Why your prospects don't give a damn about your technology

Your Prospect Is Not Rational – So Stop Selling Like They Are

As Descartes said: “Cogito ergo sum” – I think, therefore I am.
It’s elegant. It’s famous.
And it’s also misleading... at least when it comes to selling.

Too many salespeople still operate under the false belief that buying is a rational process. That the product, the tech, the features are what matter.
Wrong.

People decide emotionally. Then they justify it.
We feel → we think → we act. Not the other way around.

So what does that mean practically in sales? Here's a breakdown.

1. People buy to escape pain or seek pleasure

You’ve heard this before — but most don’t apply it.

Instead of talking about the benefits of their product, salespeople should anchor their message in the problems they solve.

That means using language that highlights pain. Not features. Not even outcomes.

And yes, I know — it sounds simple. But it's hard. Why? Because we’re stuck in years of pitch training, product decks, and benefit statements.
Changing this habit takes deliberate effort.

2. Stop educating your prospects

Here's a hard truth: your product presentation is hurting your sales.
Same for your demo.

Selling is not about teaching. Demos and presentations appeal to the rational brain — but decisions are emotional.

Instead, your methodology should focus on making the prospect talk. Don’t show off your SaaS, your AI engine, or your brilliant product roadmap.

Your buyer doesn’t care.

Dale Carnegie said this over a century ago. He was right. See more here

3. Enthusiasm is (mostly) useless

This one stings for a lot of reps I coach. But here it is: Your enthusiasm may actually hurt your sale. See an article about enthusiasm here

Why? Because it shifts focus to you. And creates pressure.

Humans are wired with a psychological mechanism called reactance — when we feel our freedom is threatened, we push back.

It’s been studied since the 1960s by (yes, French!) psychologists. If someone tries to push us into a decision, we often instinctively go the other way.

Just look at the signs on cigarettes: Smoking kills. Works well, doesn't it? Or "Fresh pain, do not touch". What do you want to do?

Want to see it in action?

"You probably don’t want to receive another newsletter, do you?"

Boom. It flips the pressure. Suddenly, the power is back in the hands of the buyer.

4. Mr. Rational vs. Mr. Emotional — who wins?

I know you want to present. You're itching to show the deck you worked on hard. But please - don’t. Not too early.

Daniel Kahneman, Nobel Prize winner, wrote in Thinking, Fast and Slow (p.13):

95% of our purchasing decisions are unconscious.

That unconscious part of the brain is a beast. It’s trained through years of experience and evolution. It processes billions of signals, faster and smarter than our conscious mind.

The English call it a “gut feeling.” And it’s real. Meanwhile, your prefrontal cortex - the part that does rational thinking - taps out after 3 or 4 points.

Don’t believe me? Ever looked for your keys, walked into a room and think, “Wait… what was I looking for?” That’s your rational brain forgetting. It can’t handle overload of information it acquired between the moment you were looking for your keys and the moment you arrive in the room you thought you left them.

Your unconscious doesn’t forget. It processes everything.

Quod erat demonstrandum, as René might say.

5. The Iowa Gambling Task proves it

Still skeptical? Here’s the science.

In the Iowa Gambling Task study, participants were given money and asked to draw cards from four decks. Two decks were safe and yielded regular wins. The other two gave big wins — but big losses too.

Here’s what happened:

• By draw 50, people started avoiding the risky decks - but couldn’t say why.

• By draw 80, they could finally explain it.

• But their unconscious already knew.

It gets better. Participants wore sensors to measure skin conductivity (a stress response). Results showed that by draw 10, their hands trembled near the risky decks.

Their bodies knew before their minds did.

Logic is slow. Emotions are fast

That’s the power of the unconscious.

6. “But our customers buy rationally. It’s a complex B2B solution.”

Wrong again.

The more complex the buying decision, the more emotional it becomes. Sounds counterintuitive — but it’s backed by science.

See: Should I go with my gut? Investigating the benefits of emotion-focused decision making (2011).

You might think your customers carefully evaluate data.
But they don’t use it to decide - they use it to rationalise what they’ve already felt.

7. Yes, rational arguments still matter — but not when you think

Let me be clear. Yes, ROI, product features, use cases - they matter.

But they serve a different purpose: post-decision rationalisation.

So don’t lead with them. And don’t think they create conviction. They justify conviction that’s already there.

And as for Descartes?

People love quoting him. But what he actually said was:

“I doubt, therefore I think, therefore I am.”

Doubt is an emotion. Descartes wasn’t as rational as you might think.

So if you're still selling to the rational brain, stop. Your prospect's gut is already making the decision. If you want your prospect to decide, don’t just feed their brain.

Speak to their gut.