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February 23, 2016

Sell More Signage with Emotional Appeal

Increase sales by appealing to people's emotions

You’ve probably heard the old axiom that people buy things emotionally, but then justify them logically. That applies to signage as well, including channel letters.

Which emotion would often be associated with a signage purchase? Pride. The emotion that often results from owning a successful business. The emotion of pride is closely linked to what this Harvard Business Review article calls “identity value.”

According to the article, identity value describes the “ways an offering might impact how employees perceive themselves by for example, boosting their pride, helping them win respect, or strengthening their sense of community.” Signage is clearly a product that has such identity value. It may appeal to an owner’s pride in these ways:

* Pride of conspicuous presence – The statement that “I’ve made it in the business world”

* Keeping up with the Joneses – having a larger signage presence than the competition

* Personal identification with the company logo as an icon of a life’s work So use the emotion of pride in your channel letter sales efforts. It will usually eclipse the effectiveness of practical arguments. Appealing to an owner’s pride may help you to upsell your original proposal and also to increase your closing ratio.

Here are two quick ways to incorporate pride into your sales proposal: Outline the package benefits in terms of self-image. Use presentation wording such as “you’ll be the person who gave this location a strong running start”, “you’ll maintain your record of completing your projects on time”, or “you’ll be the person who turned around this underperforming location.” Second, use pride-oriented words in both your sales presentation and written signage proposal.

Use words such as: * Dramatic * Forceful * Enterprising * Energetic * Hardworking * No-nonsense

This can be a gold mine for your signage sales efforts. Remember – logical arguments make prospects think. Emotions make them act. That includes the emotion of pride – so use it in your next proposal.

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