(Time to read this Blog article is about 60 seconds)
Many businesses, large and small, make the mistake of believing that their customers have only one ‘currency’ in their lives, which is money, so they can think of only one way to compete, which is to cut their price. ‘Price’ is very important, but when you realize that most people actually have four ‘currencies’ in their lives, there are hundreds of ways to compete that aren’t cutting your price.
What exactly is a ‘currency’? A ‘currency’ is anything of value to your customers that they don’t have enough of. And on this planet there are four things that we don’t have enough of…four ‘currencies’. They are…
- Money,
- Time,
- Feeling Safe (physically & emotionally safe)…and,
- Feeling Special.
People are prepared to spend more money to save time, or to feel more safe, or more special. For example, many busy households pay more money to purchase prepared meals or order take-out in order to save the time involved in home cooking.
If we have an alarm system at home, we’ve spent a lot of money to feel more safe.
A $24,000 car will pretty much get us everywhere we want to go safely, comfortably and on time. But perhaps it doesn’t make us feel special enough.
If we have beautiful crown moldings throughout the house, we’ve paid big bucks for what? Crown moldings have no functional value, they offer no increased safety…but they do look beautiful and we feel more special.
When we’re choosing an investment advisor or travel agent we’re looking for someone who will deliver all four ‘currencies’. Someone who will make us (or save us) money, who will save us time and make us feel both safe and special.
Think about the car you drive, where you live, all of your possessions, where you shop and the relationships that you’ve entered into and identify exactly what mix of Money, Time, Feeling Safe and Feeling Special influenced your decisions. Then, think about how you can use this insight of the ‘4 Currencies’ to build compelling, value-added relationships with your target customers. How can you save them (or make them) money, save them time, and make them feel more physically or emotionally safe…and more special?
Sit down for one hour with some of the best minds and hearts in your business, give them this blog to read and then ask for their ideas on how to use the ‘4 currencies’ to add more value, clearly differentiate your business, build relationships and improve your bottom line. There are hundreds of powerful possibilities.
