Head Versus Heart: Why Emotion is More Powerful than Logic

One of our longest-standing philosophies here at LiveseySolar is that when people are making buying decisions, emotion is more powerful than logic. This is why we take a highly emotion-centred approach when carrying out interpersonal communication skills training for either sales or customer service. Why?

There is not one specific reason for why we advise this approach, but rather a constellation of data points that are leading us towards this recommendation.

In most sales and customer related conversations, our main aim is conversion, not education. Research tells us that when it comes to changing minds, emotions compel decisions more than logic does.

That’s not to say logic isn’t necessary! Logic provides the foundation to make ideas stick long after the emotional high is gone, so both are necessary. However, logic has a much better chance of being accepted and remembered, if it is preceded by a receptive emotional state.

When we consider buying a product, part of our decision may indeed be based on logic – we may go for items that are the cheapest, safest, or longest lasting. However many more of our buying decisions are as a result of our emotions. Few people choose clothing based on practicality alone –we want to look and feel good, rather than simply choosing the cheapest item that will keep us warm.

People tend to use their emotions when they decide to buy a product and then use logic to justify it. This is why so many people buy things they don’t really need and end up with a kitchen full of gadgets, for example, as they have been ruled by their emotions.

Just watch any television advert and you’ll see how advertisers play to people’s emotions, rather than their practical side. In the battle of emotions v logic, logic is still important, but as it usually comes into play after the buying decision is made.

You may tell yourself that you’re buying that new juicer because it’s an efficient way of eating more healthy and you’ll save money on buying fresh juice, but in fact you’re imagining how you will look and feel amazing when you’re drinking homemade juice every day (for a month or two before the juicer ends up at the back of the cupboard with the rest of the gadgets anyway!)

Therefore, in any kind of sales, it is important to take emotional factors into consideration when deciding how to approach a sales interaction. Rather than focusing on practical aspects such as cost, it is more important to help each prospect imagine how they may feel after investing in your product or service. This is why interpersonal skills training is such an important aspect of our program.

Interested in learning more about our emotion-centred approach to sales training?