People Yearn. Are You Fulfilling Their Desires Better Than Competitors? -- Small Businesses Discussion Forum

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Subject: People Yearn. Are You Fulfilling Their Desires Better Than Competitors?

Author:
Dennis S. Vogel

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Date Posted: 15:41:28 06/27/23 Tue

When people confront simultaneous issues, cognitive labor becomes mental juggling & hoping to escape. Clarify customers' thinking.

Customer integration helps people settle important issues & tame others, so people progress from expecting relief to experiencing peace. Differentiate your store with advantage offers of ability instead of only coping.

Discounters' offers might bring hope. You should increase functional hope so customers confidently create plus maintain advantages.

Until automobiles provided transportation plus protection from weather & dust, people tolerated saddled horses, buggies, wagons & stagecoaches. Some discomfort & inconveniences were accepted as normal plus results were good enough.

Offers aren't compelling unless they significantly decrease some discomfort & inconveniences &/or provide enough comfort & conveniences to offset negatives.

Before ignition systems & starters, drivers used cranks to start engines despite hassles & injuries. Early cars were hazardous & many people rejected undependable, newfangled horse-less carriages priced for a few hundred dollars.

People thought mostly of negatives until manufacturers offered more advantages compared to disadvantages of horses. As sales increased, product quality improved, so advantages increased & disadvantages decreased.

Now vehicle owners disregard horses as primary transportation & compare automobile models. People keep vehicles until disadvantages outweigh advantages plus replacements restore lost advantages &/or bring new advantages.

Proposed design changes didn't make sense to early manufacturers &/or consumers until somebody developed ideas into insightful information. Features weren't desirable to consumers who didn't perceive enough benefits to offset hassles of changing habits.

Nonmonetary switching costs include transitions between alternative products & suppliers. Assure customers as they master new processes, switching advantages outweigh switching costs. New products & methods aren't perfect but older, less beneficial products & previous methods/habits are less attractive.

Reduce switching costs with insightful information to increase benefits & decrease frustrations.

Value explanations should focus on people's feelings.
Example: ‘Though (product) seems strange, as you master these new methods, you'll create better benefits. Different things are necessary to establish best practices & gain superior benefits. When you learn (methods), you'll have the (product) advantages to create (benefits) faster & easier. The short-term uncertainty will be like learning other skills you use to achieve long-term progress.’

Many ideas seem strange until somebody explains value & people accept wisdom of value, which establishes social proof & brings wider product adoption. Wise value sets patterns like: ‘People in Wisconsin use (products) with (methods) to create (benefits). Since cities have different conditions & requirements, (Store) is dedicated to helping individuals achieve fully advantageous goals.’

People often want to get-ahead but don't automatically link products & techniques with progress. Help people redefine progress in contexts of their lives & goals.

‘Product-X $36’ doesn't influence how people compare their conditions to product benefits. Challenge common perceptions while confirming individual's perceptions of product benefits plus how you add customized value.

Offer Example: ‘If you think (product) isn't worth $23 at discount stores, you're right! Product reviews & friends' complaints justify your disinterest in products made for cheap price points instead of optimized experiences. When discounters dictate prices, manufacturers use thinner materials & cheaper labor without environmental concerns. At (Store), (brand) is worth $53 because high-quality (feature) is designed for (benefit) plus with (Store) consultation, you'll gain (advantage) customized for your goal.'

Do Offers Exist If People Aren't Aware?

Consumers seem to consciously/subconsciously assume problems indicate solutions don't exist because "If somebody invented anything better, I'd know because people would be using it." Until people receive compelling offers, problems are tolerated or situations are avoided.

To reduce stress plus save time, 1) people might ignore seemingly minor problems instead of investigate solutions; or 2) rush through discount store purchases without optimally planning projects.

People, who settle for inadequacy, respond to discount store ads & expect low prices. If you can't accommodate low prices, why advertise like discounters? If you offer better value, use compelling advertising to explain that quality.
Help people create functional hope by preparing for problems.

As you learn about people & products, which scenarios could fit people’s needs & desires?
Examples: Would protective problem mitigation be practical, if customers can’t afford time, energy &/or money for full projects? Can some products & techniques prevent more damage by stopping or avoiding threats until customers can do full projects? Investigate if customers do WX to delay YZ, could they mitigate (threat), avoid (damage) & fix (problem) later?

