Advantage Offers Guide Jobs-To-Be-Done & Help Niche Members Avoid Jobs-To-Be-Redone

(Note: I’m not advocating Harlow’s experiments. To avoid stereotyping humans, let’s continue analogizing stressful circumstances by extrapolating Harry Harlow’s findings.)

If Rhesus babies have trouble nursing, biological mothers might adjust positions & guide babies. Humans monitor confined animals, detect latching troubles & help possibly with bottles & nipples while mothers keep lactating.

Monitor people's "confinements" via observations; trade-group websites; customers’ reports. By alerting all customers about symptoms & remedies, you won’t imply anything personal. This expresses concern & makes customer integration deeper & more valuable. Without your detailed involvement, niche members’ lives would seem incomplete without new/renewed advantages.

Your marketing positioning indicates how you help customers advance/maintain their positions by developing opportunities & remedies. Opportunity & remedy implementations require situational awareness to choose practical methods & differentiates against retailers expecting customers to be satisfied without guidance. Suggest discretionary options if you don't definitively advise customers.

Customers confidently know you care when you study their situations before assisting with opportunities & remedies. If you don't demonstrate that concern, why would you expect consumers to care about missing-out on your offers? If opportunities & remedies are special enough to buy, they're special enough for gathering insightful facts.

Remind members why partial satisfaction doesn’t eliminate partial frustration. Explain how frustrations increase when FOMO/(Fear-of-Missing-Out) becomes Anger-Because-Opportunities-Expired because people didn’t invest enough for fulfillment.

Harlow’s babies needed comfort but tolerated wire surrogates because they couldn’t afford missing-out on nutrition. Without human thoughts, babies might’ve been angered by discomfort becoming pain as they struggled to nurse & decrease pain simultaneously. They probably associated hunger-relief & pain with wire surrogates but didn't realize body-weight presses skin on wires & causes pain.

Without experiencing external comfort while nursing, newborns might’ve “thought” pain-endurance is required for hunger-relief. Seemingly necessary, inevitable pain might inflict more stress than occasional soreness.

Despite intermittent relief & satisfaction, newborns nursed, gained weight & probably linked nursing & pain. Help customers thrive by warning about links/consequences of actions & inaction.

Successful Tasks Can Become Less Productive.

Effectiveness & efficiency might increase, but responsibilities consume time & energy. Increasing distress inflicts fatigue which skews perceptions & interpretations.

Like extraordinary offers eventually become ordinary, bare adequacy dissolves into inadequacy as conditions change & expectations devolve into uncertainty. Even if maintenance is practical, effectiveness & efficiency decline when personal resources are spread-thin among responsibilities.

Successful & failed tasks & experiments can include learning. People seemingly "learn" misinterpretations & misperceptions instead of facts. When misinterpretations & distractions disrupt fact-processing, people don't notice troubles.

When offering opportunities &/or remedies, explain why completeness is important & requires high-quality resources appropriate for current circumstances plus goals.

Failure comes from various factors or combinations. People can convert results to successes by discovering lessons from valuable, unexpected results/mistakes, tests & adjustments. By including Clayton Christensen's jobs-to-be-done guidance, your advantage offers can help niche members avoid jobs-to-be-Redone. Each Redo interferes with To-Dos & delays progress.

With limited autonomy, babies couldn’t improve results by incorporating circumstantial information. Experiments showed babies can survive despite high distress & no opportunities for thriving like playing (adventurous eustress).

Without circumstantial insights & autonomy, people probably can't prevent/reverse declines.

Babies innately suckle from biological mothers. Newborns were responsible for experimenting & adapting to bottles mounted on wire surrogates. Without knowing experimental conditions were unusual, newborns didn’t know reasons for stress. In that unfamiliar world, nobody guided newborns’ priorities.

Imagine babies wondering why nobody’s helping. Don’t leave customers despairing.

Make Advertising Personal & Conversational.

Impersonal internet & discount shopping feels familiar to many. Interpersonal consultations may feel unfamiliar but differentiate customer integrators.

When beginning cognitive labor on new issues, people may struggle for words for conversations, web searches, AI chats & clear thinking.

Minds/Reticular-Activating-Systems search memories & environments for mental handles/facts to provide stability plus insights for connecting handles like ladder rungs.

Analogy: Radar detection requires return signals to reveal allies’ & foes’ locations. Without discerning who’s who & where, troop & equipment movements are risky.

Customer collaborations track allies/opportunities & foes/problems plus coordinate action/fighting & avoidance/flight, so consumers don't procrastinate/freeze.

Overwhelming problems can be like nightmares when sleep paralysis blocks physical escape & brain chemistry is slippery.

Ever had nightmares of being in totally unfamiliar predicaments? Customers might feel like that.

Without customer integration, you won’t know which offers mitigate niche members' nightmares & whether offer descriptions fit perceptions. Consultations fill gaps.

Customers might interrupt/indicate if your explanations seem familiar. If you know common myths that can cause mistakes, urge customers to listen, so they don’t miss benefits. Until bad choices become apparent, people might think they’re benefiting until negatives become irreversible.

Though babies innately nurse, they don’t know whether they’re fully benefiting. Easily acquired benefits might be insufficient, but babies haven’t established standards. It’d be tempting to drink long enough to quench hunger & stop early to reduce pain. If benefits seem adequate, other actions/acquisitions might be misprioritized.

Explain Which Insights Increase Information Value.

Without more attention, would adequate (quality/quantity) benefits continue or decline? If issues aren't "studied", would better options be found? Would unstudied issues worsen? What reduces benefit values?

After obtaining insufficient/reduced benefits, people might assume: 1-they’ve maximized productivity; 2-return-on-investment doesn’t justify continuing; 3-retailers overpromised.

Despite misunderstandings, people might assume/decide they sufficiently comprehend remedies. When people mistakenly believe they've understood conversations & offers, they might avoid/remove doubt by deciding what's wrong.

By confirming selected symptoms/factors & ignoring others, people feel empowered. Without confirmation, they might enthusiastically apply incomplete impressions.

Babies need certainty, but tolerating known deficient circumstances can be worse than exploring unfamiliar options. Instead of toleration, experiments forced babies to rely on/trust surrogates. Babies' experienced health risks but couldn't convert experience into viable options.

Active trust requires feeling in control & having viable choices. Certainty & proper nutrition renew energy. Distrust brings stressful uncertainty which saps energy.

Would people successfully emerge from stress if excessive exertion compromises their health?

Beyond Fear-of-Missing-Out, without guidance customers might lose benefits & suffer extra struggles. Provide updated (written/recorded/in-person) guidance because experienced customers might forget &/or develop bad habits. Guidance should include realistic expectations & achievement techniques compatible with product specifications.

Busy customers might need incremental guidance. Specify which insightful facts are necessary for each project step/stage. Like students cramming for tests, distracted people might forget details.

Frustrated customers might surrender while blaming themselves, retailers &/or manufacturers for inadequacy. Despite their insightful facts & products, help customers differentiate which steps or projects should be done by professionals.

Identify Contraindications For Projects Or Steps.

Help customers identify factors undermining projects. Small, unnoticed or ignored negatives can combine. Problem combinations can thwart remedies when people’s thought processes & methods are disrupted.

Though multiple facts, products & methods feel overwhelming, options bring flexibility for adjusting while interpreting results. Flexibility requires more effort, so frustration may rise if more adaptations don’t improve results.

