For decades, coaches have been taught to market with features, benefits, and rational arguments. This approach works for selling commodities—products where decisions are purely functional.
But transformational services operate in an entirely different psychological landscape. When someone considers investing in coaching, they're not just buying a service; they're contemplating becoming a different version of themselves.
This triggers complex emotional and neurological processes that logical arguments cannot influence.
...Back in 2017, I was a promising rugby player with a scholarship to one of the top colleges in the UK. Then, disaster struck. Multiple knee injuries ended my athletic career, and I became a personal trainer.
When the pandemic hit, I went online like everyone else. I believed expertise was enough. I had studied everything about fitness and transformation, had the passion and knowledge to change lives.
But I was dead wrong about how business actually worked.
For months, I was trapped in "The Expert's Echo Chamber"—impressing people who already knew what I knew, while remaining invisible to those who desperately needed my help.
The breaking point came on November 24th, 2021.
I was down to £96 in my bank account. My last three "sure thing" prospects had ghosted me after what I thought were perfect consultations. Sitting in my grandmother's spare bedroom, I faced a terrifying reality: being right about transformation meant nothing if I couldn't help people recognize they needed it.
That night, I called my mentor Paul Counsel. He said something that changed everything:
"Josh, you're trying to convince the logical brain while people make decisions with their emotional brain. You're speaking to the wrong part of their mind entirely."
He introduced me to Decision Science—the neuroscience research showing that 95% of buying decisions happen unconsciously, not through logical evaluation.
Everything I believed about communication was backwards.
Within six months, I'd completely rebuilt my approach. That's when I realized I'd discovered something bigger than marketing techniques—I'd found the hidden language of human decision-making.
Over the past two decades, advances in brain imaging technology have revolutionized our understanding of decision-making. We can now watch in real-time as brains process information and make choices.
What these studies reveal challenges everything traditional marketing teaches:
When presented with a buying decision, the brain doesn't carefully weigh pros and cons. Instead, the ancient decision brain—the part responsible for survival and resource allocation—makes an instant assessment based on six specific elements.
If any element is missing or misaligned, the brain defaults to "no" before conscious evaluation even begins.
This isn't theory. This is observable, measurable neuroscience being used right now by Fortune 500 companies to create predictable buying behaviors.
And now it’s available to you in my new book…
Visual Processing
Tangible Outcomes
If I'm not naturally "salesy," can I still succeed with this approach?
If I'm not naturally "salesy," can I still succeed with this approach?
© Copyright 2025 The Buyer's Mind. All rights reserved.
© Copyright 2025 The Buyer's Mind. All rights reserved.