In this episode of Humane Marketing podcast, I’m joined by Rachel Allen for a deep dive into The Science of Buying. We explore how neuroscience and psychology quietly shape our buying decisions—and how understanding this can lead to more humane, effective sales. From Rachel’s “magic equation” for building trust, to knowing when your message says just enough, this conversation is packed with insights for entrepreneurs who want to sell with empathy, not manipulation. Whether you’re writing sales copy, nurturing relationships, or rethinking your entire approach, this episode will inspire a more connected and compassionate way to grow your business. Here’s what we covered in this episode: Some surprising ways neuroscience and psychology influence our buying decisions—often before we’re even aware of it. Rachel’s ‘magic equation’ for sales—and how it helps build trust and connection. The subtle power of great sales copy and messaging to spark interest before someone consciously realizes they want to buy. How to know when you’ve said enough—or maybe too much—in a sales message. Why, in a world driven by data and demographics, empathy and psychology are actually the stronger tools for real connection. The full ecosystem of a humane sales process—and how things like sales pages, nurture emails, and gentle follow-ups all weave together. Watch this episode on YouTube Join us for the upcoming Collab Workshop on May 7th where we open our community, the Humane Marketing Circle to the public, for a small donation. -- Speaker 0: hi, rachel. it's good to have you back, returning guest to the humane marketing podcast. welcome. Speaker 1: thank you. thank you. i'm so excited to be back. i always love, uh, repeat podcasts in general, but especially talking with you. Speaker 0: yeah. thank you. it's it's really good when you get to know one another. right. like, kind of kind of on a deeper level. i think the conversations are are different. yeah. Speaker 1: yeah. everybody gets to, like, drop their marketing face and just have a a human to human conversation. Speaker 0: exactly. yeah. so we decided to do another collab workshop. uh, you've been in the community before and you're i'm excited to have you back. and this time, we're gonna talk about the science of buying. right? so from the buyer's perspective, uh, more so from the seller's perspective, but understanding what's going on in the buyer's head so that we can then, you know, cater to that and then not in a manipulative way, of course, but just like in an empathy kind of way. it's like, oh, okay. i know what's going on in their heads so that i can write the sales page, the emails. so that's kind of like what we're gonna be talking about. so you have looked at this, uh, more deeply and also kind of like the neuroscience and psychology, uh, behind this idea of, well, what's going on in the buyer's head. um, obviously, there's all these tactics out there that are based on neuroscience. i'm pretty sure that's not what you're gonna tell us to do, but, um, yeah, i i'd love to hear your thoughts on all of that. Speaker 1: yeah. well, i you know, you're correct. i don't have seven steps to, you know, manipulate people using their brains because i think that's based on such a false understanding of how humans actually work. and this may sound like a slight digression, but just to give you the understanding of where i'm coming from psychologically with this, a lot of those tactics are based on a school of psychology and understanding of the human, uh, mind called behaviorism. so if you ever thought about, like, bf skinner and pavlov, that's behaviorism. right? it's like, oh, we push the button and that makes the thing happen and then we get the outcome. that works on a small scale with humans in limited conditional circumstances. but what the opposing school of that, which is called humanism, has found is that humans are driven by their will. we each have our free will. we decide things, and that's how we recreate things, and we bring, um, a lot of chaos actually to the sales process because we're human. and you can never just set up the internet atm where it's like, well, i put in input a and i get out output b because there's a human involved and you never know what's gonna happen. Speaker 0: yeah. yeah. i like that. is it actually called humanism? that's that's a term for it. uh, that makes so much sense. yes. so so yeah. what are some of these strategies or or things that you have learned and that you feel like, you know, that feels good rather than, yeah, we're just abusing, uh, neuroscience and using it in in our favor? Speaker 1: right. yeah. it's i've never been a fan of, uh, lab rat tactics. you know? well, it's, oh, let's, like, poke them and see what happens. that just doesn't feel good to me, and it's also not really effective. so, um, the main things that i remind people when i'm teaching this are that you don't have