Interpersonal influence & teamwork can connect people who empathetically recognize shared experiences.

Flexibility became babies’ responsibility to comply with rigid circumstances, like overwhelmed consumers resisting inadequate advertising while retailers label them fickle.

Offer Example: ‘Big retailers become bigger & richer by increasing efficiency while pushing suppliers for cheaper products. People have specific needs for (issue). Your choices affect the value you create & your ability to preserve & upgrade advantages as your circumstances change. Efficient, inflexible retailers demand flexibility from consumers & suppliers. In (Store) consultations, let’s customize your kits to maximize effective affordable advantages. Let’s review product specifications & instructions you can use to begin projects & monitor conditions to determine necessary maintenance. Let’s consider Stephen Covey’s wisdom: “Be efficient with things but be effective with people.” (Store) service increases customers' effectiveness & efficiency. Consider what you need & deserve, then let’s create your customized (issue) value at (Store).’

Analogizing big retailers as surrogates providing minimal resources, we differentiate biological mothers as guiding/correcting babies. Being corrected is humbling & can feel humiliating. But bad choices & results are worse.

Analogy: Mothers could say, “Don’t return if you choose a surrogate!” OR “If you choose a surrogate, I’ll transition without you. If you regret it & return when my transition is complete, I won’t be here.”

If customers want advice for combining discounters’ cheap stuff with your high-quality products, you can opt-out without accepting responsibility for anything beyond your control.

Copyright 2025 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/

Differentiate Your Business For Doubters.

(Note: I’m not advocating Harlow’s experiments. To avoid stereotyping humans, let’s continue analogizing stressful circumstances by extrapolating Harry Harlow’s findings.)

Harlow’s babies had oxygen, milk & minimal comfort. After determining objective & subjective life necessities, research could reveal whether subjects/victims tolerate or reject perceived shortages.

Will humans’ toleration end because: 1-relief never comes; 2-remedies are overpriced, incomplete &/or cause other trouble; 3-finished remedies are short-term? How long will anybody wait without satisfaction before seeking relief or surrendering?

Babies couldn’t verbalize feelings, describe unsatisfied needs or dodge harms. It’s like humans trapped in quicksand without recognized escape methods & routes. Outsiders may misperceive & say, “Get out of the puddle!”

Frustrating attempts disrupt functional hope unless people are assured about other testing options & customizing emerging benefits. Failure is disempowering, but power is preserved by learning from evaluated results.

Request customers’ reports for follow-up consultations. Testimonials & case studies can clarify how adjustments brought higher success than comparable efforts without your guidance.

If new customers’ descriptions aren’t clear, compare similar cases. Customers might recognize observations & experiences matching theirs.

Specialist retailers help customers evaluate circumstantial factors, recognize problems & plan remedies. In effect, competitors may be outsiders unable/unwilling to recognize & verbalize problems & remedies.

Customer integration grows stronger as people’s understanding improves consultation participation & perspectives about making higher investments for high-quality.

Will frustration & perceived inconveniences degrade into infuriation & perceived dangers? People might be tempted to emotionally "diagnose" problems, instead of feeling stumped by unfamiliar symptoms. People naturally prepare for recognized problems, right? Could problems be so bad if they don’t fit people’s preparation skills & resources?

Big retail customers might buy/use wrong or inadequate products & think/imagine problems are over.

If problems worsen, people doubt possible remedies.

Differentiate Advantage Offers For Countering Specific Doubts.

Before customers integrate your store into their lives, you’ll have doubts to overcome.

Doubters are stressed & mistrust facts for various reasons. Business differentiation shouldn't appeal to generalized consumers. Easily persuaded customers can build self-confidence & functional hope with products. This momentum & social proof can coax doubters.

Differentiate offers to fill knowledge & physical gaps, so doubters can be attracted by referrals, testimonials & case studies.

Cynics may bitterly believe high-quality doesn’t exist & reject proof. Despite internal conflicting beliefs, doubters may realize or want to believe better truths probably exist externally. Provide & apply those truths to doubters’ circumstances.

Consultations help doubters determine IF better options exist/could be created. Help customers determine indicators of successful problem remedies.

Offer Example: ‘Since cheap products disappoint people & many retailers won’t guide customers, your doubts are justified. For your needed remedies, schedule (Store) consultations for diagnosing problems before trying remedies. Step-by-step customized kits incrementally advance remedies. If preliminary results don’t fit criteria, let’s adjust products &/or instructions for sustainable advantages.’

If they want functional hope, doubters accept case studies. Cases won't happen until people experiment in their circumstances.

Harlow's babies expressed stress but coping mechanisms didn't accurately address problems.

Frustration adds more pain when humans sense, but don't recognize exact problems. After misdiagnosing problems & choosing inappropriate coping mechanisms, people might still trust their diagnoses & become more skeptical of mechanisms.

Depending on perceived options, frustrations could push people to test alternatives or surrender.

Nagging, unresolved subjective necessities seem to grow. Multiple minor complaints combine into major loads.

Though you can’t change people's budgets & credit-limits, your advantage offers can reduce stress. Justify new attempts with functional hope from guidance to adapt specific goals for circumstances.

After desires are justified, budgets & options can be adjusted based on results from case studies & new customer reports.

Example: Option-1 might be immediately effective. Option-2 might be effective longer. Option-3 might be consistently effective, but short-term. Option-4 might be less technical but slowly lose effectiveness despite maintenance efforts.

Which option best fits budgets & expectations? Desirability & pricing might depend mostly on when benefits begin, peak, fade &/or end. Are remedies complete & include long-term prevention? Help customers balance needs, desires, expectations & affordability of creating new realities.

Generally, people invest to enjoy opportunities (pride, status, enrichments) after remedying/preventing stress (ill-health, property damage, social troubles).

For cognitive labor to conquer uncertainty, people must know which facts apply to causes & effects plus advance goal achievements.

Potential Uncertainty Issues: How far will people go mentally/physically to find certainty? What/how much will people do to obtain & maintain opportunities/remedies?

If people start projects, which problems interfere with creating & keeping opportunities? Are stress-levels related to remedy costs & offset by opportunity value?

If problem causes are unfamiliar, people might not know about severity of effects. Perceptions could signify minor causes, so people procrastinate. But what if untreated effects continue, fade or grow?

Is time available for thinking before interventions? If hasty plans don’t fit conditions & goals, is there time to restart?

Solve Confusion Before Problems.

Consumers value people’s knowledge & opinions. Urge niche members to seek your advice after asking how others understand opportunities & problems. Causes & effects may seem minor externally even to empathetic loved ones.

Problems are personally perceived internally & can undermine health in ways outsiders don’t understand.

Case studies & testimonials can explain how your advantage offers relieve specific troubles. Stress-relief clears minds, so customers can conquer other causes.

Some may interpret “subjective necessities” as oxymoronic. Objective necessities fulfill confirmed survival needs & fill/prevent some subjective gaps.

When people are stuck in subjective gaps, causes may be invisible, but noticeable stress effects may be misunderstood externally &/or internally. How long can anybody tolerate subjective stressors?

When total fulfillment isn't possible/available or affordable, which substitutes increase confidence & comfort enough to justify purchases plus learning methods?

Clayton Christensen advocated marketing based on people's jobs-to-be-done. Before/during/after using your offers, how much control/influence do people have over jobs-to-be-done effectiveness & efficiency?

