Creating and satisfying motivated customers

- Understanding consumer behavior starts with understanding motivation. Consumers only buy things when they're motivated. If you know what drives people to buy products and services, you can make sure yours have the right features and benefits people want. But it's more than that, if you also understand how that motivation to buy develops inside a person, you can communicate more effectively what your products and services do. You'll understand when people are most likely to buy and that helps you market to them more effectively. First, let's understand the difference between needs and wants. Needs are a perceived lack of something and they're the basis of all motivation. If you become motivated enough, then you want it. Wants are the specific satisfiers to fill that gap. In other words, when consumers sense a gap in something, they first ask themselves (laughs) do I need this? If so, they move from needing it to wanting it, they're motivated. So how do you motivate a consumer? Well, you have to show consumers how your products and services connect the things consumers really want. Walk with me through a series of questions, at each stage of questioning, I want you to imagine you're climbing a ladder, one rung at a time, for each question. Here we go. When you go to the hardware store to buy a drill bit, what are you actually buying? You're not buying a drill bit, you're buying a hole. Now, let's think a bit deeper and ask that question again. You're not really buying a hole made by the drill bit, so what are you actually buying? The answer? You're buying something to put into that hole, perhaps a picture, correct. Well, there's one more rung of the ladder. You're not really buying the ability to hang a picture on that thing you're putting into the hole created by the drill bit you bought at the hardware store. So what are you actually buying? The answer, you're buying the proud memories of you pictured on stage, getting a prestigious award in front of your coworkers. (laughs) All this time, and you thought you were buying a simple drill bit, when in fact, you were buying a sense of achievement. That's really what motivated you to buy that drill bit. Great marketing companies motivate consumers. Coca-Cola shows a group of friends at the beach, drinking a Coke. Are they selling a beverage? No, they're selling the happiness that comes from friendships. When LinkedIn shows a commercial on TV, they don't sell the website application, they sell the sense of opportunity and achievement that comes from making new connections. So look at your products and services and ask yourself, what do consumers really value from them? Believe me, you're not selling drill bits. Great marketers motivate by activating needs and directing wants.