MAKALE

SALES AND THE FUNCTIONING OF THE BRAIN

Emrah Altuntecim 

In order to be able to manage perception in sales, our customers must be motivated and emotional communication should be established with them. We should be able to appeal to the both brain lobes of our customers simultaneously. The reliability and authenticity of your messages are of critical importance in Perception Management. Our customers are more interested in how we say rather than what we say.

 The brain is divided into two pieces as the right and left lobes. Both halves of the brain are split into four lobes in terms of their functions. These are frontal, parietal, occipital, and temporal regions.

The frontal region is mainly in charge of decision-making processes, during speaking, and motor functions. It also ensures the processing of rational data and determination of sexual behaviours. The frontal region is also responsible for socializing and the memory. The frontal region also functions in the planning and being put into practice of behaviours.

The parietal region is the one processing the information coming from the five sensory organs in various parts of the body. It is also responsible for making sense of figures and the objects perceived. In the occipital region is our visual cortex. This region is where vision gains meaning. The temporal region is particularly important for memory. The dominant temporal lobe functions about the meanings of words and the names of objects. In the non-dominant temporal region, however, visual memory information is processed.

When establishing a relation with a person, the brain gets and processes emotional tips and information in addition to who that person is, what s/he does, and activates its early warning system accordingly. The cerebral region in charge of this function is called amygdala. The feelings of anxiety, sensitivity, and astonishment increase the activity of this region.

Two main theories have outstood in the studies conducted on the functioning of human brain over the recent years: “

 “Theory theory and simulation theory.” These theories examine how human beings analyse the behaviours of others, how they learn, and how they mimic things. They also analyse how human beings understand and react to the intentions, objectives, and desires of others. Information concerning how human beings see, how they speak, how their bodies get heat, and how the five senses function in quite much.

In the human brain are some cerebral activity areas representing the mental condition of other people. For instance in trade, a good shop assistant knows who is a real purchaser. They cannot know the reason of this, but they feel it. They know that the person is going to buy a certain good and develop bargaining arguments accordingly.

In this situation called folk psychology, the specific mental condition of the customer initiates an activity represented in the shop assistant’s brain. Concerning reading the mind of somebody else, an activity represented in the mind of the person himself/herself starts. This phenomenon is called “The Mind reading theory” or “The Theory-Theory.” In other words, the theory has been theorized. And this is realized by the mirror neurons in the brain.

In experiments made on animals, it has been seen that the “Simulation Theory” has emerged, which is a more developed version of mind-reading theory. According to this theory, the human brain mimics the person s/he is facing, and makes estimates based on this imitation. Subconscious or subliminal perception expresses perception below the threshold of perception. That is to say, it expresses perceiving certain things in an unconscious way or without realizing. Perception above people’s threshold of perception, that is to say, perceiving in a conscious way is called “supraliminal perception.”

As for the concept of “neuromarketing”… This concept was introduced to the scientific world with the studies carried out by Patrick Renvoise. In the scope of neuromarketing, to what and how the human brain reacts is evaluated using such scientific methods as EEG, FMRE, and Eye-Tracking.

Such methods as ‘eye tracking’, ‘voice analysis’, ‘facial decoding’, EEG (electroencephalogram), and MRI, which are used in neuromarketing researches, will now be of a particular concern to everyone interested in sales psychology.

In neuromarketing, which is a scientific field that addresses the reasons underlying people’s purchasing decisions, the brain is dealt with in three parts.

Expressed as the “new brain”, the “cortex” thinks, processes rational data, and is in charge of intellectual processes. The “midbrain” feels and processes feelings. The reptilian brain, that is to say, the “old brain makes decisions and has a say in emotional decisions concerning our survival.

Almost all the studies conducted and field experiences reveal that people make their purchasing decisions with their feelings, and it takes one approximately 5-7 seconds to make this decision. That is to say, the old brain must be particularly addressed here. A picklock is hidden here…

Neuromarketing is particularly digging for the subject of  “decision-making in shopping.” Scientific studies conducted especially over the last 10-15 years show that 80-85 per cent of decision-making processes are completed with the influence of subconscious. 

However, it is interesting that most private sector trainers continue to be interested in the tip of the iceberg and show as if this visible portion was the iceberg itself. However, the truth can be very different, indeed. Perhaps consumers do not really know what they exactly want, either.

Then what does neuromarketing do? It researches! People are presented with certain sets of questions or shown some stimulants. However, it is different from traditional studies in the sense that neuromarketing do not count on what people say during researches. Various changes in the brain and body are examined and measured.

The more physical features a brand has, the more the perceptive realm of the customer may gain importance. Colours, scents, tastes, sounds, and various textures may give a customer much more pleasure that the product or service in question can.

That is why most brands are now investing in solving the decision-making mechanism in the human brain.

“The intuitive mind (right brain) is a sacred gift, and the rational mind (left brain) is a faithful servant.” However, the right side of the brain generally speaks, and the left side listens, and therefore, we also experience some contradictions within us throughout our lives. 

The right and left hemispheres of our brain have different tasks, and the brain and body relations work crosswise. As the motor fibres coming out of the brain cortex cross in the upper neck region, while the right brain controls the left side of the body, the left-brain the right side of the body. That is why those whose veins on the right side of their brain get blocked are get paralyzed on their left side of their bodies or vice versa. Therefore, those who use their left hands in their daily lives and are left-handed have a dominant right brain. If a person is using his/her right hand, then, the left hemisphere is dominant. There is also a presumption that the left-brain characteristics are more dominant in those who use their right hands and the right brain characteristics in those who use their left hands.

Our speech centre and mood centre are on the left. The right brain mainly comes to the forefront in size- and volume-related evaluations, and it processes information in terms of form and with imagination. Both hemispheres of the brain are interconnected by means of the nerve fibres linking the two halves of the brain, and the brain works just like an information highway. The more developed this highway called “corpus callosum” is, the more it is likely to use all its capabilities in a holistic way. If the “corpus callosum” is not developed enough, then the person exhibits the characteristics of the more dominant one of the left or right brains.

 The brain and learning is another important subject. The comprehension called “learning” occurs as a result of some alerts taken from the surroundings being processed in the brain, and repetitions by means of our five senses –hearing, sight, touch, smell, taste- and the additional senses of balance and proprioception (movement perception of our body in space).

The process of learning can be summarized as follows:

• Entry: The things perceived by the 5 senses being conveyed to the brain
• Processing: The information conveyed to the brain being understood and processed
• Memory: The processed information being saved in the memory to be used again
• Exit: The information taken from the memory being sent to cells, muscles or motor activity areas as messages

In the region called “hippocampi”, those spots called snaps, which are the parts through which the neurons communicate, are stimulated with high-frequency electric signals. Thus, they strengthen the bridges called “synaptic connections.”

The information that we learn is saved in the brain in order of importance. For example, those incidents that do not impress us much or influence our feelings are not saved in the cortex. The third parts of the brain, the cortex is the section that thinks, speaks, writes, makes new inventions, is curious, makes plans, and where learning, intelligence and, memory form, and seems to have an unlimited capacity. It is in continuous communication with sight, hearing, and the other centres of perception on it, and the external world. Those incidents that arouse feelings are saved in the brain cortex by means of the “hippocampi,” which is in the midbrain.