Harlow’s newborns had “job-openings” without information to describe mothers'/“applicants” qualifications & unfulfilled duties, so indefinite/undefined problems/gaps brought definite frustrations.

When you help customers describe opportunities or gaps, jobs-to-be-done descriptions are easier.

Surrogates couldn't guide babies in maximizing benefits like mothers could. If self-determined babies controlled access to milk & "comfort" from surrogates, access didn't increase quality.

Self-determination is important for feeling comfortably secure if people know what they should control & how. But self-determination is incomplete without beneficial, reachable resources &/or ability to acquire better options. Self-advocacy requires knowledge of procedures & evaluating disruptions.

Beholding benefits seemingly indicate opportunity availability, but customers must create & preserve favorable conditions. Without that ability, stress increases if people predict they wouldn’t enjoy those “benefits” again.

If attempts fail as people test methods, desperation becomes another symptom as relief seems further out-of-reach. Without relevant experiences, babies weren’t aware surrogates couldn’t actively fulfill needs. It’s like people reaching for relief without recognition criteria or accurate knowledge for using available resources.

Without criteria to recognize maternal practices, babies wouldn’t automatically recognize authentic mothers. If newborns rejected surrogates & disregarded mothers, unfulfilled needs would cause more stress. Without “trial offers”, newborns wouldn’t recognize mothers’ physical traits as qualifications until demonstrated practices help babies confirm benefits.

Based on human criteria, laboratory conditions may've seemed better than nature, but Harlow's babies became more stressed.

Your perceptions of local conditions & potential advantages aren't enough to persuade niche members. Develop offers based on members' perceptions & understanding. Make it easier by influencing their perceptions & understanding.

Potentially True Analogy: While contractors coaxed people to build the Panama Canal, workers stopped working after satisfying their financial needs. Contractors experienced high living standards, but laborers didn't know earning more money could bring more enjoyment. Contractors distributed catalogs to show advanced products & explained how to upgrade lifestyles. Laborers were inspired & worked longer to finish the canal. This fits my functional hope concept.

Without functional hope, Harlow's babies became more uncomfortable. If they could've understood & believed experiment results were necessary for future functional hope, babies' physical pain might’ve been less distressing. But distress wouldn’t end because upgrades wouldn’t improve surrogates much.

It’d be like tolerating cheap stuff while saving money for upgrading cheap stuff. Advantages would be possible only with high-quality replacements.

If humans feel discomfort worsens & functional hope doesn't exist for recovery, mental stress combines with physical discomfort. This combined stress is hard to resist as fatigue overwhelms people.

If scientists quantified & stabilized total pain, that "progress" wouldn't directly enhance subjective coping mechanisms. Coping mechanisms might be stable or improved if you & your retail teammates offer progress & future functional hope.

Offer Example: ‘Though you’re familiar with your situation, (problem) seems strange. By the time, you learn the definite diagnosis & examine extensive damage; symptoms will worsen while you handle other priorities. You need answers & might need help forming meaningful questions to find appropriate answers. In (Store) consultations, let’s review your pictures, observations & checklists, so we’ll develop questions to bring necessary answers. When people don’t know exactly what’s wrong, any cheap products & chores seem adequate. Before you start, let’s define the impact you need & set your goal, so your product & method choices will maximize your achievements.’

Copyright 2025 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/

Is Success Measured with Shallow, Quick Quantity or Deep, Lasting Quality?

Discounters appeal to people wanting quick benefit quantity without considering long-term satisfaction from benefit quality.

A lowest price criterion can bias people’s step-by-step evaluations from planning to results. Higher-price product benefits might feel like cost-overruns. People might expect faster, better results than conditions allow or products & methods can create.

When low-prices & short-term perceptions are used to evaluate results, successful long-term efforts could be perceived as delusional failures. Offer specific high-quality benefits to guide purchasing & realistic long-term expectations.

I use success & failure analogies to avoid offending people. Books & cartoons feature anthropomorphized animals to teach lessons without ethnic stereotypes.

Bears & humans disregard rules & nutritional reasons for appropriate food. Humans disregard logic of quality because cheap prices satisfy emotions.

If Yogi Bear expects to survive on human-abandoned food, acquisition costs might seem like bargains. If Yogi disregards nutrients & thinks fishing is burdensome, fish acquisition costs seem extravagant. Raiding two picnics might be easier than catching one fish.

In WHAT GOT YOU HERE WON’T GET YOU THERE, Marshall Goldsmith & Mark Reiter analogized Success Delusion with this: "The bear was about to clamp onto an unsuspecting airborne salmon jumping upstream. [An UNUM] headline read: YOU PROBABLY FEEL LIKE THE BEAR. WE’D LIKE TO SUGGEST YOU’RE THE SALMON."

See the Big Fish I Caught with My Rod!

Will friends’ referrals or authoritative endorsements help people choose products from your store? Which consistent & nascent issues do people discuss? How do/can your offers fit people’s discussions? What would induce discussions of your ability to affect result quality & satisfaction levels? You should help customers make social connections beneficial. Give customers information & insights to share with knowledgeable/authoritative people & evaluate your offers.

What should people know when planning/revising projects?

Since preparation requires knowledge & other resources, which criteria assure customers can influence conditions?

If you expect people to buy goal-achievement resources, offer the most possible. When customers regularly depend on you for advantageous goal-achievement, you’re integrated into their lives.

When weather, inflation, supply-chain disruptions &/or other issues affect people’s planning progress, consultations can reveal product & method options. When people’s efforts seem blocked & high-value seems out-of-reach, offer descriptive compelling options.

Clayton Christensen wrote people hire products for jobs-to-be-done.

Offer Example: ‘When you need (benefit), consider long-term results as if you’re hiring workers. (Store) advantage offers include screening product qualifications for your jobs-to-be-done. Products should be compatible with your desires & long-term stress-relief. Discounters push products without concern for your well-being. (Store) is dedicated to your life-quality.’

If people seek opinions about product & method choices, you should be chosen for authoritative guidance.

Consultation/Evaluation Example: This case study plan was successfully adapted to (local conditions) with knowledge & methods defined & refined according to results of (ABC) & emerging indications. Differences between those conditions & ours are __. Because of those differences, let’s (BCD) substitute for (ABC). Step-1 is adapted because (difference) & will be finished with (products & techniques) creating (result). The gap between your goal (full benefit) & (result) is __ & can be filled with (supplies & techniques). (Skill) is necessary for (techniques) & can be learned with (tutorials). Step-2 includes (products & techniques) to create (full benefit).

Boost customers' confidence by guiding them to learn applicable information & skills. Academic counselors open resources & opportunities for students. Introduce customers to achievements you can help fulfill.

Start Small & Increase Credible Momentum.

If loved ones have compatible conditions, people might recommend products after experiences of fulfilling needs & desires. People can help with referrals if you authoritatively evaluate conditions, goals & resources compatibility. You can be perceived & endorsed as an authority as you learn & share knowledge.

Trust involves predictable reliability & relates to determining whether to attempt diagnoses & repairs or ignore problems. Information inspires trust so people avoid failures & lost opportunities. Explain why & how to solve problems plus futility of ignoring problems. Describe your approach to projects, so people will join you.

Referrals are based on interpersonal trust & help inexperienced people. People are apt to approach you about potential trouble when you establish predictability by restoring/maintaining/controlling past, current stable &/or emerging circumstances.

