(Time to read this Blog is about 3 1/2 minutes)

Before we get to the main topic, here are a few things to get you thinking or smiling:

1. My Biz Quote of the week:
   “You can’t build an extraordinary business by hiring ordinary people.”
   …Donald Cooper.
    
2. Quick Biz Tip: (An improvement to my ‘Quick Biz Tip’ from Jan 15).
   Two simple questions to ask job candidates that will tell you a lot about them.
    
   Back on Jan, 15, I gave you one question to ask job candidates that will tell you a lot about them,  But, I’ve just realized that there are actually 2 simple questions that you should ask.  Here they are: 
    
   Question #1:  “Tell me about yourself.”
   Question #2:  “What attracted you to this job?”
    
   These 2 simple questions will start a conversation that will tell you a lot about them, including how they see themselves, what’s important to them, their understanding of and suitability for the job, how much homework they’ve done about your business, their passion, ambition motivation and life priorities, whether they’ll be a good fit for your culture and their life and career strategy…or their complete lack of any of these.
    
3. Fun fact.  The Canadian live music industry generates 100,000 jobs and contributes over $11 billion to the economy each year.
    
4. What can you do to reduce, reuse and recycle?   Specially designed ‘waterless’ urinals in the men’s washrooms in the famous Marks & Spencer Department Store in London, UK save 100,000 litres of water per urinal, per year.
    
   So, what can you do to reduce, reuse and recycle in your business?  Who’s in charge of this important initiative?
    
5. A shameless plug!  If your company, Industry Association or local Chamber of Commerce has a Business Conference this year that will benefit from my world-class, bottom-line management and marketing insights and ‘straight talk’ delivery style, perhaps we should chat.
    
   I’ve delivered about 3,000 Conference Sessions in over 40 industries around the world…and I’m starting to get the hang of it.  I do the homework to customize, and I stay for the entire event because some of the most important value is always delivered off-stage in quiet and confidential conversations.  I’m easy to find at donald@donaldcooper.com.

Now, to this week’s important topic:

The simple truth about why people buy:

You could fill a large room with all the books ever written on the subject of why people buy, why they don’t buy and what they really want when they do buy. Most of these books over-complicate the subject. The simple truth is that people buy ‘stuff’ (including whatever you sell), in every part of their business and their personal lives for one reason only…to make some of their stress go away.

It is the stress in people’s lives and their assumptions about what will make some of that stress go away that determines what and where they buy.

That’s it!  Whatever product, service or experience you sell, people buy your ‘stuff’ to reduce some physical or emotional stress in their lives.  Therefore, our real job and, in fact, our only value is to be a stress remover. People give us money and we make some of their stress go away. That’s the deal.

Here’s a quick reality check from your own life experience. When’s the last time, when you were being a customer, that the business to whom you gave some of your hard-earned money actually gave you more stress than you had before you gave them your money?  Did you think that this was compelling value?  Could you hardly wait to give them more of your money so that they could give you more of their stress?  No, this is ‘goofy’…and ‘goofy is a technical term for ‘stupid’!

So, what is ‘stress’ anyway?  ‘Stress’ is any physical or emotional factor that causes that causes tension, pressure or pain. 

1. Examples of physical stress are disease, injury, hunger, exhaustion and pain.
2. Emotional stresses include confusion, fear or anxiety about money, health, safety, security, technology, time, status, appearance, failure or relationships.

In our western society, generally, people have less physical stress than ever before…but more emotional stress.

When it comes to buying what you sell, stress is a ‘pull – push’ phenomenon. There are stresses in people’s lives or business that pull or attract them to buying what you sell…and then there are also stresses that might prevent them from buying what you sell, or from buying it specifically from you. 

To understand your customers and your business in a whole new way, here’s a valuable little exercise that’s well worth doing.  Sit down for one hour with a small group of your brightest and most caring people. Think and feel like a customer and answer these three questions…

1. What are the physical and emotional stresses in our target customers’ lives that attract them to buy what we sell?
2. What physical or emotional stresses might be preventing them from buying what we sell, or from buying it specifically from us?
3. What stresses do we create for our prospects or customers that could prevent them from doing business with us…or doing business with us again?

Once you understand what stresses are ‘attracting’ or ‘preventing’ your target customers, get creative.  How can you create and deliver more compelling value and reinvent your customer experience to become the clear ‘wise choice’ for your target customers?  Then, how can you rethink your marketing to creatively emphasize the stresses that attract people to what you sell and how you’ll make that stress go away.  And how can you boldly eliminate the stress ‘preventors’ that could be keeping them from buying what you sell…or buying it specifically from you? 

Here’s a real-life example to show you how powerful this process can be.  One of our clients, a very successful Travel Agency, addressed the three questions above and came up with hundreds of insights, one of which was that ‘fear of flying’ could be a stress that’s preventing some people from becoming customers of their travel agency.  One of his staff came up with the idea of offering a seminar on this subject with the help of a local psychologist.  They promoted the event with the help of local radio, TV and newspapers.  It attracted many new clients; they now offer the course twice each year …and the media coverage has helped make them ‘famous’ in their community!

So, how will you use this simple truth about why people buy, why they don’t buy…and what they want when they do buy, to improve your value proposition, your customer experience and your marketing effectiveness to increase sales and profitability?  If you need help with this, I’m easy to find at donald@donaldcooper.com

That’s it for this week…

Live brilliantly and be kind to each other!       

Donald Cooper 

Donald Cooper speaks and coaches internationally on management, marketing, and profitability.  He can be reached by email at donald@donaldcooper.com in Toronto, Canada.