Successes Are Effects of Planned Causes. Superstition Only Feels Like Success.

Advantage offers explain consumers’ problems & opportunities to show how options fit. Retailers’ empathetic understanding establishes/reestablishes rapport, so consumers confidently enter stores.

Orientations create familiarity, so people comfortably buy project kits. Cheap products don't adequately help people adjust to uncomfortable changes from circumstantial causes or inadequate projects. To overcome negatives, people might reprioritize & forgo other benefits. Example: Storage space accommodates one object. Bigger sheds or storage rentals cost money customers could've invested in better equipment.

Consumers feel successful when saving money until cheap stuff fails to establish advantages. Top-quality, prioritized projects create stress-relieving advantages.

Orientation relates to positioning. To position your store in niche members’ lives, offer necessities for reaching & maximizing life positions. To reach, maintain & maximize advantageous positions, customers must integrate with specialty retailers. You & customers cooperate to preserve their advantages by maintaining your store’s position in their lives.

Nobody has perfect perspectives, so use consultations to orient customers with knowledge of their current & desired circumstances. With agreement about their locations & destinations, help customers maximize planning & product selections.

Customer integration retailers help customers identify positive & negative expectations. People might discard warnings if troubles don't emerge as expected.

Orientations/consultations explore expectations, establish criteria & preparations for emerging negatives &/or unfulfilled/late positives. People need evidence to discern if positives & remedies fade slowly or problems emerge gradually.

Help Customers Prioritize Needs & Abilities.

People accept Stephen Covey’s guidance about Qudarant-1 & Qudarant-2 priorities. Many things seem urgent & important. If everything seems equally prioritized, nothing is prioritized.

Which problems might cause more stress, damage, &/or interference with opportunities? Because of overwhelming stress, people might not notice/ignore symptoms or causes.

Organized, aware people highly prioritize problems & learn symptoms. Without enough money, people can feel preliminary relief by planning repairs. Preparation & incremental steps bring some comfort if people can't afford full projects.

Though reprioritization could feel disruptive, explain why customers should reconsider budgets & plans to solve problems sooner.

Example: Repairing Problem-A might be a better priority if Problem-B can worsen, but customers don’t have adequate skills or budgets. Orientations/consultations can reveal whether customers should: 1) invest time to learn skills for using unfamiliar products to remedy Problem-B; or 2) remedy Problem-A sooner with familiar skills & products.

Review urgency & importance criteria if potentially higher priorities or low budgets cause postponements. People delay until they’re certain about the best prioritizations.

Should prioritization be based on potential plan disruptions; comfort; readiness; &/or other issues?

People reject radical changes, but tolerate permanent issues to avoid bigger hassles & expenses. Understand niche members' tolerances to guide choices.

Stressed people might prioritize resisting changes that are unexpected, different than predicted &/or perceived as problems. When people stop opportunities or remedial projects to focus on perceived problems, stresses multiply as prioritization is derailed.

Specialist Retailers’ Consultations Can Guide Reprioritization by Applying Insightful Information.

People might suspect circumstantial changes, but lack definitions for identifying differences.

Analogy: Advantage offers can include clues about trouble like definition updates for security programs. Malware scans could be destructive if programs quarantine all software changes.

Without criteria/definitions, frustrated people unsuccessfully scan for changes that become troubles later.

In similar circumstances, people might disregard/habituate to recognized objects. Caution increases because of perceived threats & perceptions are based on criteria.

People prioritize loss avoidance & remember potential harms & benefits, especially if relevant to priorities. In courtroom shows, you might’ve heard actors/lawyers claiming cross-examination questions are irrelevant to the case. Judges determine relevance somewhat like Reticular Activating Systems engage with, pursue or reject stimuli & subjects.

Irrelevant issues aren’t evidentiary. Make advantages evident, so customers sustain your offers & overrule competitors.

Without guidance, facts, impressions & feelings simultaneously zip through consumers’ minds like this equation: Tools+materials+insights+knowledge+skills=advantages.

It means: Offer context-based insightful knowledge, so customers skillfully use tools & materials to create & preserve advantages. Creating, retaining, regaining &/or combining experiences brings & preserves advantages.

As people & circumstances change, you should guide customers' evaluations for updating experience combinations. These beneficial combinations are goals & specialized insightful knowledge maximizes benefits.

Consumers don't specialize like you, so compellingly describe advantage offers, so niche members realize they need you.

Fatigued Minds Are Overdrawn on Attention.

Paying attention is costly & can engage with or transition among subjects. Attention is limited by low-energy & mental capacity. Swiping left or right is analogous to what minds did for centuries. If option-1 seems tolerable, people want better options without missing-out on known & unknown opportunities.

“Engaged” is like conscious/subconscious minds sustaining attention. Engagement can mean mentally subscribed to retain access to information or other promised/perceived value.

Narratives involve minds by providing & holding details leading to conclusions. When beginnings engage minds, people want conclusions/resolutions. Incomplete stories leave open loops & value seems to be missing. Advantage offers can include opportunities competitors ignore. Desired, unfulfilled opportunities are gaps people want to fill.

Fear-Of-Missing-Out hurts because opportunities are lost. FOMO hurts when missing out seems like personal or social failure.

Offer Example: ‘While you’re earning & paying money, plus trying to cope with information overload, opportunities are passing & problems are progressing. WAIT! Problems are progressing?! Without adequate preventions & solutions, conditions regress & problems progress. You need (Store) consultations to gain insights for using knowledge & skills, so you'll avoid cheap product results. Let’s check causes & effects, so your chosen top-quality products will fit conditions & your necessary skills. Discounters specialize in pushing manufacturers for lower wholesale prices. (Store) specializes in customizing kits, so you’ll learn skills to create & maintain (advantages).’

Cheap products have missing value when discounters push manufacturers for lower wholesale prices (more on that later).