Anthropomorphized bears might anticipate winter & think Yogi gets enough picnic baskets, but hibernation preparation is no picnic! Yogi might be stable now, but will he survive? It’d be Success Delusion if Yogi fills up with human food & feels successfully prepared. He could hibernate but might not emerge. Hibernation is an intermediate result for optimal living.

Success Delusion can be illustrated with the Three Little Pigs. Two pigs might feel successful after building stick & straw houses. Shelter & safety aren’t identical. It’s vital to consider all threats because preparation for one hazard doesn’t guarantee total safety.

Household ambiance control is a long-term goal that can be disrupted by typical weather & destroyed by storms.

Analysis: We want (benefit) in our current condition. What will indicate condition changes? When indications come, how will we prepare? Current/emerging problems are __. We’re evaluating our preparations with these criteria: __. We want (benefit), so we (do action). If we notice (indications), we’ll change plans or preparations.

High-Quality Products Have Specifications; Solutions Have Criteria.

People should consider personal, long-term costs when choosing options. Differentiate short-term easiness, quickness & cheapness from what creates better, long-term benefits. Discounters ignore those & offer easy, quick, cheap purchases.

If Yogi doesn’t learn about hibernation, picnic food might seem OK because it's easily obtained. It’s vital for Yogi to learn about fulfilling sustenance requirements.

Human nutrition is a valid analogy because opinions & requirements vary. Doctors compare averages & treat aberrations. Activities & rest burn average calorie levels & food replaces calories plus nutrients that alter calorie use & replacement.

It’d be a Boo-Boo if Yogi thought there’s no need to hibernate. As winter hits, humans stop picnicking, so baskets probably aren’t available. Yogi would need to prioritize other food for hibernation or survive winter without preparation.

People have comfortable biases, reject uncomfortable facts & need remedial help. Adjust best, better & good offers for early preparers, last-minute movers & late-comers, plus explain necessities.

Whether Yogi prioritizes picnic baskets or bears prefer certain fish, biologists might emphasize criteria based on current or emerging needs plus resource comparisons.

Bears might want to pig-out while fish are plentiful without understanding digestion, metabolism & energy-production aren’t instant. Storms & other problems can hit before bears adjust to extra weight & finish preparations.

Humans choose junk foods causing sugar spikes & crashes without sufficiently satisfying hunger. That’s analogous to cheap stuff not fulfilling expectations.

Even if discounters accept returns, consumers expend time & energy returning stuff instead of finishing projects. After that waste, prevention could be too late, so people need remediation.

Criteria, Plans & Readiness

Will customers do testimonials about how you relieved their frustrations?

Help customers combine information, observations & experiences into criteria, so you can add insights to their plans.

Consumer conversations & activity observations can reveal expectations. Consumer advocates & complaint forums reveal frustrations. Compare product quality with those expectations & frustrations, so you know what to offer & how to guide customers.

How Much More Value Would Bring Satisfaction?

People might feel their lives are incomplete & yearn to 'have it all’ without defining ‘it all’.

If billionaires have it all, can they actively enjoy it all? Example: While enjoying Activity-A with Product-1, Product-2 is in-storage because it’s made for Activity-B. Seasonal changes limit activities & return-on-investment.

Affluent people buy from discounters when cheap products seem to fulfill criteria just like expensive versions. Emphasize how your advantage offers make activities optimally enjoyable & financially practical.

You influence customers’ attention-to-detail by investing attention in step-by-step effects so quality lasts. Your success depends on demonstrating importance with thorough guidance. Your concern for benefit quality indicates concern for customers.

Take-it-or-leave-it attitudes indicate customers are low priorities. When choosing between ambivalent competitors, stressed people opt for low prices.

Yogi might prefer picnic baskets because injuries prevent effective fishing. If you dismiss him as afraid of drowning & recommend a life vest, you wouldn’t be integrated into his life. That lack of integration would block future sales & referrals.

Though Yogi should recognize his limitations better than others, he might not realize how injuries interfere with fishing techniques. Maybe his limitation is limping. Which techniques would be restricted by limping? Which techniques could he do instead? Which techniques should/shouldn’t Yogi do?

If Yogi agrees fishing is better than picnicking, how should he rate readiness for technique riskiness? Would numerical or verbal ratings be meaningful? Example: Though (Technique-A) is generally high (#9) in effectiveness, because your injury is ___, Technique-A) is moderate (#5) in riskiness. (Technique-B) is moderately (#6) effective & might require more time, but it’s low (#2) in riskiness. You can feed yourself without jeopardizing your recovery. This tutorial shows how to do (Technique-B) despite your injury. If pain increases, rest & eat __. Retry tomorrow.

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

Copyright 2022 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/

If You Want Different Results, Use Different Concepts & Methods.

Would you rebel or submit if you were required to adopt the same practices of other retailers? If every retailer had the same practices & inventory, many stores would close because consumers would choose the most convenient locations.

Small stores have failed by copying successful big retailers & big retailers fail when competitors offer better value. Instead of just promoting product features &/or benefits, offer the value of helping customers produce & maintain results.

As retailers test offers & consumers’ lives change, offering superior value is a challenge.
Example: As conditions change, products & methods can lose effectiveness or cause damage. Help consumers adjust what they do, so they can adopt new necessities.

Relevant Retailing

Since consumers have a variety of choices, test a variety of services instead of competing only based on products & prices. Your services should integrate your store into local consumers’ lives. What I write about Customer Intimacy is how to integrate your store into consumers’ lives.

When people want low priority results, discount stores' commodities are OK. Small stores should offer what people need for high priority results.

Big retailers try to be more relevant to wider segments by experimenting with customer services, product types & quality levels.

When big retailers focus on big segments, they miss some individual desires & needs. Fill those gaps by aligning your practices with local & personal conditions, so you can integrate with consumers because you understand them better than competitors.

You can help people produce better results when you ask what people want & need from certain results.
Example: Medical problems can restrict people’s movements & force people to change their homes. Some businesses push new cabinets. Organizers & different shelves would help people store & retrieve things & the installation would be less disruptive.

People Want More With Less Risk

Some retailers have easy product return policies, but people still have unsolved problems if they return products. Integration involves helping people find what they want & avoid what they don’t want.

People are more concerned about losing what they have than about progress. It’s common for retailers to offer products without promising specific benefits. Some encourage progress but ignore consumers’ other concerns.

Customer intimate retailers ask about concerns & help people build loss resistant foundations.

This foundations concept means people can retain benefits if problems happen.
Help people understand: 1) what causes their current conditions; 2) positive potential of making changes; 3) negative potential of not making changes; 4) what could go wrong with some products; 5) how to avoid mistakes.

Step-by-step instructions for specific conditions can limit risks. When steps are completed, other tasks won’t disrupt what’s secure because of your advice about avoiding problems & mistakes. Based on expected results of each step, people can recognize potential problems & learn to preserve progress & prevent losses.

As people consider other projects, you can help them check compatibility & be sure new projects don’t interfere with past projects. Example: If people have gardens, planting trees can cause too much shade or even chemically kill other plants.

Offer advice based on total goals & conditions since soil conditions & placement also affect plant health.

Urge customers to consider short- & long-term issues. Examples below are analogous for other projects.

Before planting trees, people should consider how long they’ll live in their houses, future tree size, growth speed & raking leaves year after year. People add rooms to their houses under growing tree branches & wind knocks branches down.

Since people have deductibles, insurance doesn’t always fully cover damage from accidents or severe weather. Insurance doesn’t restore satisfaction when people lose results of their work. Your customer service can include products & information for protecting completed projects & works in progress.

