5 Emotional Fulfillment Triggers: Leveraging How Your Clients’ Brains Work

Why They “Buy” vs. Why They “Stay”

Everyone wants results. It’s the primary reason anyone seeks out consulting services in the first place.

They want to overcome an obstacle that’s holding them back from the results they truly want.

That’s why people “buy”… But, what gets them to “stay?”

After collectively working with thousands of clients, here is what the data tells us: The staying power of a coaching program comes down to the emotional aspects of a client’s journey.

How you make them FEEL matters just as much (if not more) than what you do.

If you think what we’re talking about here is pure fluff and not important, you should study branding. Some of the most famous (and infamous) brands in the world create lifelong raving fans NOT simply because they can produce a result. Competition dictates that if you can’t actually deliver what you say you can, you won’t stay in business for very long. They go one level deeper, by creating an emotional heuristic in the end user.

If you don’t create and control this, it will be random.

And, if it’s random, you won’t be able to repeat it. Which means you will eventually lose to someone who can.

So, yeah… pretty important.

Let’s take a look at 5 emotional “triggers” that you can use to ethically manipulate your clients, allowing them to achieve MORE and engage with your process at a higher level than ever before.

Why Emotions Are a Big Deal to Your Clients

While every client you work with is unique, we are all human. This means that there are strong similarities to how our brains function.

Emotional engagement actually increases the brain’s ability to process AND retain information. Neuroscientists refer to this as entering a “heightened learning state.”

There are 5 core emotional triggers that, when activated properly, can create these states:

• Achievement recognition – Celebrating wins (big and small) individually with the client boosts momentum, and creates feelings of ecstasy. Adds stability when client needs “present moment” confidence.
• Community connection – Dialoguing and getting feedback (even if it’s challenging) from a community of peers gives accountability and a sense of belonging
• Progress visualization – Giving clients regular touch points to allow them to see not only how far they have come since joining but also how much closer they are to their goals, provides a feeling of growth and “unstoppable-ness”
• Identity evolution – Highlighting and emphasizing key mindset shifts for the client as they happen can give them a sense of personal development and cement their trust (both in themselves and in your process)
• Future pacing – Reminding the client of where they’re headed through triggering future based emotions… a picture of their future success (sometimes this can even be triggered by sharing the wins of other clients who are slightly ahead of them in the process)

Each of these serves an important role in the customer journey, but the sequencing and the timing are critical. If you trigger the wrong emotion at the wrong time, it can actually lead to plateauing at different points during your program.

Here’s a practical application from one of our own programs:

• Week 1-2: High enthusiasm (Client is riding a wave of both positive and, potentially, anxious feelings. We leverage those feelings for foundation building – keeping them pumped for the process during initial onboarding and getting integrated.)
• Week 3-4: Reality sets in (As the real work begins, initial excitement begins to drop. This is when we increase support touch points and we emphasize small win recognition.)
• Week 5-8: Implementation dip (Client gets busy and momentum begins to slow. To offset this, we increase community engagement and connection, pulling them back in to receive encouragement and accountability.)
• Week 9-12: Breakthrough moment (As they follow the process, the biggest “aha” moments and shifts begin happening. Amplify achievement recognition and draw attention to identity evolution to boost their trust.)

By mapping these patterns out, you can proactively address potential drop-off points before they occur.

Structuring Your Program to Work WITH Your Client’s Brain – Not Against It

Every human brain has a logical side, and an emotional side.

Overemphasizing one comes at the expense of the other.

We work with plenty of brands who have dialed in the tactical functionality of their products and programs. But they don’t have any systems in place to protect the emotional journey.

“But, I’m getting them results. Won’t that be enough to make them stay?”

If only it were that simple.

Thinking that way shows a fundamental misunderstanding of how the human mind functions, and it WILL cost you in the long run. However, once you start treating your clients holistically – keeping in mind both the tactical aspects of their journey AND the emotional aspects – you will create a program that they never want to leave.