to be a mind reader to understand what someone's going through in a sales process because you're a person too. we all kind of go through the same phases, which is i have a problem. maybe i realize that. maybe i don't realize it. maybe i don't even know what the problem is, but i'm like, uh, like, just i'm in discomfort or, like, something's not working. i need to get somewhere else than where i am now. then we tend to go through a period of exploration. right? what do i actually want? do i know? i don't know. maybe i could find out. i'll try this thing. i'll try that thing. and then finally, we find something where we're like, okay. i'm pretty sure that's gonna be the thing or it's at least worth a try. should i do it? and then we go through this period of having to convince ourselves. mhmm. and that's where the opportunity is with sales pages and, um, lesser nurture campaigns. those come a little bit before. but people usually focus on that, like, oh, do i buy it or do i not area when they come to sales pages and the whole conversation is a huge part of it. Speaker 0: i like that. the conversation is a huge part of it. so, essentially, what you're saying is, like, the sales page should feel like a conversation addressing these thoughts that go through the buyer's head. right? uh, that's that's that's good. um, so so you talk about this magic equation, uh, for sales. uh, maybe, uh, i know we're gonna go more deeply into it in the workshop, but maybe you could just kind of give us a sneak preview of of what that is. what's the magic equation for sales? Speaker 1: oh, i was so excited when i finally was able to articulate this. so for a sale to happen, you have to get the right thing in front of the right person at the right time and in the right way. and if any one of those factors is off, the sale doesn't happen. Speaker 0: and i saw your linkedin post on that, and i was like, yes. that's it. exactly. yeah. go ahead. Speaker 1: why, um, well, that's why people get so i think they take so much, uh, responsibility on themselves with sales, and they try to control these factors that they really can't control because, like, you can't control when someone's going to encounter your thing. you can't control the way in which they encounter it. you can make the best thing you can, and you can understand whoever your ideal person is. like, you've got the most control over those two factors, but you have no control over the other two. and so people get so, like, wrapped up in this idea of, oh, i'm bad at marketing or, oh, i'm bad at sales because i can't control the flow of time. and when you say it like that, it's like, well, of course, that's a bit silly. but so much marketing advice is predicated on, like, well, no, you should just, like, control these things. how, how are you supposed to do that? Speaker 0: yeah. yeah. it's so good. and it reminds me of, um, something i talk about in the selling, like we're human book. i, uh, i think i make the point of, uh, the, the, the idea that more sales calls does not equal more sales necessarily. because if your, like, intake form, for example, is not clear or your marketing is not good, then you can talk to tons of people. but if they're not at the right point in time, like the point you're making, well, then you're basically just i guess you're telling yourself i'm busy. i'm selling. you know? but then you're gonna be disappointed because you're not making the sales because people are just not at that readiness point to to actually buy. um, i feel there's a lot of pressure to, you know, do all these sales calls and then and then obviously they become pushy because you feel like, oh my god, i'm so exhausted after 10 sales calls and nobody buys. and then you try to, you know, get more and more pushy. uh, but but yeah. it's the opposite of of humane selling for sure. Speaker 1: yeah. that equation. right? that's not humane to you as the person who's doing selling either. and, like, i really love this metaphor of the conversation because if there's a conversation where one person is just monologuing at you, like, what do you naturally physically do? you know, when that guy in the bar comes up to you, you're like, um. but and that's what happens with marketing. but if you can turn this around and it becomes a conversation, you can create situations in which you don't have to to encounter people at, like, their right moment because they already know you. and so when the moment's right, they come and find you. they lean in towards you, and you don't have to try and stress out about being everywhere all the time because, you know, they know how to get to you. Speaker 0: mhmm. yeah. yeah. it it reminds me of another post i just saw, uh, on linkedin about, you know, the right now, things are kinda tough with the economy the way it is and talk about recession. and so people get, you know, they they have the scarcity mindset and every
