Corey Cousins shares how to shift from features to feelings to close more deals

How this episode will help you

• Why most salespeople lose the deal by selling from their

 own values instead of the customer’s emotions
• How to connect features, advantages, and benefits to what

 truly motivates a buyer
• The neuroscience behind emotional buying and why logic

 alone never wins
• How Destination Motivation helps companies increase

 close rates and reduce cancellations
• Why attaching an experience like a vacation creates stickiness

 and repeat business
• How to prevent ghosting during the sales process using an

 emotional incentive
• The single best mindset shift Corey wishes he learned

 earlier in his career

Salespeople often fall into the trap of feature dumping, firing off specs and benefits while missing the emotional reasons people buy. In this episode, Corey Cousins, Vice President of Sales at Destination Motivation, explains why tapping into a prospect’s feelings is the true path to higher close rates and more loyal customers.

Corey walks through the psychology of emotional decision making, the FAB framework, and how experiences like vacations can transform a grudge purchase into a feel good one. If you want to close more deals without pressure and build trust faster, this episode delivers the roadmap.

Corey Cousin's Top 15 Close The Deal Mindset Success Quotes:

Emotional Decision Making

 1. “People buy based on how you make them feel, not what you say.” (Corey referencingMaya Angelou)
2. “As high as 95 percent of buying decisions happen unconsciously.”
3. “If they don’t feel good about buying from you, they will never buy or they will cancel.”
4. “You can have the best logic in the world, but emotion is the catalyst.”
5. “People can smell commission breath from a mile away.”

Sales Mistakes and Mindset

6.  “Selling from your own values is one of the biggest mistakes salespeople make.”
7.  “Most reps fall into feature dumping instead of tapping into emotions.”
8.  “Nobody says they are the second best option, yet some teams close more because of how they make customers feel.”
9.   “Look out for the buyer’s best interest and you will close more sales.”

Features, Benefits, and Communication

10. “A feature is what something is. The benefit is why it matters to me.”
11.  “One extra emotional touch can prevent cancellations and ghosting.”
12. “Our goal is to help people close more deals and do it the right way.”

Experiences and Incentives

13.  “Vacations and family time are one of the most emotionally valuable things people have.”
14.  “When customers feel like they must sacrifice a vacation to make a purchase, the deal feels worse.”
15.  “Adding an experience increases referrals and repeat business dramatically.”

Connect with Corey Cousins

Linkedin

https://www.increaseoursales.com/

Close The Deal Podcast Player:

How Emotional Sales Turn More Prospects Into Buyers

Most salespeople think the fastest path to the close is through logic. They explain features, outline benefits, and present data hoping the customer will process it rationally and choose them. Yet that rarely works. As Corey Cousins explains, it is the emotional connection that determines whether a prospect leans in or backs out.

Corey is the Vice President of Sales at Destination Motivation, the number one sales and lead conversion incentive company in the nation. He has trained thousands of sales reps and helped home services companies double their close rates while reducing cancellations. His philosophy is simple. People do not buy because of the information you give them. They buy because of how you make them feel about that information.

Why Feature Dumping Loses the Deal

Corey’s biggest observation is that most salespeople unknowingly sell from their own values. They talk about what matters to them rather than discovering what matters to the customer. This leads to feature dumping, a rapid fire list of specs, upgrades, and benefits that never connect emotionally.

Corey uses the FAB framework, which stands for Features, Advantages, and Benefits. A feature is what something is. An advantage is what it does. The benefit is why it matters. A heated seat is a feature. Better control over comfort is the advantage. A warm and comfortable ride on a cold morning is the benefit.

Most salespeople stop at the feature or advantage. The elite ones make the customer feel the benefit.

The Neuroscience Behind Emotional Buying

Harvard’s research on consumer neuroscience shows that up to 95 percent of purchasing decisions occur unconsciously. That means prospects are checking dozens of emotional boxes long before they process your logic. Do they trust you. Do you seem genuine. Do they feel understood. Do they feel cared for.

If they feel good about you, logic reinforces their choice. If they feel uncertain, no amount of logic saves the deal. And if they buy despite poor emotional alignment, they often cancel soon after.

This is why emotional selling is not a tactic. It is a requirement.

The Power of Attaching an Experience

Destination Motivation uses a tool that amplifies emotion in a way most reps overlook. They attach an experience like a vacation to the buying process. This matters because in home services, many purchases are what Corey calls grudge purchases. Nobody is excited to replace a roof or repair an air conditioner. Customers often tap into their vacation budget to afford a major home project. That creates emotional loss before the deal even begins.

Destination Motivation flips that moment by giving customers the chance to save fifty to eighty percent on a vacation simply by choosing that company. Instead of sacrificing a getaway, they can finally take the trip they dreamed of.

This is not a gimmick. It taps into a universal emotional desire. People love experiences and memories. When a company helps them create those moments, the deal feels dramatically better.

Preventing Ghosting Before and After the Appointment

Ghosting is a silent killer for sales teams. Appointments cancel. Prospects disappear. Deals evaporate. Corey explains that the emotional incentive helps on the front end by increasing appointment conversions. When prospects hear they can receive a meaningful travel benefit simply for completing the process, they show up.

On the back end, the same emotional connection reduces cancellations. Corey gives an example of a homeowner who chose a company they liked less simply because that company offered a vacation incentive. When the original company clarified they offered the same thing, the homeowner immediately returned. Emotion overrode logic again.

Creating Stickiness and Word of Mouth

People naturally talk about great experiences. When a homeowner can say they received a new AC unit or roof and also took a discounted family vacation, that story becomes irresistible. It reinforces the customer’s pride in the purchase and elevates the company’s brand.

This is why Destination Motivation clients are seeing record numbers of testimonials and Google reviews. The emotional value carries far beyond the transaction.

Corey’s Advice for Young Salespeople

Corey ends the episode with the advice he wishes he had known early in his career. Look out for the buyer’s best interest every time. When your intention is to close a deal, buyers feel it. Corey calls it commission breath. But when your intention is to help, customers lean in, trust grows, and the sale becomes natural.

The right intention is the emotional foundation for every successful sales process.

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