the way it is designed, right? Maybe creating a training program for lazy people will work out better for them, in this case, you are selling what they want and delivering the same. But here is the thing, how do you feel doing it that way? Is that what you want to sell? Here your entrepreneurs' emotions are starting to get involved and they fall into cognitive dissonance on the other side of the sales equation.
“Logic will not change an emotion, but action will.”
Human Emotions and Business
For an entrepreneur is not easy to deal with this human psychology but for an entrepreneur that is task-oriented can be a real challenge.
I am not a psychologist, but I am a great listener, with years of life experience and throughout my business career, I have confronted my highest weakness (task-oriented weakness), “human feelings and emotions”, a thousand times, listening to my clients. They can take hours speaking about their problems until tears come out, and many times they ask for my advice, that I am seriously considering making an extra charge for that “therapy”.
As I mentioned before some entrepreneurs are people-oriented and some others like me are task-oriented. A task-oriented person drives his/her energy differently, as the definition of it says, we are always focused on the task. This doesn't mean that we don’t care about people's emotions, but we do address them in a different way, which many times can be categorized as cruel or insensitive due that going straight to the point can be painful for most people. Some people will require flowers on your words to feel comfortable with and some others will be grateful for receiving those darts directly, as being task-oriented makes you objective.
The objective person uses logical arguments rather than emotional appeals. Being task-oriented is not an obstacle to being a good seller, I have lived more than 27 years from my business, and I haven´t hired a sales team yet. In our “School of Your Pass for Batter You” we offer a coaching “Self-Consciousness” which is coming soon to live, we help you to improve your Self-Knowledge and Self-Understanding, to get to know and understand why you do what you do. However, if you are people-oriented, could be easier to address your client's feelings in a softer way that makes him/her more comfortable and open to listen to your proposal solution.
Then What is Cognitive Dissonance in Business?
We will call it “a phenomenon” that occurs when a customer feels tension or conflict between their human emotions like their thoughts, attitudes, or beliefs, and their buying decisions. As well as the entrepreneurs´ tension between their human emotions like their thoughts, attitudes, or beliefs, and their selling decisions and actions.
Coming back to the “Workout for Lazy People” course, only the title can break that cognitive dissonance completely! The sale is done! Yes! That easy.
Let's go to the other side of the equation. You are a high-performance athlete, ready to launch your first training for beginners. You know how much time and work are needed to achieve the six-pack. What are your emotions if you offer the course with the title “10 minutes daily abs workout” or “workouts that will get you fit fast”?
Cognitive dissonance happens not only to clients, but it also happens to entrepreneurs as well.
In my book “A Journey with Elite Warriors” I wrote this note:
“What we think and how we think determine what happens inside us; then our thoughts will determine our feelings and our feelings will determine our actions.” - Scarlett M Vantedeschia
You may wonder; and what determines our thoughts? The answer is your Emotional Fitness.
Emotional Fitness is another of the three pillars of our School of Your Pass for a Better You, and it is as simple as changing the quality of your life by changing the quality of your emotions.
So, Yes! Human Emotions and Business Matters!
Are you conscious of who you are? Are your thoughts a high-quality thought? Are your outcomes outstanding?
In the meantime, you can read more about Entrepreneurial Lifestyle insights on my blog “Zitrev The Alpha Blog” and you can listen to more topics on my podcast “Zitrev Your Pass for a Better You” which is coming soon.
The School of Your Pass for a Better You is currently closed for enrollment, but you can enter your information HERE to get on the waitlist and be notified when doors open again.
See you in the arena…
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