If insurance only covers completed projects, help people reduce vulnerability by determining when to start & how to speed up results.

People might hesitate if they can’t get full insurance coverage for expensive projects. You can show you care by advising people to be sure they’ll have insurance coverage before starting projects.

Project results should be worth more than the insured value of the materials. Do you have examples of insured value of projects to show to insurance adjusters?

You’ll show you care when you help people anticipate opportunities & problems.

What Reassures Customers?

Promote your ability to coordinate products & project tasks because confused people might hesitate to buy.

Shopping for the right product is frustrating without knowing if features solve specific problems. Help people plan projects by matching product benefits with customers' needs.

Stress from problems is compounded when people struggle to learn all they need for projects.

To reduce people's frustration, offer details they need for the best solutions.
Example: ‘You noticed (symptoms) & need quick solutions. After you evaluate your conditions, you need a plan & to learn about tools, materials & compatibility issues. It’s hard to control problems while learning every important detail, finding the best products & planning your project. All you need is at (business) because we recommend what works after comparing problems with product instructions & specifications.’

Ask what frustrates people, so you can help them avoid wasting time & energy.
Example: ‘You need persistence to maintain __ with cheap, discount store products. At (business), we specialize in helping you use high quality products for consistent long-term results. We’ll help you eliminate frustration, so you’ll be satisfied with projects. You can finalize projects & move on, when you’re sure about quality.’

Pride Is A High Priority Result.

Struggling to create & maintain high priority results is especially frustrating when personal pride is involved.
Example: People, who make lawn care a high priority, might link their reputations to their homes. If they personally tend their lawns, they want to understand lawn products because their job-to-be-done includes a high standard of lawn excellence.

If neighbors prioritize uniformity, their job-to-be-done is matching a standard, so they want to know just enough to buy the right products.

To serve them all, express dedication to their causes.
Example: ‘Your neighbors don’t keep many lawn care secrets because they want beautiful neighborhoods. We have products & information you need for high standard lawns. Home owners are often frustrated because they have different lawn conditions. We’ll help you understand how to adjust for different conditions.’

People, who feel personally linked to results, invest dedicated efforts & expect high returns on their investments. Promote your ability to contribute high quality value that matches consumers’ standards.

Ask about consumers’ standards & if you can exceed their expectations, explain how that quality is realistically achieved.

After people have been frustrated, satisfaction promises can seem too good to be true. Does satisfaction mean pride, relief from stress or other benefits? When you know what satisfies people, explain how products fulfill satisfaction with specific benefits.

Integrate your store into people’s efforts by learning about their successes & frustrations. How do problems affect customers? Why are certain results important? What leads to customers’ successes & frustrations? How can you influence those causes & effects?

After you ask about customers’ goals, you can explain how to use your product kits to increase successes & reduce frustrations. People’s success & frustration are affected by their comfort with products, results & risks. With questions & suggestions, you can help people determine how comfortable they are with product performance & risks.

Make offers based on benefits & how comfortable people are with products. Examples:
This general offer doesn’t specify why the product is safer or any specific benefits: ‘(Chemical) reduces effects of mold & is safer than __.’
This offer is more specific about safety & benefits: ‘Formula ABC kills without poisons by blocking mold's ability to absorb water. ABC also safely reduces odors & stains in X days.’

Some advertisers promise to exceed customers’ expectations, but some things should be considered. Should you promise to exceed expectations before you hear them? How much extra does that quality cost? Why is that extra quality worthwhile? Why is ‘good enough’ not enough? If people can only afford ‘good enough’ quality now, can they upgrade later?

Explain why & how exceeding expectations can match people’s priorities.
Example: People might want a home improvement to last until they move out in 5 years. Your improvement kit might increase their comfort, pride & home resale value enough to offset the price. If people use lower quality options, their homes might be less attractive, so they might have to wait longer for a sale.


Thank you for using my blog. Please let me know if I should clarify anything.
Copyright 2020 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/

Offering Happiness Means Reducing Problems Plus Increasing Benefits

Customer intimacy makes your store a valuable product & information source that improves lives.

You should offer happiness elements based on customers’ definitions & ways of pursuing happiness. Do customers explore new experiences regularly or occasionally to end monotony? Do customers try avoiding problems by repeating experiences to maintain safe, predictable happiness levels?

Problems can cause losses & interfere with pursuits of happiness, so avoiding losses is a high priority. Help customers comfortably balance exploration & familiarity.

Nebulous happiness is hard to achieve. After helping people identify what makes experiences enjoyable, offer necessary products & plan the steps. When people know how to consistently plan experiences, they can avoid mistakes.

People don’t want to lose what they’ve gained & problems make people vulnerable to losses.

Do customers use familiar, but possibly suboptimal ways to mitigate lingering or intermittent problems? Well-known methods & products seem easier & better than what’s unknown. Explain better options to make them familiar.

Expand your knowledge because better explanations can make offers successful. Learn about new conditions & problems, so you can find causes & recommend products.

Stand out from competitors by offering each element of new solutions & experiences including instructions for adjusting for conditions.

Successful offers often depend on these insights: People prefer what’s comfortable & familiar. People are more apt to buy what they want than what they need. People often emphasize avoiding problems more than gaining benefits.

Influence choices by explaining key details to increase desire & familiarity. Offers can seem too good to be true until you explain how products avoid problems & produce benefits.

Offer kits with product explanations & step-by-step instructions, so results & experiences will seem realistic & familiar. Descriptions can virtually build familiarity by helping people audition experiences in their imaginations.

Do you offer enhancements for familiar experiences? Describe enhancements based on added value & reduced frustration. Example: ‘Use Grill Monitor, so you won’t increase the cooking time by repeatedly opening your grill to check temperatures. Plus, you can spend more time with guests. Grill Monitor works by __.’

Offers are more powerful when you improve conditions by decreasing negatives & increasing positives.

Offer stress relief, plus things people can enjoy after problems are solved. Identify problems & distractions you can reduce & which benefits bring happiness. Make things as clear as possible.

Offer to increase specific benefits by reducing specific problems. Example: ‘Tough Shine resists rust, so your car lasts longer & looks good for your pride of ownership & higher trade-in value.’

When multiple step projects are necessary to reduce problems & produce benefits, plan tasks with instructions for specific product combinations in customers' conditions. Explain how different products would change results.

Boost Confidence To Make Offers Attractive.

Reduce people’s frustrations & stimulate confidence with each offer, so they return.

Help people increase skills, boost confidence & self-satisfaction by achieving goals. As people work with high quality products & methods, they’ll become confident in end results. It can increase their confidence in your ability to guide them in future projects.

People accept offers based on confidence in themselves, businesses, products &/or services.

How do customers describe their concerns? Example: What do long-term quality & dependability mean? Do people expect fully solved problems without frequent maintenance, so they can focus on other things?

Happiness can be affected by people’s confidence in their abilities to create & maintain results. People can be more comfortable if somebody explains how product quality matches their conditions & if results will last as long as they need.

Planning boosts confidence when people know what to expect. Confidence also is easier when people know how perceived risks are controlled.

Perceived risks generally decrease happiness. By applying information, you can help people adjust perceptions.

Often people will perceive risks until there are positive actions. That only works when people are confident about methods, products & results. They need know how to solve problems with product & method combinations even as conditions degenerate.

