Many business professionals have been exposed to “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.”
Abraham Maslow, in his 1943 paper, “A Theory of Human Motivation” in “Psychological Review,” proposed his hierarchy of needs.
These needs were constructed as a pyramid with the foundation being psychological needs consisting of food, shelter and clothing. Next was safety needs (physical).
The social needs of belonging, friendship and relationships followed. Close to the top of the pyramid was self-esteem needs as in feeling good about one’s self to prestige and a sense of accomplishment. At the top of the pyramid is self-actualization needs, where an individual can achieve his or her full potential as well as morality, creativity and problem solving.
The reason for this brief education of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is because some contemporary business researchers from Bain & Company recently published an article in the Harvard Business Review and their research constructed a Hierarchy of Value for B2B firms.
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Within this Hierarchy of Value, Eric Almquist, Jane Cleghorn and Lori Sherer placed 40 distinct kinds of value within B2B offerings. This Pyramid of Value has five different levels and moves the buying decision from the foundational level to the top level. Since value is perception by the buyer, contrary to popular sales training or sales experts, no seller can create value. What small business salespeople can do is to connect to as many of these value drivers as possible.
Depending upon industry, some categories may intrinsically have a greater influence over the buying decision. This is why having strong customer data remains even more essential in today’s highly competitive business world.
To secure this data the authors of this article suggested five steps that have been articulated by many other researchers:
1. Establish a benchmark by surveying your customers regarding your products and services. Had your small business engaged in a thorough and comprehensive strategic plan this data would have been easily available.
2. Dig a little deeper by having one on one customer conversations. Some firms use the Net Promoter Score or “how likely would you be to recommend your business.” Yet this score separates a thought from an action. Many people may think to recommend a business, but how many people actually take action to make that recommendation?
3. Brainstorm with your employees on ways to increase value for your customers. After these ideas are determined, then dig deeper to prioritize them.
4. Take action by refining, testing and learning specific to the ideas generated from the third step.
5. Compare new value enhancements to original research. Here is where speed is essential given your competitors may also be addressing the same “value” motivators for buying their solutions (products or services).
Yes, value is unique to each buyer be it a B2B or B2C. How your small business determines that value was just made somewhat easier through this Hierarchy of Value. Remember people still buy on emotion justified by logic. This hierarchy of needs shows the logic and the emotions are not part of this hierarchy.
Leanne Hoagland-Smith is an author, speaker and executive coach. Her weekly column explores issues that impact the bottom line of firms with fewer than 100 employees. She can be reached at 219-508-2859.