Zig Ziglar & others advised us to use stories to teach memorable lessons. Characters can be like mental handles which made Smokey Bear effective for fire warnings. Make characters as detailed as necessary for meaningful messages. People can engage with characters by adding personal details to perceptions.

Fictional & real bears & fish are often featured in media. When you’re reminded about predatory competitors or natural struggles, remember you need to create success. Don’t wait for customers or success.

Results Are Perceptual & Interpreted. Compare Benefits & Expectations.

While rushing through product selections & tasks, consumers want to believe their efforts are successful.

(Let’s continue our survival analogy where we left in July.)

Piranhas could be tripped up while simultaneously adjusting to environmental & work conditions (if fish could trip). They might be ill-prepared to battle bears, but seemingly escort salmon successfully. Piranhas claimed they scared bears away because fewer bears attacked salmon. Bears suffered digestive injuries without knowing why until authorities warned about sharp-pointed fish bones inflicting internal injuries. Bears stopped eating salmon until dining habits were improved.

In WHAT GOT YOU HERE WON’T GET YOU THERE, Marshall Goldsmith & Mark Reiter wrote “superstitious behavior comes from the mistaken belief that a specific activity that is followed by positive reinforcement is actually the cause of that positive reinforcement. The activity may be functional or not—that is, it may affect someone or something else, or it may be self-contained and pointless—but if something good happens after we do it, then we make a connection and seek to repeat the activity.”

Though superstitions don’t prove causation, superstitious people are sure. Success Delusion is people claiming they caused results without any real influence. How much do discounters profit from consumers assuming they used products effectively because results are as expected? It’s easy to assume perceived effectiveness is long-term, especially when conditions decline gradually.

Few bears appeared while piranhas were there, so they claimed causation.

To avoid paying &/or increase their comfort & confidence, salmon could claim their bones dissuaded bears. Piranhas could demand payment because salmon bones existed for centuries while bears ate salmon.

Bears could satisfy hunger with other food, but starve while hibernating without salmon protein & fatty-acids. While leaving hibernacula early or late, bears could stumble to rivers to drink. If they find somewhat frozen salmon or fry swimming downstream, hunger & memories could make salmon palatable. While eating, bears could think fish-bone problems aren’t as bad as starvation.

Or What?

Retailers don’t want consumers considering alternatives. Since consumers consider alternatives anyway, you should explore their thought processes.

If cynics claim your offers are unnecessary & too expensive, you could challenge them to compare competitors &/or no hope of opportunities & remedies. Explain functional hope from advantage offers of guided product & method selections Say guidance is included in prices.

How much functional hope can consumers maintain as discounters demand lower prices & manufacturers put the same brand names on lower quality products? How low can quality go? It’s worse than shrinkflation (smaller quantities without decreasing material qualities).

What have consumers experienced, observed &/or heard to cause them to stop, start or alter habits? Did they amend behaviors because of changed beliefs or caution? What indicates whether they should continue or adjust?

We’ll continue exploring consumer rationality & irrationality.

Thank you for using my blog. Please let me know if I should clarify anything.

Copyright 2024 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.

When you compete against big businesses with big budgets you need powerful marketing strategies & tactics. You'll find them here- https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/

Customers' Lives Are Stories, Help Customers Write Personal Best Sellers.

AARP The Magazine (June/July 2024) has an illustrated composite case study, "How One Woman Found Happiness in Midlife – and You Can Too" [https://www.aarp.org/home-family/friends-family/info-2024/find-happiness-joy-in-life.html] about yearning for opportunities, problem solutions & preventions.

The print version is "One Woman's Search for Happiness" with the subtitle: "Mary's floundering gives way to flourishing after applying some practical, research-tested midlife interventions." While coping with problems, "Mary" considers pleasure expenditures, investment planning, a medical diagnosis & learns flourishing is a way of being, not a destination.

In WHAT GOT YOU HERE WON’T GET YOU THERE, Marshall Goldsmith wrote about Success Delusion. Goldsmith might figure Mary discovered what got her HERE won't get her THERE. She didn't have success delusion, but wondered what prevented success (arriving THERE). She improves herself & circumstances with guidance.

People continue standard methods that seemingly bring emerging benefits, until 'What the __ HAPPENED?!'

Discounters push manufacturers for cheaper product versions, which people use to repeat previously "successful" actions. Between people's initial perceptions & goal achievements, circumstantial changes can invalid some preparations.

It's like hikers preparing for a light snowfall & getting stuck in a blizzard. During a stormy hike, 5-foot-tall people get less wind resistance than 6-footers, who see over snowdrifts. Various factors affect whether perceived “superior” attributes are functional from start-to-finish.

It’s confusingly frustrating when similar efforts bring different people superior or inferior results.

Mary learned to plan & adjust her life journey for experiences, not destinations. Destinations might be misperceived or unreachable.

David Hochman’s article explains behavior changes are necessary for improving conditions. David wants people to realize help requests are gestures of confidence & strength.

Explain how your guidance decreases customers' vulnerabilities & increases confidence. With fewer/smaller vulnerabilities, customers can refine strengths & fulfill opportunities. Help customers define limitations, then prevent limitations from growing into weaknesses. This assurance helps customers identify & respond to threats.

Help Customers Reach Beyond Separate Benefits By Building Advantages.

Beneficial modules & interdependencies become advantages as people combine products & methods. Advantage offers inspire people to confidently discover & build strengths.

Analogy: Carnival games have big Teddy Bear prizes for skilled winners. Unlucky players might get small consolation prizes. In some games, people win & trade multiple medium-prizes for top-prizes.

Discounters’ customers may feel inadequate when inadequate products fail. Urge people to stop accepting minimal cheap product results as consolation prizes. Results are suboptimal when people don’t know how to: evaluate conditions & resources; plan accordingly; choose products & do methods.

Customize products & methods offers & help customers understand how to fill gaps between HERE & THERE.