Limited Risks

When customers consider product quality, do they think about inadequate results or total losses? Risk reduction is easier when people know how products fit into causes & effects. Explain why products affect results.

Show how combining resources can produce strengths to avoid specific weaknesses.

When problems happen, guide customers in checking results, determining what to salvage & making new plans for new conditions.

Plans can ease people's concerns with step-by-step instructions of when & how to start projects.

Even when potential risks can’t be eliminated, people want to limit losses at threshold levels.

To eliminate as many risks as possible, advise customers about all necessary resources.

When you help customers compare offers, ask about their current & needed resources to determine if they're ready. Which products, services &/or information would complete their projects?

In dealing with current or potential damage, people should compare repair & prevention options, plus consider risks of waiting. ‘How long can they wait?’ might mean ‘Will conditions decline until problems are solved?’

Without guidance, people might misjudge problems & use inadequate products from discount stores. People feel good about saving money, especially when they feel they’re risking less money. They might save money for a short time until discount store products fail.

People need to know how to compare risks & choose less risky options.

Consult with people on evaluating conditions & combining specific products & information to produce & maintain customized benefits.

Help customers get full value from high quality products by identifying what will fulfill their desires.

Define long-term results & plan methods to maximize key product attributes. It should encourage people to invest in high quality instead of settling for what’s barely satisfactory. Example: Walk-in bathtubs with fast drains are good if pipes are watertight & unclogged. Explain what contributes to corroded & clogged pipes, plus how to avoid problems with proper care.

Avoid Disappointments

When people avoid disappointments by not trying, they deny themselves chances to grow. They compare what they want to what they have & the gaps seem too big.

People don’t always think of incremental growth. If they can’t afford to close big gaps, determine if step-by-step solutions & preventions are practical.
To manage jobs-to-be-done, people need to know what could limit project & experience quality.

Encourage people to buy from you to get advice about methods that fit product specifications. Help people set realistic goals for result quality.

As people describe desired results, consider if those results are compatible with people’s lives. People don’t always know how things are linked.

Example: If customers want flower gardens, do they want to replant each year or maintain the same plants? How will they deal with insects & wild animals? Do they have outdoor pets?

When people have jobs-to-be-done, they might not have clear goals or firm results. They might take steps from tentative starting points & get stuck. Help them define criteria & quality standards, so you can recommend products.

Since conditions restrict possible results, ask if customers are comfortable with those restrictions & possible results. Based on that, you can help them continue.

If they need long processes, milestones should be recognizable to know if they’re on track. To get back on track, they might different methods &/or products.

People might trade down to buy commodities for less important factors that have minor effects on total quality.

Help customers determine if short-term minor effects might have bad long-term effects.

Even if people want challenging projects, they need to match product strengths & limitations with local conditions. To achieve & maintain desired quality, people need to know when to trade up for key products & which commodities could be adequate.

Irresistible Offers

Consumers might resist what you think are irresistible offers because they don't understand some things. When you’re a subject authority, you might not know what confuses novices.

Make notes about what seems to confuse people, so you can offer essential guidance in the present & future. Check advice web sites for people’s questions.

Don’t try to compete directly with big retailers because they succeed with different value propositions. Base your value propositions on your methods of helping people maintain or improve their conditions.

Explain how your offers help to maintain or gain results & avoid problems. Sometimes people want to maintain results plus reduce vulnerabilities.
Those issues may be clear to you, so people need you to clarify & simplify their needs.

When people don’t understand, issues feel complex & risky, so hesitation feels more comfortable than potential mistakes.

Use your knowledge to explain your recommendations, so people feel comfortable. Show you care about people, you know about their conditions & have product knowledge, so they’ll feel more comfortable.

Thank you for using my blog. Please let me know if I should clarify anything.
Copyright 2019 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/

Increase Customers’ Positive Experiences

Instead of just advertising products, also offer insights to specifically increase people’s satisfaction & decrease frustration.

Satisfactory lives are built on organized positive experiences. People can be more satisfied when you show them processes to produce desired results.

Reduce people's frustration by helping them with specific products & methods they need for gaining control. Example: ‘Winter Storms Are Almost Here! You’ll be less frustrated when your home is prepared. Even novices can learn maintenance tasks. Instead of wondering if you’re ready, use our checklist to determine what you need. We’ll check our information & product inventory. We’ll review your needs & develop methods.’

Review your inventory to find products to help people produce positive experiences & prepare for negative experiences.

Form offers by combining experience specific products & tasks based on local conditions & product instructions.
Example: ‘Since your total satisfaction depends on using products & tasks, we offer what you need to __ including advice. We study local needs & focus on product quality, instructions & specifications, so products fit your needs.’

Each role (personal, social, professional, family, etc.) of people’s lives includes tasks. You should have specialized offers for people’s roles.
Example: ‘Since it’s time to prepare for __, you’ll need __. Home owners use top quality products to thoroughly fix & prevent problems. Other people try to fix & prevent problems without advice & they buy low quality products from discount stores. People often don’t realize they can have better options to improve results. Quality results depend on methods for using products. We recommend methods & products for results you need. Since results depend on product quality & details of your methods, tell us what you want to change. We can study your conditions, check product options & develop planned tasks for results you need.’

Problems seem to pile up & negative experiences can be overwhelming & stressful enough to undermine health.

Urge people to manage experiences to reduce problems, so they’ll have time & energy for pleasure. Since often people are more concerned about losing than gaining, help people manage experiences. Offer information for preventing & diagnosing problems. Offer solutions, plus products & information to prevent problem reoccurrence.

Specify product benefits in contexts of experiences. Example: ‘After you use (product) to seal your deck, the wood will be resilient. When your deck is ready for any weather, you can focus on other tasks, plus enjoy grilling, games & other activities. (Product) is ideal for (conditions) because __.’

You can use this concept to promote kits for individuals to produce benefits & prevent problems. This approach makes your offers better than stores just selling for money. Those stores are like doctors habitually pushing pills based on average patients without listening to individuals.

People may think they have no alternatives for retailers pushing products without any concern about improving people’s lives.

Refund policies don’t show much concern because refunds don’t improve lives.

Though it’s important to emphasize risk reversal like exchange & refund policies, also emphasize your commitment to satisfaction by discussing customers’ needs.
Example: ‘Some retailers think they satisfy customers with exchanges & refunds. It’s frustrating to go back to stores for exchanges & refunds. We help you avoid those frustrations by asking about your expectations. We know satisfaction happens when you get great results, so we ask about your goals & assemble what you what you need.’

Integrate Your Store with Customers’ Lives

When you know precisely what satisfies customers, you can avoid advertising clutter & competing only based on prices.

People expect results from what Clayton M. Christensen calls jobs-to-be-done.

You can integrate your store with customers’ lives by integrating your inventory & customer service with their jobs-to-be-done. You can integrate by connecting necessary products & services, so there are no physical or information gaps to interfere with completing jobs-to-be-done.

People might need product combinations for jobs-to-be-done requiring expertise including knowledge for diagnosing conditions.

As a customer intimate retailer, differentiate your store by coordinating products & instructions based on expected results. Plan steps by determining which methods create the best value from products.

You build credibility by showing how your offers complete jobs-to-be-done.

You can offer products & methods for decreasing or removing problems especially if there are common causes.
Example: Rotting walls & health problems can start from mold & excessive humidity. When you help remove causes (mold spores & excessive humidity), people can mitigate negative experiences. By mitigating negative experiences, you offer freedom to produce & enjoy positive experiences.
Example: ‘As soon as you notice (symptoms list), come in to get __. We’ll discuss your needs, so you’ll prevent (problem) & you’ll be free to enjoy __.’

