People remember what feels best or worst; those are peak experiences.
Problems can be negative peaks. Solutions can be more powerful positive peaks.
Successful business owners solve problems & create positive peaks. They focus on solutions more than just selling products & services.
People will return because they want to repeat positive peaks & avoid negative peaks.
Peaks don't have to be summits, just significant issues.
Your advertising should show how you help prevent & solve problems.
These can be simple like possible uses people might not expect. Example: Somebody complains about another broken ice chopper. Ice chopping is done straight up & down. Some ice choppers bend & break if they're used for scraping because it's a different angle. A spade can be better for scraping & removing chopped ice.
Your ads should show ways to produce & expand positive effects.
Check competitors' offers & add value, so your offers are better.
Some people don't like discount stores but they perceive a value in low prices. Though saving money feels good; solutions can feel better & become better memories.
Confirmation Bias In Your Favor
It's vital to get confirmation bias to work in your favor. When you're perceived as a community supporter & value provider, each value increment will confirm people's positive feelings & thoughts.
People will like your offers better than competitors'. If anything negative comes up, it might be disregarded or considered to be an exception.
Memories Last Longer Than Experiences
To avoid problems & negative memories, encourage customers to ask questions before & after they buy. Some manufacturers have tech support or trouble shooting guides. Show customers how to find & use those.
People can have good in-store experiences & be satisfied with product/service results, but still regret purchases later. If a good result doesn't last, the final memory might be bad.
If they find a lower price later, they might regret paying more unless they remember a significant added value. Added value can lead to better results that are worth the prices.
Total satisfaction can depend more on memory than experience. Solving long-term problems can lead to positive memories.
According to Daniel Kahneman ("Thinking, Fast & Slow"), pleasure & pain often are remembered based on peak & end levels. The length of pain or pleasure may be disregarded if the experience changes.
Pain might decrease toward the end, so people remember relief.
People will remember an inconvenience & they'll remember who helped solve a problem.
Satisfaction can be mentally linked to your store, so people want to return.
Advice can make a difference between satisfaction & remorse.
Your information, advice & instructions can lead to satisfactory results, so people are less apt to regret a purchase.
If people bought a product from a discount store without added value, results might be unsatisfactory.
Remorse can happen if a price seems too high compared to the value of results. Added value can improve results that are worth a higher price.
Remembering In-Store Experiences
Some retailers use music, fragrances, colors & pictures to influence moods.
When people are in a good mood, they might accept & remember advice.
Make added value a regular part of your in-store experience.
When people think about your store, they should remember the values you offer. It should be like a word association. When people need solutions, they should remember your store.
People remember a positive difference, even if it seems small; so, offer various things & track what people accept.
Your success can depend on how you affect people's conditions & moods.
General quality of life can be like a tide & moods can be like waves.
Mood troughs can be deep, so crests bring important relief. People have crests when they get relief from problems.
Your store should be mentally linked with crests. If people feel better in your store, they'll have a favorable impression. Crests & peaks tip a scale in your favor when people think about which stores to patronize.
You can help people add peaks & crests by finding what's missing. What do they need?
Fulfilling goals requires a series of steps. You can offer information & products for planning & completing steps. People can return for what they need for each step & future projects.
Increase Knowledge & Decrease Risk
People need knowledge, skills, money, time, work space, tools & materials. By removing these barriers, you can gain advantages over competitors.
You should welcome beginners who might not know how to start.
Even if they can't identify symptoms, they know something is wrong. They have risks if they do something wrong & don't solve problems.
They need help diagnosing problems so they can buy the right solutions.
They need the right knowledge, materials & tools. Your ads should show you're the right source.
Beginners don't know if they'll have a long-term interest or need for tools. If you have a rental or trade-in program, people can try new skills with low risk.
People can return what they won't use again & you can offer used tools.
People can start with low investments & you can profit from selling tools multiple times.
You might be able to start a club or work with an existing club.
If members share expenses with others, you'll have multiple customers who can afford to buy or rent things.
If you have to order & sell materials in big lots, you can encourage members to divide lots into smaller amounts.
People can save time by working with others & learning together. If each person specializes in a skill, people can solve complex problems more quickly. They can specialize in what they learn & buy.
Clubs can provide work shops & hobby space. Example: A remote control plane club has a small air field. Members share knowledge & skills, so beginners can start with little risk.
Product & Information Sources
People might buy from whomever provides valuable information.
Do your ads have enough information for purchase decisions? If people check manufacturers' web sites, they might buy from manufacturers.
Information from manufacturers might not apply directly to people's conditions. You should offer information about using products in local conditions.
If local conditions don't affect how products are used, you need to produce a different kind of value. Help people choose & use products effectively & efficiently for personal conditions.
What can you offer to make products easier to use? What can you provide to prevent problems?
You can offer what people want before, during & after producing specific results. What can you provide to make those results easier? What can you provide to make those results better or last longer?
Which products can be combined to produce different or better results? What's the best way to produce those results? Are there instructions or will you write the instructions?
Tutorials can help people produce good results. You can help people choose tutorials that fit their conditions & help them adapt information.
Any Relief Is Valuable
Though you should offer maximum value, people might expect less. They can return for more after they settle preliminary issues.
In people's minds, current issues often are magnified in importance & urgency. Their thoughts aren't necessarily on what's realistically most important & urgent. It's like a picture focused on an object, other objects seem blurry.
When people are involved in a situation, they might not see the big picture clearly. As an outsider, you might have a wider perspective.
To satisfy them, you might need to solve what's on their minds. You can use your perspective & knowledge to help them get the most value they can afford. Even if they can't afford the best value, they can get some improvement & improve their morale.
People need morale boosts because it's a burden to constantly feel low.
They realize burdens still exist, but they need a mental rest like setting a load down. Even temporary pleasures are good because people get relief when they don't dwell on problems.
Thank you for using my blog. Please let me know if I should clarify anything.
Copyright 2017 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
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