Specialist retailers can explore how to increase functionality & coach customers to create & expand functional hope. If project steps or tasks feel difficult, functionally hopeful people reassure themselves while adjusting product choices & techniques.

Since perfection is hard to create & preserve, coach people to create &/or seek progress indicators.

Example: 'After finishing step-1, check how well (result) contributes to (advantage). Emerging results should do/be (unfinished advantage) plus/minus XX% of (finished advantage).' If results seem insufficient, help customers determine if other plans, products &/or methods would improve benefits. After settling for partial advantages, if customers reconsider, could they achieve full advantages later?

Plans, methods & products might bring good, but unneeded results. Establish indicators of whether steps effectively, efficiently increase value, so customers can track real progress & not continue building on mistakes.

Create Personas To Provide Personal Service.

Advantage offers might fit one life aspect, an overlap or transition. People have multiple, daily transitions between aspects & try preserving progress, so certainty makes transitions less stressful. Guide iterative progress & project completion, so customers' minds are settled enough to focus.

The "Mary" persona shows overlapping life aspects. Example: Her medical diagnosis prompted life-choice reevaluations & affected her daughter. They cooperatively enriched their lives.

Customer personas include niche priorities for generating offers fitting priorities &/or settling issues to establish peace. People should feel more peaceful & confident by accepting your compelling advantage offer descriptions. As people purchase from you, they should feel some freedom because you've relieved stress.

Indecisiveness arises from & causes stress. Cooperate with customers to explore needs & desires then compare your offers so decisions are logical & emotionally fulfilling.

In personas, include what customers struggle to finish before bedtime. What keeps them awake? What do they dread as they awake? What causes more stress than before? What doesn't provide as much relief or pleasure as before?

JoHari Window indicates people aren't fully self-aware. Marshall Goldsmith wrote about people's commitments to improve behavior after accepting uncomfortable evaluations.

Subconscious success delusion can include weakness denials & only doing mastered tasks. Without conscious intent, people avoid difficulties because self-improvements & task proficiency require humbling practice. Offer customers resources & criteria for efficacious practice.

Advantage offers decrease difficulties & increase life quality. Promote positives & mitigate negatives by compellingly comparing current/emerging disadvantages with advantage offers. Explain consequences of self-limitations.

Personas reveal current & desired self-perceptions plus social perceptions.

Would customers prefer returning to times/places they felt comfortable or experimenting to achieve progress?

Which personal changes would expedite goal achievements &/or adapting to circumstances? Which circumstantial changes are/have possibly disrupted customers' efforts?

Disruptions can force people to postpone goal achievements when problems worsen without quick action.

Personas include positive & negative traits people don’t recognize or acknowledge. People could self-perceive as always in-command & alert by avoiding contrary indications.

People prefer avoiding stings of accepting negative traits, so consultations reveal how personal negatives & external stings combine into negative effects. Coach customers to do, replace & stop specific actions. Case studies demonstrate products & actions connections.

Develop Personas & Make Advantage Offers Personally Important.

What are niche members’ daily, new & expected problems? What's apt to disrupt opportunities, positive experiences & expectations?

Write personas focused on niche members' thoughts, feelings, biases, desires & needs.

Retailers’ biases are apt to intrude. Product-price list advertisers seemingly think consumers feel compelled to spend. Do you offer Product-X $20 to relieve that “stress”? Or do you offer situational remedies & opportunities?

Big retailers survive by listing familiar product prices at familiar locations. Some biggies fail because they aren't relevant. Personas highlight what's important, so you offer relevant advantages.

Newscasts & conversations reveal serious issues. Which concerns invade customers' lives? Can customers avoid problems or reduce severity? Advantage offers reassure consumers more than Product-X $20.

Offer Example: 'If you buy cheap products because you want bargains, are you reassured by cheapness? While you examine (problem), do you wonder if cheap products are sufficient? After (Store) consultations, you'll invest in advantages & assurance when we check pictures & your descriptions. Let's consider your current resources, including skills, so we'll find the best products & tutorials. Big retailers push cheapness. (Store) specializes in providing maximized advantages, so you'll be reassured. Your life will be more comfortable when you're sure about your chosen options. You'll invest in confidence at (Store).'

You’re Competing for Attention, Interest, Desire & Action (AIDA).

Your messages compete for Attention against internal stress, felt-needs/threats & external priorities. Why should people be Interested in your claims for improving their futures? Which issues do people most Desire to remedy? What makes your remedies high priorities for Action?

Like radio signals in massive static, only the strongest messages breakthrough. Make your offers advantageous enough to breakthrough daily static. Present advantages for specific circumstances instead of pushing products (Product-X $4).

Your messages should express your understanding of niche members' lives & your desire to learn more.

When you learn about local niche members, compare their lives to customers' experiences. Have other niche members partially or totally achieved goals fitting your specialty? What do their results indicate about your & competitors' offers?

Why haven't other niche members bought from you? Do your offers fit in their daily lives & plans? Through daily jungles of distractions, why should people invest limited attention in your offers? Often subjects enter minds by replacing others.

While people are continually distracted, which priority does your offer fulfill? If people struggle to regain previous thoughts, your message is pushed aside unless people perceive differentiated benefits.

Since attention is limited & prioritized, why should people prioritize your offers? Advertising is often a contest of advertisers trying to pry minds open, while consumers perceive vulnerabilities & block perceived manipulation efforts.

Product/price ads attempt to grab money, so people resist. Advantage offers present specialized guidance for choosing & using high-quality products.

To positively influence niche members' choices, explain why your offers are superior to consumers' current experiences & competitors' money grabbing attempts.

Whether people blame themselves, others, conditions or products, each failure adds stress that weighs people down. Urge people to stop carrying that weight.

Failures can bring lessons, but people need encouragement to explore alternatives. Success delusion can be temporarily comforting, but realizing they’ve failed is dispiriting until somebody guides them out of negativity.

Philosophical encouragement might open minds, but people want practical reasons to believe they can achieve real success.

