Successful businesses are aware of the wants and needs of their market. Broadly, wants are desired and needs are necessary. The original Maslow’s triangle shows needs at the bottom, eg food, accommodation, safety and then spiritual values at the top. What do people want? As they become wealthier, people tend to move up the triangle. You must fulfil each level before you move to the next.
Maslow’s Triangle for Businesses
You may be familiar with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The link goes to a version that applies what businesses supply to Maslow’s triangle. The idea is once you complete a lower level, the needs kick in from the next. So, it is something like this:
- Functional needs – these are the technical fixes every business needs. Most marketing solutions are at this level.
- Emotional needs – these are elements that enhance life by meeting immediate emotional needs.
- Life changing needs – these are needs that meet aspirations, eg the changes that people need to make as they approach retirement
- Social impact needs – this is about changes in the wider world.
I first encountered Maslow during the 1980s and I remember the story of a nun who, upon seeing the triangle for the first time, commented that it is upside-down. Once you know your social impact needs you need to think in terms of the changes you need to make, then the emotional needs you need and finally your technical requirements.
It’s easy to focus on the functional and fail to ask why we need to function. Too many businesses, community and political projects are efficient but not effective. Motoring down the wrong road at speed is not about making meaningful progress.
What Does Your Market Need?
- Think about your market and decide which level they primarily work at? For example, a financial adviser works mainly with people at the life changing level.
- Now think about your business. What level do you major at? Many marketers offer technical fixes at level 1 and yet their market may need adaptive fixes at level 3.
- If your business straddles more than one level or needs to, what are the implications for your marketing?
How to Help People Work out What They Want
If your business majors at the functional end, you sell to anyone who rolls up and says they need your product or service. Perhaps it is not in your interest to find out whether they need it. That is unless at a later date they decide it does not work and complain.
A lot of online marketing depends on people who do not know what they need, opting for solutions that may be relevant but are not necessary.
Businesses that operate at higher levels are more likely to work out what their customers need. The customer may not be ready for this but a skilled business owner guides them. Your challenge is to work out where you are and how crucial to long-term success the way you package your offer is.
Cheaper products are not too crucial. If someone finds it is not right for them, they can bear the loss. Expensive products need more care in sales and after-care. You want customers who use it successfully because your reputation is important.
Many businesses have a mixture of low-end and high-end products and use this business structure to build long-term relationships with their customers.
Following this eighth post to encourage coaches to reflect on relational marketing, take this opportunity to sign up below. You get a weekly round-up of my posts and a pdf about how to make sure you are charging what your business is worth. Most weeks you receive an email with helpful news or pointers to how you can tackle these questions.
