Marketing P.A.I.N. - Part 2, What Do People Want?

They want you to help them to make it stop hurting.

Remember Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Human Needs? Maslow described “deficiencies” that cause an individual discomfort when her needs are not being met.

In other words, deprivation causes some degree of pain.

Making that pain stop is the motivation for nearly all purchasing decisions. People buy to lessen the physical or emotional pain; pain of loss, of disappointment, of longing.

The decision to purchase isn't instant. People naturally hope the pain is temporary. They will continue to do things as they’ve always done them, at least at first, because change is painful, too. The second level of Maslow's pyramid is Safety Needs, which include orderliness and predictability.

But when the growing pain of postponing action becomes greater than the pain of change, people will make a purchase decision.

Usually an event brings the new pain to greater focus and finally prompts the sufferer to act. We call this event a trigger.

Triggers occur at every stage of pain.

At each stage some prospective customers actively seek relief. At deeper stages, the triggers become both more predictable and more frequent. And, regardless of the business you're in, there are only four stages of pain your customer can feel.

Stage 1: No Interest, No Need. - The vast majority of the public has no interest in what you sell. (A good reminder that no message can possibly reach “everyone.”)

Stage 2: Initial Awareness. - At this stage, your message should help early stage buyers to understand you can help them, even if they don't have the vocabulary to ask the critical questions.

Stage 3: Sorting Options. - Stage three shoppers are dealing with constant pain, and considering the perceived value of options to make the pain stop hurting. At stage 3, your customer will listen carefully to testimonials of people who have eliminated her exact problem.

Stage 4: Ready to Purchase a Solution. - Stage four shoppers are no longer willing to suffer. They will make a purchase. They'll do it within hours.

These four stages can be used to describe every retailer, every not-for-profit, every service business.

Let's look at a few.

The Stages of Pain for Plumbing.

Stage 1: “Wash your hands.”

Stage 2: “Be sure to turn the knob tightly. It tends to drip.”

Stage 3: “I could buy the washer kit at Wal-Mart. I hope I don't have to replace the whole faucet. Do I have any friends who know anything about plumbing? I wonder what a plumber will charge?”

Stage 4: “You grab the Yellow Pages. I'll get the mop.”

The Stages of Pain for Accounting.

Stage 1: “Put it in the payables pile. I'll get to it.”

Stage 2: “I really need to get organized.”

Stage 3: “Why can't I get the checkbook to balance?”

Stage 4: “The IRS wants me to bring my records.”

The Stages of Pain for Appliance Sales.

Stage 1: “Its in the 'fridge. Help yourself.”

Stage 2: “The milk doesn't seem to stay cold enough anymore.”

Stage 3: “Who's got a good selection of refrigerators?”

Stage 4: “Can you deliver this afternoon?”

The key to effective marketing (critical point).

Most models of effective advertising list getting attention as the first step. Doesn't it stand to reason that your communications will become powerful when your prospect recognizes that you're talking to her?

Match your marketing message to the pain your prospective customer already feels.

But, if people experience a triggering event and are ready to buy at every level of pain, which pain level do your prospective customers feel?

Your customers will go through all four stages, just like everyone else. You choose to address them at the stage which brings you the most profit. It's a value judgment.

Targeting people in the early stages of pain will help them to know of you weeks, months, or even years before they recognize a need for what you sell. The largest number of people will be exposed to your message. This is the concept behind Top-Of-Mind-Awareness and building your “brand.”

But since you're advertising your goods or services for so long before they're needed, you'll have to continue advertising for a longer period of time. That makes it more expensive. Choose early stages if you have the resources to stay the course, and the ultimate ability to handle huge numbers of customers.

Marketing to later stages pays off much more quickly, since the triggers to purchase occur more frequently. The pool of available prospects is much smaller. Effective marketing at later pain stages must be much more specific.

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Chuck McKay is a marketing consultant who works with professional practices and owner operated businesses. Questions about identifying stages of your customer's pain may be directed to ChuckMcKay@ChuckMcKayOnLine.com.

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Marketing P.A.I.N. - Part 1, Relationships

Assume John sells vacuums. He feels he needs to advertise.

Does he...

1) Explain to people why clean floors are important?
2) Explain how vacuums remove dust, allergens, and pollens to keep your family healthier?
3) Announce that his store has vacuums with HEPA filters in stock?
4) Announce a big sale on vacuums this weekend?

At one time or another John will be advised to do each of these things. Is any of them a valid strategy? Truthfully, each can be, but not to the same potential markets, and not at the same time.

As you might imagine, those people looking for a vacuum today would probably respond better to appeal #3 – vacuums with HEPA filters in stock; or perhaps appeal #4 – big sale this weekend announcement.

On the other hand, people who wonder about the effect of pollen on their family's health are probably not yet ready to commit to any purchase.

And no matter which appeal he selects, it will work better against some segments of the potential vacuum cleaner market than against other segments. It logically follows that some appeals will lead to greater profits.

In a series of posts we're going to discuss how to determine which segment of the potential market is most profitable, how to attract their attention, and how to craft a message which appeals to them. Finally, we'll discuss how to choose a medium to deliver your message.

Before we start, let's look at John and Marsha.

Consider John. John has just spent $200 taking Marsha to a very nice restaurant for dinner. Its their first date. John tries to impress Marsha. His shirt is unbuttoned down to the fourth button, so as to better show off the collection of gold chains he wears. Through dinner John tells Marsha all about himself: that he owns his own company, which he expects to take public in a couple of years; that his other car, the Porche, is in the garage again, at his vacation home, in Boca Raton. That a local political party has approached him about running for his state's House of Representatives.

Show of hands, who believes Marsha will accept a second date with John?

Now, let's consider John's company. They just spent $2,000 on an ad which runs in American Idol on the local Fox affiliate. John's Vaccuum ad states, “We’re an end-to-end solution for the wholesale purchase, shipping, warehousing, display, retail advertising, and financing of residential vacuum cleaners.”

Show your hands again. Who believes that Marsha will drop buy John's Vacuums to shop for a vacuum cleaner?

What's the problem with the ad for John's Vacuums?

There are two, actually.

The first problem is that the ad talks about the company. Frankly, customers don't care about your company. They care about what you can do for them. If its so obvious that bragging about yourself is a terrible strategy to build an interpersonal relationship, why do business people insist on doing it to try for a professional relationship with a customer?

Why would you want a relationship with a customer?

Primarily because you don't want to sell one item to one customer one time, and then start all over. You'll make a lot more money with referrals and repeat sales.

The second problem with the John's Vacuum ad is it describes what the company does, from the company's viewpoint. “An end-to-end solution for the wholesale purchase, shipping, warehousing, display, retail advertising, and financing of residential vacuum cleaners,” may be how those people who work for John's Vacuums view their duties, but it's not the way customers describe what they want.

Next time we'll discuss what people want, and why your advertising should address those wants.

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Chuck McKay is a marketing consultant who works with professional practices and owner operated businesses. Questions about building relationships with customers may be directed to ChuckMcKay@ChuckMcKayOnLine.com.

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