Successful Marketing with Maslow

Autor: Daiv
When Abraham Maslow conceived his Hierarchy of Needs in 1943, he couldn't possibly have known that it would be one of the most influential advances in the field of human behavioral study and would remain so well into the subsequent century.

theory developed by Maslow put forth that the motivation for any action made by any human being is an unfulfilled need. When we have unmet needs, we are motivated to meet them in a specific order. Once the needs on the first level are met, we move on to the needs of the next level, and so on until we reach the top tier.

Physiological requirements are primary concern to a person that keeps him alive. Next is safety needs and then comes social needs. Later in the list is the need for self esteem and last is self-actualization. A student following Maslow's theory will know how this can be adapted in the marketing world. During the attempt to make a sale, it applies not only to the product that is sold; the idea of the product, and the image, but, in the end, the result of the product is also sold. Thus, one or more requirements in the hierarchy may be fulfilled.

Obviously, a marketing campaign will be more successful the more it appeals to the lower levels of unfulfilled need in a person's life. What this means for you, the marketer, is that knowing your audience's needs is key. A product that promises to fulfill an esteem need will be virtually useless to a customer whose safety needs are not yet met.

In order to be successful in any marketing endeavor, the first step is to get a firm grasp on the psychographic motivators to which you will be appealing. Which need on the hierarchy is your product going to fulfill? How will it fulfill this need, and how can you prove to your potential customers that it will effectively fulfill their need?

A more important issue is how you can address the level of need of potential customers you are trying to reach. If a product is requested by a customer, then they are doing your work for you. It is hard, however, to tell what a total stranger wants when you are trying to approach them for the first time.

The best way to overcome this obstacle is simple, and it's one that every marketer is taught from the very beginning of their career: just talk. Talk about sports, the weather, or family life - anything other than the product you are trying to sell. Chatting with your potential customer in a friendly, non-pressured way will allow you to pick up on invaluable clues about their needs.

When you are able to understand the motivations of your potential customers, you approach the ability to meet their needs. After you figure out what motivates them then you can gear your sales pitch towards what will be effective for each customer. As you understand the needs of customers in general you can be more effective in selling to the market in general.

Many management practices today are based on Maslow's theory. His theory can also be useful when it comes to marketing. The most important thing is to be aware of how you can help the customer decide that they need your product.


Source: Free Articles

How to Break through Your Customer’s Doubts

Author: kayemarks

Expert marketers and sales people know that product resistance is often part and parcel of selling your products and services. It may be because of a particular concern on the product that’s preventing your prospective customers to buy from you. Or it may also be that they’re hesitant on how effective it can be to their situation.

Most of the time, your target audience will be able to express it verbally. But when resistance is non-verbal – meaning, your target audience’s face reflects confusion – you just need to read between the lines, and interpret the body language and expression.

While managing your target client’s hesitance to your sales speech, it would indeed be very difficult for you to do that. Nevertheless, experienced marketers would tell you that such reaction is actually a good thing. It means that even with an objection, your target clients are actually considering your product if not for a few concerns they have. These then should be properly addressed in order for you to turn then into buying customers.

Trained sales agents know this. And as a business owner you should too. Most often than not, the concerns brought up by your target audience may not be the actual issue they’re concerned with. In fact, it may just be that they’re not sure of how they should convey what they need to know from your products and services. This then makes it difficult for your target clients to agree to what you are offering. Unless you understand and overcome the issues pertaining to their objection, you as a business owner will never be able to get your target customers to agree to buy your product or avail of your service.

This is what is important when handling customer resistance to your product. Your prospects are simply unwilling to make a commitment to buy from you. This is certainly the hardest part in any selling process. When you ask your prospect to agree to a sale, yet the prospect hesitates, or worse, responds with a resounding ‘no’, you should be able to overcome that. Most successful business owners can vouch that when you are able to rise above the rejections, you’ll more likely to get customers who are not only one-time buyers, but repeat business clients as well.

What you need then is communicating with target clients in order to convince them to consider your prodcuts and services despite the issues. You can do this by requesting a commercial color printing company to produce marketing tools that would best clear up the issues in the client’s minds. It’s all about providing assistance so that your prospect can finally make a decision – which is hopefully to your advantage.

The good news though is that not every customer can resist your offer. There were many times those buyers close a sale even without you convincing them to do so. Since they are convinced that the product is good for them, you don’t even have to introduce or say your sales speech. All you got to do is to point them to the right direction and you’re on your way to being successful in your marketing campaign.


Source: Free Articles