I hate to break it to you — no, that’s not true — I actually love being the one to break it to you.

The rules change and — as usual — most people aren’t paying attention. In fact, the rules changed quite a while back and most people still don’t know it. The ones who DO know it are not only having a BLAST in business but they’re making tons of money.

Here’s the skinny:

Your customer doesn’t care about all the features of your product.
The prospect doesn’t care that your MLM company is paying an extra 4% on the 3rd level.
If you’re talking to your prospect about the how many hotels will take your discount card, you’ve made a wrong turn and don’t even know it.
And, for those of you still in the stone ages, the prospect sure as hell doesn’t care about ORAC scores or how many mucopolysaccharides are in a serving of your miracle fruit juice.

People buy on emotion….and they justify their purchase on fact. Period. End of story.

In other words, WHILE the prospect is making a decision, they’re depending more on the emotional cues that they get from you, your company and your presentation….not just the data. Only AFTER they’ve made their decision will they quote some fact or other about why they made the decision they made.

That’s right: oftentimes the prospect herself doesn’t know why she made the decision she made. Only AFTER the decision is made will most people manufacture a list of reasons that would bear any resemblance to “critical thinking”.

Emotion is the ignitor. It’s the thing that sets our hearts turning. Why? Author Dan Pink knows why:

Good news and bad news: more people today, than ever before, demand EXCELLENCE. Not just excellence for the sake of it, but a committed, driven company looking to improve on what they can and get rid of what they do not.

And there are companies like that out there. And there are other companies out there who serve more as a warning to us all.