Selling Products Isn't The Same As Solving Problems.

Discount retailers might gladly load up a customer with air purifiers, though totally eliminating mold spores is unlikely. Air purifiers remove some spores, but humidity is easier to detect & reduce. Customer intimate retailers would consult with consumers about eliminating visible mold & controlling causes.

Since you have inventory limits, form a team of customer intimate retailers & refer customers to each other for products, plans & methods.

Based on inventory & expertise, customer intimate team retailers can contribute to a basic plan like this: Control humidity. Seal out & reduce humidity with caulking & dehumidifiers. Mitigate problems like controlling spores with air purifiers & removing mold with various products. Repair damage.

Teams should work on solutions & have an agreement, so customer referrals will be smooth & customers will get the quality they deserve.

Make negative experiences easier to endure &/or less frequent. Example: Since cleaning is necessary, develop plans for using air purifiers & vacuum cleaners to reduce dust build up. Suggest which filters to use & where to place air purifiers to catch dust.

Make Positive Experiences Better & More Frequent.

When enjoyment depends on increasing skills, promote necessary products & skills. Help customers plan & prioritize learning steps, so they can maximize experiences with little frustration.

Learn how people describe their enjoyment, so you’ll understand people’s desires & how to offer higher benefit levels in ways people understand.

You can ask for testimonials when you provide what’s needed. If you haven’t been involved in their experiences, ask about what they used; how they prepared; what made it better than previous experiences; what could’ve made it better; what they plan to do next.

When you have that information, you can make superior offers & help people increase enjoyment & have better lives. Since complete kits are superior offers if people want the benefits, describe offers as improvements.

Offers are higher priorities when you describe results & experiences people want. Results & experiences can be more than physical.
Example: Replacing worn linoleum has visual & safety benefits. People won’t fret about tripping. People feel relief when tasks are finished because they can focus on other matters.

Value is judged based on consumers’ goals, so describe full product/service results people want to achieve.

Some consumers settle for cheap products because they want temporary results.

Some people want shortcuts, but others think shortcuts are risky or at least have shoddy results. If you offer easier or quicker results, define what easier or quicker means.

People may feel unsure or even intimidated if they don’t know how to evaluate options. You can suggest product evaluation criteria based on conditions.
Example: Long-term results can be possible with good warranties & if product repairs are practical. When competitors’ products are too flimsy to repair, compare dependability. Will products produce consistent long-term results? If there’s no warranty, will repaired products be worth their prices plus repair costs?

Warranties vary so specify the benefits & terms. Benefits of warranties can be: 1) repairs are covered; 2) shops are often already chosen (the search is done); 3) possibly no need to shop for replacements (for people who don’t like to shop); 4) repaired products could produce results for longer times.

Offer Better Shopping Experiences

For people who want dependable answers & results, discount stores can be frustrating. It’s hard to find help plus cheap products might not work well long-term. Do people want to repeat that ordeal?

You can make meaningful offers when you accurately describe people’s needs & how product results fulfill their needs.

Discount stores reduce intimidation with low prices & easy returns policies, so people have low financial risk. Easy product returns don’t solve problems (reasons people buy products).

Intimidated people are apt to avoid purchases instead of approaching stores. Information can reduce intimidation.

People can be assured by descriptions of other people’s results in similar conditions. You also can reassure others by describing the results people should expect & how results are produced.

Aspiration goals can be short- or long-term depending how quickly people find & learn to use resources. You can establish your store’s value by packaging products & implementation information for maximum results from products.

Thank you for using my blog. Please let me know if I should clarify anything.
Copyright 2019 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/

Qualified To Improve Customers’ Lives an Experience at a Time

Promote products in contexts of experiences. Example: Bicycle seats can be designed for people who have back injuries.

If you promote a back support seat for a price, people won’t instantly think about experiencing enjoyable rides without back pain & good health from exercising. Your ads should get people immediately focused on benefits.

Jobs-to-be-done are purposes, experiences &/or tasks that create benefits. Jobs-to-be-done (exercises) can be combined with benefits (enjoyable rides).

Customer Intimate retailers know products are special for specific people because of important benefits. By learning about people & products, you can find products to fit experiences.

Urge people to invest in satisfying experiences when they trade up. Trading up to buy better tools can bring better results without injuries.

Experiences are apt to come from combining products & activity insights. Activity insights explain using products to increase benefits, work around limitations & reduce risks. Example: Ways to use tools without suffering repetitive motion injuries.

Customer satisfaction requires focusing on their details. Dedication to details shows people are important to you.

Some important details are: Do customers want new or repeated experiences? If they want repeated experiences, do they hope to improve results?

Experiences can be as satisfying as the best parts or as unpleasant as the worst parts. Compare customers’ previous experiences & expectations to decrease disappointments & increase satisfaction.

Disappointments are gaps between experiences & expectations. Some gaps can be from misunderstandings or quality problems. Which products & insights could you add to eliminate gaps?

Did customers misunderstand product specifications? Would better products realistically fulfill expectations?

As you help customers review projects, were they disappointed with product instructions or project plans? You might clarify things or adjust results.

As you do this with customers, you’ll gain insights for attracting your niche by improving your offers.

Help Customers Shape Experiences by Shaping Conditions.

Describe how you increase benefits & help people avoid problems.
Example: Using a boat & trailer should include easy transporting, launching & cleaning (removing invasive species).
In which conditions will people use a boat? What’s apt to stick to it?
Focus on making the hardest tasks easier with products &/or technique adjustments. Should people use specialized products for removing specific objects or general cleaning materials?

Customer Intimate retailers should accommodate people’s physical limitations with adapted products & instructions.

Product leaders might brag about the latest technology but neglect personal issues. You should show how products improve customers' lives by addressing personal issues.

Ask customers to express goals & related frustrations, so you can help with plans, materials & tools.
Example: ‘Many things can interfere with your home improvement goals. When you notice problems, bring questions & pictures, so we can keep your projects on track. Whether you need new or established products, we can make technology work for you, so products & methods aren’t confusing.’

Consulting with customers will put you on the front lines of making products fully effective & efficient. As you solve problems, you'll learn about customers’ issues & fine-tune your retail specialty.

When basic competitive offers are similar, you can improve offers by asking about consumers’ details. With details about conditions & people's techniques, you can increase benefits &/or decrease problems by adjusting what people do.
Example: If you & competitors sell similar plants, satisfy customers with better insights about using plant subspecies or planting at different times in different places.

Believable, Meaningful Promises

People are often disappointed by big claims, so sometimes they only believe small improvements. Improvements just have to be significant enough to solve &/or prevent problems.

You’ll learn what customers need & believe by tracking responses to ads & communicating in your store.

Combine benefit promises & explanations about how experiences are improved.
Example: ‘(Product) lets you adjust humidity & heat to achieve your desired comfort. (Product) adds the moisturizing warmth you need on dry, cold winter days. Instead of paying more for a separate heater & humidifier, invest in (product). This one unit requires less space & electricity. You can put it where you need quick, concentrated comfort. Now you don’t have to wait while other products spread humidity & heat in each room.’

Since preferences vary, each improvement can add to your superior options & people can choose the best experiences.
Example: Determine from start to finish what makes boating safe & pleasant. What can you offer to make steps safer or more pleasant? How can you make necessary routines easier & improve results?