Since June 2022 without human stereotypes, we've extended Marshall Goldsmith’s bear salmon analogy about avoiding success delusion.

Analogy: Salmon seem pressured to spawn when bears are pressured to pig-out for hibernation preparation. Otherwise, bears might be satiated with one fish if hunger & opportunity coincide. Hibernation preparation requires active searching instead of waiting for opportunities.

Bears often forage for whatever's available (honey, bugs & fruit) like discount store customers foraging for cheap stuff. Bears go for high-quality food from rivers to prepare for winter. Bears sense changes & prioritize other value accordingly.

Humans should be guided to notice changes & how to recognize value plus prioritize offers.

Whether goals are survival or thriving, determine which products & techniques achieve customers' goals. Explain how offers match consumers' needs & desires plus enhance current abilities & resources. What increases necessary abilities & resources so they're optimally available on-time?

Salmon & bears want to survive to fulfill goals & approach rivers differently with different abilities. We don't know exact reasons for some of their choices, but we see results.

Compare case study results to help customers refine perceptions plus cause & effect theories into reasons. When reasons are determined, causes & effects can be located, so 'HERE' & 'THERE' options can be evaluated based on moving toward or away from causes & effects.

Mentally & physically, customers are 'HERE'. Help them define why 'HERE' isn't fulfilling plus define why 'THERE' options can be better.

Salmon go ‘THERE’ where rocks might be constant obstacles, logs can be more numerous after floods & bears are more ravenous before winter.

If salmon could work together & reschedule spawning, they might avoid some obstacles & threats. Some obstacles could aid or hinder bears & salmon if they'd determine how to increase/adapt the aid & decrease hindrances.

Without examining conditions & resources, people easily assume similar adequacy of products in the same category. People also assume information & methods apply to cheap products. Your specialty should include tracking conditions & products plus finding & offering insightful information applied to specific products.

Salmon react impulsively & can't prepare for unknown or forgotten problems or even typical land-based predators & obstacles. Fish don't have updated criteria for evaluating threats or best practices for overcoming obstacles without increasing risks.

Whether actions fulfill necessities or felt-needs, it's easier to plan familiar steps than predict potential problems or combinations. If salmon will be vulnerable swimming in shallow water &/or leaping over obstacles, should preparation for predatory birds or bears be prioritized?

Insightful information aids predictions, preparation & prioritization, so advantage offers are possible.

Are Predictions Based on Knowledge, Outdated Memories or Superstition?

After people have "Been There, Done That", they might misinterpret what happened &/or misremember their actions.

Ask customers for case studies revealing what barely worked or could've failed without adjustments for changed conditions.
Example: 'It seemed like the same problem as before. If I hadn't notice (symptoms), I would've tried fixing the wrong problem. I had a consultation at (Store) & we diagnosed the current problem. I have the (Store) advantage because we planned the project & I bought (products). Each step is right, so I'm confident about long-term success. I’m not relying on luck, I’m producing predictable advantages.'

Consumers' predictions might not fit your offers.
Example: If novice gardeners expect a drought & can't afford irrigation equipment, they'd reject watermelon seedlings.

Customers' testimonials or authoritative endorsements could be more persuasive by including relevant tips for: 1) preventing &/or solving problems; 2) creating & maintaining advantages.

Consumers might have one chance for effective purchases to prevent problems. Offers should incorporate assurances like endorsements & testimonials including before-&-after stories to explain why your advantage offers are the most effective, efficient products & actions.

You could include reports of those who wish they would've prevented problems. Did bad luck come from bad products, information &/or techniques?

Explain how the good in your offer reduces current bad luck effects & prevents bad luck causes.

If long-term benefits come from good luck, compare those with effectiveness & efficiency of using updated equipment.
Negative changes can cause gradual failure & in effect, corrode lucky results. "Good luck" can be created & maintained with optimal methods to use optimal products.

Lucky people like believing "success" comes from their efforts instead of despite using outdated products. You're more apt to convince them with direct offers plus by building momentum through cumulative customer successes.

If you focus on lucky people &/or those depending on luck, you need better offer descriptions or adjust niches instead of giving up.

Don't let bad luck ruin your confidence. Create good luck with customer integration.

Thank you for using my blog. Please let me know if I should clarify anything.
Copyright 2023 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
When you compete against big businesses with big budgets you need powerful marketing strategies & tactics. You'll find them here-
https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/
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