Motivating and InfluencingYour Ideal Customer

Ellen L. Moran, Ph.D.

Wants your product or service Needing doesn’t always = wanting

Has the ability to pay for it Not all who want can pay

Has the authority to purchase it Find out in advance to not waste time

The Ideal Customer

Connect from their point of view not yoursWhat would make your customers buy?

An event?A problem?

A change for them?Why do they need you NOW more than

ever?

What’s My Value?

What makes you unique? Put it in a memorable imageConnect in ways that are different

Attracting Their Attention

A tool for decoding: how an individual is motivated or likely to

behave in a specific context (work, home,

vacation, buying) through the patterns of language he or

she uses in communication 11 open-ended questions specifically

designed to reveal different types of below conscious motivation

Yields information on 36 separate patterns

What is the LAB Profile™

To get someone to go somewhere with you, you need to meet them where they are,

and not just pretend that they are already where you want them to be.

Go to the bus stop where they are waiting and invite them on the bus.

Shelle Rose Charvet

Motivating & Influencing Principle

Discover their value Criteria

What do you want in ……..?

What’s important to you about......?

Why is that important to you?

What don’t you want?

What do they really want?

Use their labels—Don’t paraphrase These are their “hot buttons” Words that cause an emotional reaction Can be positive or negative

“So you want to participate in those events that draw other senior executives and are focused on the kinds of problems many of you share.”

Summarize Criteria & Values

People are triggered to buy because they want…

To move toward achieving a desired goal

To get away from, prevent or solve a problem

Asking “Why is that important to you?” decodes direction

Move in their Direction

Why is that important?

Toward Customers

I’ll achieve my financial goals

It helps me grow the business

Are less responsive to language about problems

Away From Customers

I don’t want to be insecure

I don’t want to fall behind my competitors

Are less responsive or may distrust emphasis on benefits

How many positive benefits and for whom does your service/product provide?

What’s the benefit of that benefit? What are the problems your product/service

can help your clients avoid, solve or get rid of? How are things better if that problem is solved?

If you give suggestions to customers can you specify what it will help them accomplish and prevent?

Thought Experiment

How Your Customers Decide

Internal

Decide on their own by their standards

Want information about which they can make judgments

Are turned off by too much enthusiasm, show of expertise, references to others, etc.

External

Decide by others’ opinions, external standards

Want outside advice or confirmation that it’s the right decision.

Feel uncomfortable without testimonials, statistics, etc.

Decode by asking, “How would you know if we’ve done a good job for you”?

Internal Influence Language: Give data, use the language of suggestion,

indicate they will decideExternal influence Language

Offer advice among possibilities, offer testimonials,

reference statistics, what their competitors are doing

How Your Customers Decide

Customers want it to.…

Give Them Choices

What options do I have to choose what’s best for me

Let me go outside the normal procedure or ways of accessing it

Have multiple applications for where or how I can use it

Tell Them How

Gives me an easy, logical process I can follow

Let’s me know how I can expect it will work if I follow the steps

Gives me one or two best ways to meet my need

The mode they are in determines what they’ll buy

Decode the reason by asking, “Why did you choose to consider this…..?

If they give a list of reasons the mode is Options

If they tell you a story the mode is Procedures

Sometimes it’s both

Which kind do you want?

They have moved into procedures mode—”What’s the next step?”

If they are still in options they are not committed

Use the Influencing Formula Match, match, match, lead!

Your Customer Says “Yes” When

Select your ideal customers Think from their perspective to attract

attention Be different from your competition Ask the questions that reveal their buying

patterns Position your product in their language Match their patterns and guide them through

the buying process

Closing Tips

Other motivational patterns can be important in connecting to your customers

Keeping customers satisfied and loyal over time have specific motivational patterns

Knowing your employees’ patterns helps you motivate them to higher performance in serving your customers.

But wait there’s more…