One of the golden rules of business is that your customers will only care about you if you solve their problem.
It also turns out that their problems are actually representations of deeper and more fundamental needs that every human being has.
(I discovered these needs by following the teachings of Tony Robbins. You can find out more about this by referring to his work).
Nevertheless, this is a powerful model for figuring out what your customers are actually trying solve.
- Certainty: We all like the idea of waking up and knowing that the TV is still there, and that the car and our children are still there.
- Uncertainty: However if we knew everything, we’d be tremendously bored. So we also need adventure.
- Significance: This is the need to feel like we matter. I mean imagine if people ignored everything you do.
- Love & Connection: We are social beings. We love to be loved. And our connections and networks are a key to our survival.
- Growth: This is an important one. We have to constantly make visible progress over time otherwise we lose the drive and motivation.
- Contribution: Like-wise, unless we’re contributing to a cause, church, family or a fraternity that we belong to, we feel like an outsider.
These are the 6 basic human needs. If you think about it carefully, almost all our behaviour is an attempt at fulfilling these needs.
Inadvertently, great businesses survive on fulfilling the needs of their customers.
Therefore, using this model, what are your customers actually buying from you? Are they buying a car (that’s just an example) or are they buying a need to feel significant?
In that case, how can you improve your marketing in order to speak more directly to the needs that your customers are trying to fulfil?
Note: Stop promoting the features of your products and start promoting a solution to the needs that your customers are trying to fulfil.