As a specialist retailer, increase customers’ satisfaction by helping with cognitive labor.

Copyright 2024 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.

Your business's profit potential depends on how much value your market niche perceives in what you offer. They won't perceive any value unless they have a reason to think about it. It's why you need effective marketing.

https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/

Create Enough Control to Preempt Customers’ Hesitation.

We’ve covered helping customers gain/regain control with advantage offers.

Case studies demonstrate successful methods for incrementally influencing conditions & easing stress, so customers confidently, precisely focus on details.

People are distracted & lose track of details when priorities & stresses pile-up. If efforts & resources are expended on Priority-1, would people lose Priority-2 limited-time opportunities? Would Priority-3 problems become worse?

People don't like settling for less than their aspirations.

Compare case studies of people who: 1) did & didn’t invest in advantages &/or 2) succeeded because they stopped hesitating. Describe everything customers gain from advantage offers, so do-it-yourselfers don’t resist full-service offers.

Offer Example: ‘Though you're rightfully proud of your skills, are you prepared as challenges of (season) approach. As you repair __, can you fully prepare for (opportunity)? If you run out-of-time, anticipation will become stress. (Contractor) can quickly repair __ while you learn about (opportunity) options & enjoy the anticipation. (Contractor) will help you proudly fulfill priorities plus enjoy (opportunity).'

Ask about customers' impressions before & after projects. Testimonials may express, 'Though others enjoyed (advantage), I hesitated after friends failed with cheap products. (Store) consultations showed success comes from (brand) products & planned projects. I can't bring back lost opportunities. I'm glad I have (advantage) now.'

Customer integration advantage offers & in-store experiences can inspire testimonials like that.

To develop offers, answer these:

After discovering opportunities, why do people advance, hesitate, not try or quit? Without insightful knowledge, consumers might have regrets after misunderstanding circumstances & offers. Advantage offers should clarify problem remedies & opportunity maximizing.

For your niche's circumstances, what makes customers' needs/desires urgent? What about that urgency makes your offers essential? If customers don't have money & time for urgent projects, what's the next best occasion & how does it compare to the best?

Limited-time offers are arbitrary. What makes any expiration date better than another? Why did customers perceive your suggested actions as superior to competitors’ offers? What would inspire customers’ self-confidence & confidence in products?

Uncertainty seems to justify hesitation. Raise assurance enough to make hesitation unnecessary & counterproductive.

Case studies help consumers relate to customers’ stories plus understand your insightful services bring more benefits than competitors' generic results. By comparing advertising & in-store experiences, consumers will recognize product value increases because of your understanding & desire to learn.

Advantage offers convert customers’ wishful thinking into functional hope. Customer integration practices are bridges bringing customers back for more value.

Use Customer Intimacy & Product Leadership to compete with competitors specializing in Operational Excellence/Leadership.

Progress & Stagnation - Which Brings More Risks?

Whether perceptions are accurate or false, what would indicate consumers should wait for information or stop projects? What would consumers gain &/or avoid losing if they wait or stop?

Issues have multiple factors & actions might affect some factors more than others. Consider positive & negative causes & effects. What if "A" happens, but "B" doesn't happen as expected?

Offer Example: ‘Let’s be realistic. People hesitate because they don’t know how to create & preserve (advantage). They don’t want to fail or lose (advantage) after succeeding. (Store) advantage offers include high-quality products chosen for your goals & circumstances so you succeed. You'll learn preventative maintenance specifically for (advantage) & won't lose enjoyment & fulfilling memories. Instead of thinking about risks of losing (advantage), consider what you’ll lose if you never have (advantage). (Store) is dedicated to functional hope, so avoid wishful thinking & we’ll build functionality.’

“Normal” Normally Isn’t.

We're avoiding human stereotypes by anthropomorphizing bears & salmon while continually expanding Marshall Goldsmith’s analogy to avoid success delusion & spawn insights.

As predators, salmon & piranhas have different tastes & abilities. Piranhas may be satisfied if they eat enough bears. If bears stay away, what will piranhas do? Can salmon better defend against or escape from bears or piranhas?

Bears are major threats, but salmon shouldn’t rush into alternatives without considering potential problems then testing effectiveness & efficiency. Though piranhas bring advantageous relief, disadvantages negate advantages.

Since they don’t always survive bear attacks, salmon don't develop self-defense techniques. Piranhas are unfamiliar with local conditions & to salmon. Species differences bring unpredictability.

When salmon react to unexpected effects, their reactions can cause unexpected effects. Though fish seem familiar & salmons’ circumstances are familiar, it’s important to avoid force-fitting facts & biases. Salmon & piranhas might bond based on similarities, but their mission success could be jeopardized by ignored differences.

Case study similarities might be incompatible with goals. Cold, oxygenated fresh & salt water are good for salmon but not piranhas. After meeting salmon in oceans, piranhas had difficulties switching to swimming upstream in rivers.

Salmon described conditions as normal except for bears, so piranhas thought they’d easily adjust to environmental & work conditions.

Their species might not survive if salmon stop spawning because of bear attacks. Salmon leaders could promise followers safety with a slogan: 'Piranhas will swim with us!' Followers might misunderstand & ask, 'Will bears eat piranhas not us?'

Effective offers require clearly understood advantages.

Be Careful What You Wish For!

Outsiders’ observations & experiences affect perceived logic of people's plans. Others might not notice causes or recognize slowly emerging internal & external effects. Learn about niche members, so you can blend objectivity with their subjective perceptions.

Help customers interpret observations & experiences with insightful knowledge. People might assume correlation is causation or concurrent effects have the same cause.

Many bears switched to other “normal” conditions by moving upstream to shallower water to avoid drowning. Some piranhas claimed success when few bears attacked. Salmon retorted, “Bears weren’t expected to attack YOU!”

It’s vital to define success metrics, expectations & impressions (“normal”).

