First, play this. Then, read on.
You know that saying: “Price, quality, service. Pick any two.”?
We know customers want the best thing, at the best price, delivered better than anyone…all the time. Who wouldn’t say that?
If we keep the conversation at this level, we’re dealing with the rational side of the brain. People shop rationally, but buy emotionally. On the surface, there’s what they say they want. Subconsciously, there’s what they really want.
I like this model of the 6 human needs to get to the underlying drivers of human behaviour. (Thanks, Tony Robbins!)
- Certainty: Certainty gives us the assurance we can avoid pain and gain pleasure. It’s our drive to eliminate risk.
- Uncertainty: We also want variety. Uncertainty is going into the unknown and looking for change.
- Significance: We want to be special, unique, important and needed to feel significant.
- Connection & love: We also want to feel connected to others. This is why we value relationships and friendships so much.
- Growth: Growth is in our DNA. We have a natural drive to make progress.
- Contribution: We feel better when we can give to others or the greater good.
If we can address the internal needs, we’re off to the races.
Many times in a sales conversation, particularly in B2B sales, the customer need for certainty is the greatest driver. Change = risk. The devil you know is way better than the devil you don’t.
To overcome that fear of change, how can you take the fear of risk away? Or, if you know your customer is looking for BIG gains to build reputation and grow career prospects, how can you align your solution with the customer need to feel important (while reducing the risk)?
We can also expand the definition of customer to anyone you hope to influence (like a 19-year-old home from university who seems to think there’s a garbage / laundry / dirty dish fairy in the house). In the case of a charming, inquisitive, super fun teenage home wrecking ball, how can we appeal to his certainty he’ll continue to get to use our cars, or hit ‘buy now’ for all the stuff in the Amazon cart to decorate his room at university?
I have some ideas.
