Scott Magids, Alan Zorfas and Daniel Leemon tell us that research on motivational values is paying off:
Our research across hundreds of brands in dozens of categories shows that it’s possible to rigorously measure and strategically target the feelings that drive customers’ behavior. We call them “emotional motivators.” They provide a better gauge of customers’ future value to a firm than any other metric, including brand awareness and customer satisfaction, and can be an important new source of growth and profitability.
The article guides you through a detailed process to find out your customers’ motivators, that begins with:
Online surveys can help you quantify the relevance of individual motivators. Are your customers more driven by life in the moment or by future goals? Do they place greater value on social acceptance or on individuality? Don’t assume you know what motivates customers just because you know who they are. Young parents may be motivated by a desire to provide security for their families—or by an urge to escape and have some fun (you will probably find both types in your customer base). And don’t undermine your understanding of customers’ emotions by focusing on how people feel about your brand or how they say it makes them feel. You need to understand their underlying motivations separate from your brand.
Check here the full Harvard Business Review’s article for the full description. What is surprising is this finding:
To increase revenue and market share, many companies focus on turning dissatisfied customers into satisfied ones. However, our analysis shows that moving customers from highly satisfied to fully connected can have three times the return of moving them from unconnected to highly satisfied. And the highest returns we’ve seen have come from focusing on customers who are already fully connected to the category—from maximizing their value and attracting more of them to your brand.
It is analogous to the different strategies used on education:
- In secondary school you have to get a minimum knowledge from all the courses you have. It is frequent that students must focus on the ones for which they are not naturally talented.
- In higher studies, it pays to focus on your strengths, on your best skills, and to improve them until you are really good at them.
It’s not frequent to get youngsters very motivated by the courses they don’t really like, even if they finish the year managing them enough to pass. It is no surprise that it is easier to motivate the second group, and as a result, seems reasonable that the acquired knowledge or skill may be more astonishing on the second group than on the first one. Surprising not have had this intuition and need a research to show it with data.