Fish assumed they’re safe until they couldn’t swim & flee in shallow water. Bears learned to decrease their disadvantages & increase salmons’ & piranhas’ disadvantages. Swimming difficulties impeded almost 100% of their plan.

Commit to Goals, not Methods.

Salmon seem committed to spawning without considering alternative times & locations could better fit their requirements.

Help customers recover from mistakes & avoid risks. Encourage openness to input. Determine project irreversibility points when customers can consider stopping to resell kits.

Sales may be final, but resale & rentals open options when conditions make plans unsustainable. Resale values are lower than retail prices, but when customers invest in top-quality products, some value is retained. Discontinue if rental/resale promotions become unprofitable.

Offer Example: 'Plans go astray when people misinterpret information & observations. Customers take responsibility for consequences & consult with (Store) to reinterpret & replan. Don’t reject negative reality. Report triumphs & tribulations, so we can change methods & resource combinations to decrease negatives & increase positives. Ask for information packets from (Store). If you're serious about creating benefits, let's plan positive steps. (Store) has rental tools & used materials for beginners.'

If customers inquire without buying, offer consulting: 'If you're inquiring because of curiosity, I'll supply information packets. When you’re ready to create (benefits), let me know you're ready to plan.'

People should prepare for more, similar & less stressful conditions to ensure they maintain control. Progress isn't permanent without consistent or adjusted efforts.

Which resources should be reserved for future prevention or repairs? How much control do customers need for being & feeling safe? How much control & risk can they afford? How much & what kinds of controls are practical, attainable & sustainable? How much & what kinds of risks are possible, practical &/or tolerable?

Products May Be Low-Priced or Seem Impressive, But Prices or Impressiveness Don't Solve Problems.

Bears decreased attacks when piranhas were present, so hungry piranhas blamed & attacked salmon. The next attempt was piranhas wearing salmon costumes to fool bears. What could go wrong?

That's a discounter question. Instead of real remedies, discounters try imitations.

Piranhas couldn't fight in costumes & were vulnerable because of trouble removing costumes during attacks. Hungry bears eat whichever fish are vulnerable. Hungry, costumed piranhas fooled & bit salmon. Some salmon tried piranha costumes but were attacked by salmon gangs. Bears swarmed in while fish were fighting.

Remote-controlled piranha drones didn't work for thumb-less salmon.

Discounters advertised preprogrammed Piranha Drone-Amatics. Those drones had impressive names & scary appearances, but bears weren't impressed or scared.

Real problems are like that. No matter how cheap discount products are, problems aren't impressed. Problems grow despite or because of cheap products. Low-prices bring instant gratification, so explain why advantage offers establish long-term gratification of functional hope.

Product prices & appearances don't increase functionality. Functional hope brings personal benefits when functionality increases opportunities &/or decreases troubles.

Cheap prices let people keep money, but are they comfortable with incomplete remedies? How much & what kinds of functionality bring hope? It's important to know what went wrong & could fail without full remedies.

When they haven't fully defined problems, consumers don't fully understand necessary functionality. Differentiate your store by explaining how to create functionality in specific circumstances to increase customers’ understanding & functional hope.

As a specialist retailer, increase customers’ satisfaction by helping with cognitive labor.

Thank you for using my blog. Please let me know if I should clarify anything.

Copyright 2024 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.

When you compete against big businesses with big budgets you need powerful marketing strategies & tactics. You'll find them here- https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/

Workplace Communication: Stop Asking “Do You Understand?”

Customer integration requires understanding which is established by observation & interpersonally through communication. You can confirm what you observe & ask customers what they feel you should observe. I’ve written about this in other posts.

Without understanding, functional hope deteriorates. With understanding, you can learn directly from in-store customers what they understand & value, so they’re persuaded by your Advantage Offers.

Here are some paragraphs from a thorough explanation:

Workplace Communication: Stop Asking “Do You Understand?” (and do this instead) by Karin Hurt and David Dye | Jul 15, 2024 https://letsgrowleaders.com/2024/07/15/workplace-communication-check-for-understanding/

Every moment of communication with your team or customer is precious. Especially in hybrid, remote, or fast-moving organizations, you’ve got to make every interaction count. But one of the worst ways to waste these precious moments is by asking, “Do you understand?”

If the person answers “yes”—well, you know nothing more than you did before you asked. They said “yes,” but what does that “yes” actually mean? Maybe they think they understand (and whether they do or not, you don’t know). Or maybe they just told you yes because that’s what they think you expect to hear.

Dennis S. Vogel

Your business's profit potential depends on how much value your market niche perceives in what you offer. They won't perceive any value unless they have a reason to think about it. It's why you need effective marketing.

https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/

Unlocking The Amazing Power Of Belief

If I were a jealous guy, I'd be jealous now!

I just read "Unlocking The Amazing Power Of Belief" by Robert Wheatley

https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/397605/unlocking-the-amazing-power-of-belief.html

Robert even wrote about integration: "An identifiable cohort of consumers exists who share your beliefs and then want to integrate your ideas and products into their own lives. It is their ability to understand and embrace your purpose, your WHY, that causes them to prefer your brand."

Customer Integration is vital for making your business a valuable part of consumers' lives. Without the value of your part, their lives won't be complete. Add functional hope so consumers are assured they'll have necessary functionality to achieve goals. Without functional hope, why would they attempt to add advantages to their lives?

Advantage offers build confidence. If people don't attempt goal fulfillments, why would they need your offers?

If I were jealous, I wouldn't recommend the article for you to read. I definitely recommend it.

Dennis S. Vogel

Your business's profit potential depends on how much value your market niche perceives in what you offer. They won't perceive any value unless they have a reason to think about it. It's why you need effective marketing. https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/

Innovate by Isolating & Combining Compatible Things That Work.

The Product Explanation below is somewhat technical supplementary sales copy. Readers can click internet links for insightful information about problems & superior solutions.

Text link: 'Reasons you specifically need (products) for your current needs & goal achievements.'

