Diagnose the pain, differentiate your claims - Demonstrate the gain, deliver to the old brain.
Researchers have demonstrated that human beings make decisions in an emotional manner and then justify them rationally. Furthermore, we now know that the final decision is actually triggered by the old brain, a brain that doesn't even understand words.
"Think like a wise man but communicate in the language of the people"
The 6 Stimuli of the old brain. These are universal in all humans.
1. Self-Centered
The old brain is responsive to anything pertaining to self. It's completely self-centered. Your audience must hear what you can do for them before they will pay any kind of attention to you. Take a critical look at your messages, are they 100% focused on your audience and their needs?
2. Contrast
The old brain will pay attention to clear contrast, such as before/after, risky/safe, with/without, or fast/slow. Contrast allows the old brain to make quick, risk-free decisions. Without it, the old brain enters into a state of confusion leading to a delayed decision or no decision at all. Fundamentally, the old brain is wired to pay attention to disruptions or changes of state.
The old brain is actively seeking pattern disruptions instead of reacting to them. A decision is triggered when all contrasting aspects of a product puts it under the positive spectrum.
*Create contrast between various elements of your product, make the decision easy for the old brain. Contrast creates perception, perception constructs reality.
3. Tangible Input
The old brain is not qualified to process written language, the use of words - especially complicated ones - will slow down the decodign of your message and automatically place the burden of information processing onto the new brain. Your audience will want to "think" about making the decision more than they will want to "act" on that decision. This is why the old brain needs tangible input: It is constantly scanning for what is familiar and friendly, concrete and immutable, and recognizable. Make your concepts easy to grasp, concrete and familiar.
4.The Beginning and the End
The brain is constantly looking to conserve vital energy and will tend to drop information in the process. If the old brain can easily anchor a situation with a strong beginning point and a strong end point, it will not seek to use energy to retain content in the middle because it may not be necessary to what the situation requires.
Neuroscientists think that anticipation leads to a change in the level of dopamine present in our brain. The resulting effect being an increased ability to retain and recall specific details of our experience. Open your message with the most important part, close by repeating the initial message. What is in between will be mostly to fill the experience and might be forgotten.
*If you have a chance to present yourself or your product first, do so. Yours is the example for which all the following will be judged by.
5. Visual Stimuli
The old brain is visual. Neuroscience demonstrates that when you see something that looks like a snake, your old brain warns you instantly of danger - in about two milliseconds- causing you to react even before your new brain physically recognizes the object is a snake. In fact, it will take about 500 milliseconds for the visual cortex part of your neocortex to recognize that indeed it is a snake. Humans cannot rely on the speed which the new brain processes information, we are hardwired to make decisions that are mostly based on visual input. By using visual stimuli, you ensure that you tap into the processing bias that the brain has developed over thousands of years.
6. Emotions create electrochemical responses in our brains. These reactions directly impact the way we process and memorize information. Hormones floods our brain and impacts the synaptic connections between our neurons, making them faster and stronger than ever before. As a result, we remember events better when we have experienced them with strong emotions. If your customers cannot easily remember your message, how can you expect them to choose your product? That is why ignoring your audience's emotions is not an option. We are not thinking machines that feel, we are feeling machines that think.
Four fundamental steps to tap into the old brain,
1. Diagnose The Pain- to craft a message that concretely shows how you can eliminate it.
2. Differentiate Your Claims- by showing the contrast between you and your competitors.
3. Demonstrate The Gain- that your solution provides to your prospect.
4. Deliver To The Old Brain- in a way that has maximum impact.
1. Diagnose The Pain
In this step you should ask the right questions and listen carefully to your prospects' answers. The true pain often lies below the conscious level, so be prepared to unveil pain your customers did not even know they had. Since the old brain self-centered and concerned with its own survival above all else, it is highly interested in solutions that will alleviate any pain it is feeling.
That is why humans spend more time and energy avoiding pain or looking to destroy pain than we devote to gaining higher levels of comfort. Focus on the pain your prospect is experiencing, not the features of your products or services. Focus on the issues, the feelings, the self-centered pain your clientelle is having is your key to swaying them in your favor.
For example, if you're selling electric drills, your prospects couldn't care less about the actual drills. What they really want are holes. Therefor, your diagnostic or solution should focus on all the issues they have about the holes they need to make . . . not the drills. Combining your knowledge with their own understanding of their current situation and their desred outcome will lead to an accurate diagnostic of your customers' pain.
2. Differentiate Your Claims
The old brain responds favorably to clear, solid contrast. Powerful, unique claims attract prospects because they highlight the difference, gap, or disruption the old brain is proactively looking for to justify a quick decision. Claims simplify and accelerate purchasing decisions. Develop a solution uniquely able to cure your prospects' pain. Two examples that will be in the back of the buyer's mind is "How does this compare to other options?" and "How does this compare to my doing nothing?". Contrast your offer so those questions are completely covered.
3. Demonstrate The Gain
Feed people solid proof of how your solution will enable them to survive or benefit. The old brain can't decide unless it feels secure, you need to concretely demonstrate, not just describe, the gain your prospects will experience from your product or service - the benefits of a specific cure to their pain - in a way that satisfies the old brain's need for concrete evidence. When the benefits of your solution are shown (commonly called a value proposition) it's not just about value: it's about proven value.
4. Deliver To The Old Brain
The latest brain research shows that the old brain always makes the final call. When you deliver your message, your impact is directly linked to your ability to sell to the decision-making part of your prospects' brain. Keep it well informed, keep it stimulated talk in a way to make it decide easily and effortlessly. Selling to the old brain requires method and discipline, but the rewards are well worth the effort.
Summary,
1. Diagnose the pain to craft a message that concretely shows how you can eliminate it.
2. Differentiate your claims by showing the contrast between you and your comptetitors.
3. Demonstrate the gain that your solution provides to your prospect.
4. Deliver to the old brain in a way that has maximum impact.
