PAIN vs. GAIN – What Best Motivates Buyers to Buy?

by Dan Seidman

We finally settle the oldest argument in selling

Did you know there is solid psychology around how prospects are motivated to make decisions?

DOES YOUR BUYER CHOOSE PRODUCTS OR SERVICES in order to attain Gain, benefits and good things? Or are they motivated by Pain or problems or avoiding future trouble?

WHO IS RIGHT? The classic Zig Ziglar and Tommy Hopkins approaches of pitching benefits has been replaced by a current belief that you can’t sell anyone without knowing their pain points. Both are right and both are wrong, depending on your buyer.

THIS SELLING DISCUSSION WAS SETTLED by two philosophers who lived 200 years ago.

Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasure. – Jeremy Bentham

People aren’t just motivated; they are motivated to move toward something or away from something. – Arthur Shopenhauer

Shopenhauer’s quote is embedded in page 687 of the Encyclopedia of Educational Psychology.

In psychology, this moving toward or away from things is called “direction.”

You want to know which direction you buyer moves.
To = GAIN
Away = PAIN

THE TRUTH ABOUT DECISION-MAKING CRITERIA IS THIS: You can identify exactly which approach works best with each buyer you encounter. You can then “speak their dialect” be it Pain or Gain and better influence them, based on how they make decisions.

You can see this in your world, just begin to recognize it. Look at road signs, watch TV ads, look at magazines. You and your salespeople will be fascinated by the Pain and Gain patterns around them.

Here’s a solid first step to adopting this. starting by designing a chart that lists bullet points of Pain and Gain.

From here on, you can practice the verbal agility to speak that prospects “dialect.” Get your sales pros in sync with buyers like never before. Increase rapport and focus on solutions that benefit them or those that avoid problems. Now you can take your sales calls further down the path toward a close.