Differentiate your store & advantage offers from competitors. Explain how implementation guidance & other services make products advantageous. Guidance helps people recognize symptoms, then prevent or remedy problems. Advantage offers combine insightful information with specialized products for customers to develop valuable implementation plans. By tolerating inadequate products & incompatible information, people could lose potential value of finished projects.

Consumers should learn options for adapting to changes by investing enough time, energy, high-quality products & money in experimenting. Benefits "leak" as conditions change. Evaluations show whether current benefits still fulfill goals & withstand circumstantial forces. Experiments show whether options are better for new challenges.

Guide people's best efforts to keep benefits intact.

Though people replenish resources, some experiential opportunities are lost. Consumers don’t always know how to diagnose leaks & most retailers won’t admit inadequate products become more inadequate. Explain what causes leaks & why your advantage offers have fewer leaks than competitors’ offers.

This is vital to integrate your store into customers’ lives & encourage future advantage upgrading.

Explanations Validate Recommendations.

Offer Example: ‘Are your shoes uncomfortable enough for you to buy a new pair? New shoes are uncomfortable in different ways than old shoes. Old shoes become more uncomfortable plus cause leg pain & disrupt spine alignment. High-quality shoes may be stiff, but become more comfortable & let you recover from problems inflicted by old shoes. At (Store), let’s evaluate how your shoes affect you & which new shoes are more beneficial.’

Product Explanation: This is analogous to various remedies.

Footwear might alter posture. Aching, overheated feet affect people's movements & stances which change positions. Discomfort & pain cause people to stand & move differently than they intended when they bought footwear.

High-quality shoes become more comfortable & compatible with feet. As fluids pool & ligaments stretch, expanding feet affect shoe shapes. Materials should snugly support feet during daily swelling. Materials should slightly stretch while holding feet without pinching.

In cold conditions, people need boots to support feet & ankles with heat & structure.

People need supportive, ventilated boots in warm, humid conditions. Support requires contact. Ventilation requires space.

If Wisconsinites can only afford one boot pair per year, socks are investments in comfort. They supportively fill spaces while holding heat or wicking away sweat.

Protective boots should be supportive for avoiding sprains & flexible for avoiding blisters.

Soft rubber soles provide traction but are more susceptible to friction. Durable hard shoes protect against exterior threats but may be too stiff to cushion people's feet while walking or running.

Customers should compare beneficial protection with potentially negative stiffness.

Since soreness indicates potential injuries, provide comfort with firmly supportive cushioned insoles. While consciously/subconsciously altering stances & movements to offset foot soreness, people strain other anatomical parts with uneven weight &/or unnatural motions.

If cheap shoes bring temporary relief, people may feel successful until cheap shoes set legs unequally & disrupt posture.

People might feel rapid relief, but trouble may return gradually as people unknowingly habituate while tolerated discomfort turns into pain. Weeks after purchases, people might not link trouble with cheap footwear.

Short-term relief products can cause long-term suffering when people lack insightful facts about solutions/preventions & are distracted by other problems. Since inflammation varies, people might misattribute joint problems. Cheap shoes can cause joint misalignments as people stand & injuries occur while people move.

Long-term Satisfaction Requires Top-Quality Products & Cooperation.

Consultations bring agreements about product choices & plans after reviewing good & bad occurrences, then separating what's relevant or irrelevant to personal advantages. Define reliable functionality to determine if goals are achievable.

Product reliability & performance can diminish slowly as satisfaction drifts into habituation.

Cognitive Labor becomes harder as consumers become distracted by new priorities & wishfully hope established benefits will be consistent. Maintainable benefits require functional hope. Reasonable people know satisfaction is transitory, but need comparison criteria for tracking results. Reasonable comparisons require people to accept practical standards.

Most people’s standards are subjective & become unreasonable as frustrations increase. Cheap stuff is manufactured for high profits, not consumers’ benefits. Pricing standards can counteract practical results.

Success delusion: People finally notice product inadequacy too late after failure is unpreventable.

While promoting advantages, raise consumers' awareness of diminishing positives & rising negatives.

Example: 'Are your allergy symptoms increasing? It might be because seasonal allergens increase as your vacuum cleaner loses effectiveness. You might notice: 1) dust leaks out & accumulates on shelves & appliances; 2) mold increases because spores aren't removed; 3) gritty dirt soils & grinds into carpets & furniture.'

If people tolerate worn-out cleaners, your complete, clean comfort offers can include air purifiers. As air purifier filters catch dust & breathing becomes easier, objective & subjective evidence might inspire people to buy more advantages.

Without perfect knowledge, people never know all possible variables. People might seem inflexible after committing all resources to recognized opportunities & problems. If your offer seems plausible, people might waver instead of decide because reallocating resources is another decision. If people reallocate money, are options & plans adjustable to maximize emerging opportunities &/or remedies?

Without criteria, people wouldn't detect opportunities for advancement & problem mitigation.

People assume success is probable because they lack insights to realize gaps aren't filled. People self-congratulate without acknowledging their hardest part is aHEAD, so these numb-skulls indulge in success delusion before finalization.

People Should Be Confident Enough To Plan.

While gaining information & overcoming complications, people's confidence may fluctuate. If confidence only increased, would that indicate people rejected unfavorable information that should be part of adequate planning?

After consultations & purchases, customers might be confident because they forgot or misunderstood things. Encourage customers to ensure clarity by reviewing insightful facts & plans plus asking questions.

People can become victims of “accidents waiting to happen” because conditions consist of various factors changing at different times & rates. Awareness varies with information availability, interpretative insights & mental clarity for processing.

To evaluate planned or potential course changes, people should continuously interpret indications & compare expectations to emerging results.

Project deadlines & other stresses are heavy distractions. People feel relieved when they rush through projects until hindsight reveals mistakes.

General project preparation can be supplemented by specific step preparations. Projects can iterate so each step advances into reality that was unclear during initial planning.

