Articles
What Makes People Tick
Have you ever wondered what makes people tick? I mean, think about it. Why would
a sales clerk carry on a conversation while you’re waiting to be attended to? Why
on earth would the security guard wait until you’ve parked, to then saunter over
and say you’re in a reserved spot? Why would a customer change his mind four times and after you’ve torn up three invoices, go back to his original request? And, why
would your employee come to work late every day and then expect to leave early?
If your business or job depends to some extent on other people, and I can’t think of one that doesn’t, it makes business sense to find out why they do what they do.
Abraham Maslow wrote; "The human being is a wanting animal and rarely reaches a
state of complete satisfaction except for a short time.
As one desire is satisfied,
another pops up to take
its place. When this is satisfied, still another comes into
the foreground and so on. It is a characteristic of human beings throughout their
whole lives that they are practically always desiring something."
If we take this to be true, then the people you interact with, whether they be internal
or external customers always want something; but you already know that. The million-dollar
question then is, do you know what that something is?
Tom Egelhoff, author of
How To Sell A Service Instead of A Product composed
a list of the six most popular things customers look for when they make a purchase,
be it a product or a service:
1.Security: freedom from financial worry.
2. Self-preservation: safety and health for self and family.
3.Convenience: comfort, or a more desirable use of time.
4. Recognition from others: social status, respectability, the
wish to be admired.
5. Self-improvement: spiritual development, hunger for knowledge
or intellectual stimulation.
6. Avoidance of worry: ease of mind, confidence.
When you view your products and services and indeed your organizations in terms
of how well they serve these wants of customers and employees, you can then have
an insight into the whys of the challenges you face. The next step of course would
be to identify what specific wants are not being met and the value placed in the
fulfillment of each.
Invariably when a product remains on the shelf that’s a sign to you, the business
owner, it’s not meeting a customer need and you replace it. In the same vein when
employees are rude and inconsiderate of customers it is invariably a sign to the
customer that you, the business owner, are not meeting their needs. The customer
then replaces you and takes his business elsewhere.
Having the products and services your customers want brings them into your business.
Fulfilling the needs of your employees, allows them to focus on satisfying your
customers and keep them doing business with you.
Lorraine Villaroel is Marketing Manager, Quality Service of IBB Ltd.
Email her at quality@ibbglobal.com
IBB is licensed by Leadership Management International and The Service Quality
Institute for the Caribbean region
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