In my previous post, To sell, speak to all three parts of the brain, I talked about the three parts of the brain that we have, and now, I am going to talk about the old brain, the primal one, the lizard brain, and how it influences customers to buy, right now.
The lizard brain?
“The lizard brain is hungry, scared, angry, and horny. The lizard brain only wants to eat and be safe. The lizard brain will fight (to the death) if it has to, but would rather run away. It likes a vendetta and has no trouble getting angry.” — Seth Godin
The old brain is activated by one of two things:
- Safety and survival
- Desire and sexuality
It’s primitive.
If anyone asked you right now if you could stab one with a knife, what would you say?
Mad, right? Of course, you would say you won’t.
Here is the thing, every decision you make can change based on the situation and context.
Let’s say, someone is trying to kidnap or harm your daughter.
What would you do?
When you are scared, you do one of three things:
- You fight
- You flight
- You freeze
Those are your three basic impulses.
In the situation, let’s say your lizard brain drove you to “fight”, because, well, it’s your daughter. Your baby.
Who wouldn’t, right?
Perhaps stabbing them wouldn’t be a bad idea, then, if you are protecting your child for her life.
It’s primitive. It’s about survival. It’s about your baby.
But, hey, it also works with sexuality. It’s another impulse that doesn’t have to do anything with being safe.
Love also makes people do insane actions.
Why?
Again, it’s primitive.
So, what’s the take on this?
Simply, put.
If you want to influence others to make a decision, right now, at that moment, trigger the safety and protection instinct. It will drive them to take action that would trigger one of those three impulses 1. fight, 2. flight, or 3. freeze.
Any of those impulses could drive sales if they can be actioned through your product or service.
On the other hand, the sexuality impulse always works. That’s why sexy models are in demand, like all the time.
Think, how could your product or service make someone more attractive, sexier? How could it help your customer get a date with their crush?
…
You get the idea. 😉