If X Doesn’t Work, Try Y With New Information & Insights.

To avoid potential stereotypes, let's continue expanding Marshall Goldsmith's bear-salmon Success Delusion analogy.

Salmon strategies & tactics are optimized for oceans not rivers, but experiments brought lessons. Self-defense against bears consumed time & energy salmon needed for swimming & spawning. Drone sales reps informed anthropomorphized salmon about unfamiliar threats.

Piranhas, Anti-Predator-X piranha drones & Hedgehog self-defense lessons didn't work well for salmon. Would these attempts have worked if they were SCALED properly? Maybe project scale didn't matter, but more elements can complicate plans.

Aspects could work together by developing compatibilities & removing incompatibilities. Self-defense lessons could be adapted by replacing the Hedgehog technique (curling into a spiky-ball).

Salmon aren't spiky but can bend, then forcefully straighten to tail-slap predators. When bears start biting, salmon can slap bears' vulnerable noses & eyes.

Bears prioritize eating vulnerable prey with few anti-bear defenses. Salmon are resources & unlikely threats.

There’s a valuable lesson in priority focus: Heed threats, identify resources & don’t ignore other priorities. Since salmon can adapt, bears should work together &/or buy anti-drone products.

While trying to subdue slimy, wiggling fish, bears are distracted & vulnerable to Salmon-Matic drones.

Salmon mouths might be too small & weak to adequately bite bear legs, but Salmon-Matics can be optimized for that. Self-defense plus drones can be combined.

Salmon should prepare for dual dangers of bears' teeth & hazardous breath plus maintain preparedness for previous concerns.

Bears avoided piranhas & Anti-Predator-X drones because those didn't look appetizing & are dangerous. While avoiding drones, bears focused on real fish.

If Salmon-Matics look & act like fish, bears might attack them. It'd be better if Salmon-Matics would look more appetizing & vulnerable than fish.

Excess resources are better than insufficiency. Salmon need drones to outnumber predators &/or defeat predators quickly & attack others.

Would it be unjustified if drones proactively attack bears instead of waiting for bear attacks? What if bears were swimming or bathing? It's best to encourage bears to bathe unless drones could be built with olfactory sensors for detecting unwashed bears.

How would drones differentiate bathers & bears hunting for salmon?

It’s important to plan prevention, maintenance & progress. The highest priority could be what’s necessary for attaining or retaining safety.

Bear repellent tactics might delay, not stop attacks. Could attacks be delayed until salmon are less vulnerable? What would make salmon defenses more effective & efficient? What would make bear attacks less effective & efficient?

Thank you for using my blog. Please let me know if I should clarify anything.

Copyright 2024 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.

When you compete against big businesses with big budgets you need powerful marketing strategies & tactics. You'll find them here- https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/

Why Do People Value Cheap Stuff? Are You Offering Better Value?

(NOTE: Jim Collins's Hedgehog Concept was developed for businesses. I'm applying it to personal needs & desires. Customer integration includes integrating your 3 Circles into customers' 3 Circles. Make your offers so advantageous, customers' preparations won't be complete without your help. Since we're sensitive to potential human stereotypes, let's add anthropomorphized hedgehogs as we continue using Marshall Goldsmith's bear-salmon Success Delusion analogy.)

It's vital to differentiate threats & effects of personal attributes.

Analogy: Hedgehogs have one main protection technique that works well against foxes which are furry & have teeth. Hedgehogs offered low-priced self-defense lessons to salmon that could be attacked by furry, toothy bears. When hedgehogs curl up into spiky balls, foxes stop attacking. What could go wrong?!

When you specialize in protection options &/or opportunity maximization, you can outperform competitors. Advantage offers differentiate your store from others by overcoming consumers' value misconceptions.

What are niche members' misconceptions about personal circumstances & abilities to prevent or remedy problems? What do niche members misbelieve/disbelieve about products? Misbelieving can start with misinformation arising from experience misattributions (misplaced blame); observation &/or statement misinterpretations.

Without clarifications, suspicions might grow into biases. Disbelievers reject whatever doesn't fit biases (formed independently or accepted from perceived authorities). Biases can be preferences for disinformation (lies to unjustly sway people). Liars accuse opponents of lying.

Disinformation might feel too comfortable to lose because biases seem to prevent vulnerabilities. Biases bar mental doors by blocking contrary ideas that could replace previous beliefs, causing mental/emotional dissonance.

False beliefs might bring social criticism. Salmon could ridicule each other for accepting or rejecting hedgehog self-defense lessons. But only bear-attack survivors would have the last laugh.

Nudge Customers To Bypass Critics Who Judge.

Misplaced trust can bring failure & future hesitations. People can hope their beliefs are accurate, but functional hope helps people trust themselves to control results.

Seeking & confirming truth might seem cognitively laborious & risky because persuasion & false hopes bring vulnerabilities.

After observing local case studies, people might reject truth until they experience facts & compare benefits with familiar results. Considering prices & risks, what's the smallest offer people can test in their circumstances?

Analogy: Needing fresh asparagus nutrients, people keep buying & planting seeds. Instead of learning about optimal planting, soil tending & harvesting, people pull asparagus instead of cutting. Some asparagus regenerates weakly, so people try other locations. Gardeners can compare results of pulling & cutting. Retailers should offer optimal cutting tools with instructions for full benefits.

Present facts with confirmatory criteria since you can only persuade consumers who believe needs, desires & fulfillment methods are legitimate.

Example: (Fact) emerged in (case-study) when Bob used (product/practice combination) to create (benefit). When you detect (symptoms), test for (cause). It could indicate (effect) is probable. (Diagnostic Kit) includes checklists to guide our consultations for customizing your (repair/prevention kit). Your confidence will help you concentrate on maximizing each step. (Cause) reveals __ is insufficient. Damage percentages determine if you need touch-ups or repairs.

People Want Justifications For Emotional Decisions.

How do you describe effectiveness & efficiency? How do you describe effects of & feelings from fulfillment & nonfulfillment? If you & competitors offer similar products, whose offers include more compelling justifications?

Businesses should position themselves in consumers' minds & lives with statements, actions & branding labels. If your store is positioned in high-prioritized, at-risk life aspects, customer integration is urgent & important as Stephen Covey labeled Quadrant 1. People will be motivated to check your offers for updates & possible last chances for opportunities or remedies.

Many compelling offers are important (Quadrant 2) with moderate urgency to prepare for opportunities or threats.

Retailers often compete by imposing urgency via limited-time offers so consumers load up on products & ignore competitors. Typical advertising urges people to buy NOW.

Explain importance & urgency from niche members' perspectives to avoid perceived exaggeration. Describe reasons for prioritizing actions. Example: 'If you notice nascent symptoms like __, you can prevent (problem) with (kit). Delayed actions could allow (preliminary damage). If you don't prevent severe trouble, you'll need expense repairs.'

If you only compete on prices, you might sell now but people will regret buying when competitors offer lower prices. That regret would be linked to your store. Position your store with advantages customers are grateful for, so relief is linked to you, not competitors.

Businesses can reposition competitors by defining & redefining words & concepts to affect how consumers perceive competitors & compare offers to personal circumstances.

Example: 'According to Source, Manufacturer -A cuts quality & Manufacturer -B uses carcinogenic materials to fulfill Discounter-Z's cheap product requirements. Do these businesses show concern for your well-being or just profits?'

If you don't have certified information, consider what you learn via research & consultations.

Are people often dissatisfied by relying on manufacturers' product specifications & instructions? Do manufacturers & discounters match product versions & instructions to mass-markets or regional consumers' circumstances? Or do discounters & suppliers figure consumers are lucky & should think cheapness is the ultimate value?

Do manufacturers experiment to expand offers or produce only what conveniently fits their Hedgehog Concepts despite consumers' preferences?

Jim Collins's Hedgehog Concept is based on understanding 3 intersecting circles: "what you can be the best in the world at, what you're deeply passionate about, & what best drives your economic or resource engine."

Though consumers don't think about those 3-circles, explain what they represent.

Example: ' While you pursue personal & professional productivity, life role expectations can interfere with each other. (Store) advantage offers include guidance to use top-quality products, so you're assured your (benefit) brings long-term satisfaction. While you focus on other issues, your dedication to your (family/clients) will be demonstrated with lasting value. Since problems can happen while you focus on other issues, you deserve assurance of high-quality products with applicable insightful knowledge.'

While developing products, do manufacturers consider what fits consumers' professional or personal Hedgehog Concepts? When ordering inventory, how much do discounters care about consumers' skills, commitments &/or self-support?

What are consumers dedicated to improving? How well do their abilities & knowledge fit their desired lifestyles?

If high-quality product names are put onto discount versions, do consumers hope for the same convenience, durability & reliability?

Retail specialists should monitor product quality changes because consumers are mostly dedicated to establishing abilities to create benefits. Specialists should interpret product specifications for guiding consumers in shaping personal abilities with insights to maximize product benefits.

Project planning requires Cognitive Labor. If you've been mentally fatigued, you'll recognize why customers need specialists to guide them.

Explain the importance of consistent high-quality to avoid declining benefits. Consumers' extra efforts might delay cheap product failure but leave fewer resources to secure other priorities. Like struggling uphill & coasting down, then being exhausted at the bottom, people might do too much for some responsibilities & have nothing for other efforts.

If unfinished projects seem destined for success, people might coast by finishing with cheap products & expend less effort after finishing the tough, most important tasks.

It could be like salmon rushing upstream to spawn & neglecting eating enough.

Do salmon forget to eat & ignore their declining health? Did they neglect studying river-based food or are those options unappetizing?

Do salmon delude themselves about their strength & endurance? Do they think since they survived half-way without major meals & adequate rest, success is guaranteed? Do they intend to return to oceans after spawning?

If piranhas offer security, salmon might figure they just need to swim as they've done for years. Piranhas should clarify expectations of offers & encourage salmon that observe dangers & are tempted to quit.

Even with piranha escorts, salmon shouldn't neglect responsibilities including preparations.

Piranhas should clarify expectations & responsibilities: 'You should optimize your health, so you can swim quickly away from predators & around obstacles. If we bite bears once, they'll be mad & can still attack. When we start biting, we need to subdue each bear before attacking others. We 3 can only distract 3 bears until they retreat or succumb. If you encounter bears we can't attack, you must be strong enough to resist.'

What are salmons' assumptions? If salmon do what seems natural, do they think their parents did the same? Since they'll probably never meet their parents, does that indicate natural tendencies bring doom?

Some bears would think they'll defeat any fish because they've defeated many. Delusional bears might figure shredded bears were unprepared wimps. How much preparation is necessary for safe fishing? After escaping from piranhas, bears might figure they'll be always successful & berry-eating bears are wimps.

In Marshall Goldsmith's analogy, a bear caught an air-borne fish. If bears' visual-acuity is sufficient, they could differentiate species of leaping or swimming fish. Would bears' cognitive processes differentiate soon enough to reject piranha & catch salmon without wasting eating opportunities?

Lighting changes, moving prey, water-light refraction, excitement, frustration, hunger pains & low energy can disrupt judgment & skills.

Full preparations would acknowledge potential disruptors, even if bears would use nets. If multiple fish are in nets, bears couldn't afford risking piranha encounters. Bears should consider piranhas rely on their teeth to attack & counterattack. What could entice piranha reveal themselves by biting sticks instead of bear paws or snouts?

Thank you for using my blog. Please let me know if I should clarify anything.

Copyright 2024 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.

When you compete against big businesses with big budgets you need powerful marketing strategies & tactics. You'll find them here- https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/ https://thriving-small-businesses.blogspot.com/