You can guide people to choose experiences with product & project checklists plus suggested safety & pleasure criteria. These criteria would include descriptions of important benefits.
Potential Offer: 'When you use these checklists to ensure your safety, it’ll be easier to focus on pleasure. It’ll be easier to plan your pleasure because these experience planners will guide you in choosing & using products.'

Ask about people’s possessions, plus current & desired results, so you can coordinate what they have with new products to avoid gaps.

Check if new technology is backward compatible, so people don’t rely on unsuccessful combinations.

Explain causes & how to avoid negative effects. ‘If you don’t have (product), (problem) can happen because __. Tell us what you expect; we’ll explain how to make it happen.’

Suggest criteria for determining if they already have full benefits or should upgrade. Compare benefits of new & previous versions. ‘If you expect (benefit), it’s time to upgrade.’

They might want to upgrade because they don’t have a complete benefit.

You can have methods to design complete benefits by comparing & contrasting product specifications with current & desired conditions. ‘I understand your current conditions are __ & your desired conditions should be __. Product A can fulfill your main expectation. Product B can fulfill your secondary expectations. Let’s consider __.’

People reject some products because they lack time to learn how to use products &/or for setting up projects. What would streamline project set up?

If product instructions cover multiple conditions, you can help people focus on what fits their needs.

People buy multi-purpose products to save money & conserve space. Some multi-purpose products produce lower quality results than specialized products. Help people choose products by comparing needed results & product quality.

Be sure to offer benefits that justify people's personal & financial costs.
Example: Better quality products can produce faster, longer lasting results, so people can reduce some personal & financial costs by not needing to repeat some tasks.

Help people plan, so they can recognize if they’re prepared for conditions. If necessary, you can offer other resources or refer people to other businesses.

Improve Services with Processes

Customer Intimacy can be a matter of using details to create experiences.

Processes make it easier to produce predictable experiences. Processes can be verbal. Ask questions, present ideas & ask for feedback.

After you present products & ideas for customers' needs & desires, ask for details about how well their gaps would be filled. Specific answers can bring chances to explore opportunities.

Here are potential issues:
What interferes with achieving & maintaining positive conditions?
Ask about what people enjoy & present potential options to help them determine what would be comfortable.
Are people confused about conditions &/or potential changes?

People tend to feel more confident about controlling what’s familiar, so they may want similar experiences even if significant changes might bring benefits.

Explore people’s tolerance for risk. Some might feel a situation is risky, but it might feel tame to others.

You can offer different options, so people will be ready for contingencies. People can choose other options if changes don’t match their main plan & resources (including skills).

Here are question examples for starting a verbal process about social experiences.

Group Events: If customers like parties, which factors added enjoyment before? Do customers want more of these factors or do they want a different experience? How much help do they want with planning?

With the answers, you can recommend a product mix to enhance activities & suggest how to make activities fit event expectations.

Events for a few people: Factors/resources: Sunshine & a lawn can be combined with food & games to make a picnic. Would customers enjoy preparing food together? Do they want warm or cold food? Do they like physical activities or board games?

Each answer adds small details but also brings you closer to special experiences.

Here are examples for a verbal process about building projects.
Is the enjoyment based mostly in simple products or skillfully using complex products?
Does this desired experience require adapting current products or using new product versions?
How much time do they have to learn about products?

When people improve their experiences, they can enjoy their memories of experiences. Memories can be valuable because memories last longer than most experiences can. Ongoing experiences can be enhanced which enhances memories.


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

Copyright 2019 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/

Build Streams of Success by Helping People Create Success

Value streams flow from suppliers through your store to consumers if you offer what people value as conditions change.

Value streams are shaped by needs & desires. Influence your streams by customizing superior benefits for individual needs & desires.

Retailers can fail if they promote products instead of featuring ways to overcome obstacles.

Retain customers by helping them navigate life & prepare for changes.

Determine how to fulfill top priorities by asking about customers' needs, desires & experiences. Use their answers to form questions when you ask: 1- suppliers about products; 2- officials about government plans &/or 3- knowledgeable people about natural causes & effects.

When you know what to expect & how products work, you can develop kits based on customers' desires & needs.

Assure people they can produce benefits with the right products, methods & advice.

A basic template is: This kit has plans plus products with instructions to produce (benefits) with these methods: ___. Instructions show techniques for using products. Plans combine techniques into methods.

Reducing Disappointments

People might adjust unfulfilled expectations & still be frustrated. You can decrease disappointments by matching expectations with products & helping people customize results.

People might be frustrated when products are discontinued. Distinguish your business by offering locally significant benefits instead of specific products.

Explain how you reduce disappointments with warranties, product quality & information. It makes your store a dependable resource for people dealing with stress. You can be a trusted consultant for preventing or mitigating negative causes or effects.

You can guide people to create benefits by increasing their understanding of current & potential conditions.

Note: If people are sensitive about benefits, you can focus on desired results. Be careful about offering to reduce negative emotions. Example: People might be proud when they lose weight. If you offer ways to increase pride, don't imply reasons for shame.

To avoid disappointments, people should avoid stores that don't offer total solutions.

Though paying low prices can be satisfying, satisfaction ends when people don't get positive results. Emphasize how you satisfy needs & desires with your knowledge of products & local conditions.

Customize ways to improve results as lives change.

Combine Products & Knowledge to Produce More Value

Don't assume people know how to solve problems or benefit from opportunities.

Since opportunities don't guarantee advantages, people need resources including knowledge. Since products don't solve problems without effort, help people choose & correctly use products.

Without information, products are like puzzle pieces without a picture. Plans should include descriptions of problems & solutions to help people identify which: 1- products fit their conditions & 2- results match their expectations.

Product kits & plans are good for differentiating your store. Kits can produce better results than individual products from discount stores.

When you print general instructions frequently, your invested time & money is spread over similar transactions. You can offer detailed plans at cost or a small markup.

Promote project kits including products, checklists, instructions & plans to help customers implement full solutions.

To find money streams, look for things people prioritize. What do they want to change or maintain?

Influence people's priorities by explaining why solutions & benefits are important. Explain how kits make solutions & benefits possible. Information helps people prioritize. Priorities motivate people.

Build Trust with Better Offers

Build trust with questions you ask & answers you give. Gain knowledge to anticipate consumers' issues. Learn about emerging needs & desires. Details can help you reduce people's stress with full solutions.

Offers should indicate you study about making customers' lives easier. Your concern inspires people's trust.

Streamline transactions with product kits. Kits are convenient because people can: 1- avoid mistakes in choosing materials & tools; & 2- solve problems sooner.

A basic template is: This problem has these symptoms: ___. Its causes & effects are __. Prevent its causes by __. Fix its effects with this kit & these techniques: ___.

Gain Trust By Limiting People's Losses

People are usually more concerned about losing things than gaining.

What are customers concerned about losing? Gain trust with offers customers need for limiting losses.

Compare suppliers' product offers with what customers need to prevent or replace losses.

Value streams can form where consumers' needs intersect with your talents & knowledge plus suppliers' offers. You can develop marketing tactics & strategies to position your business in those streams.

Full Solutions or Discounted Products

You need to balance whether you create unique offers or copy competitors.

When competing with big retailers, your store might be like a boat compared to ships. Consumers' demands can be streams too small for ships.
Precise products & advice for consumers' conditions are better than discounted products without information.

Track customers' product, service & knowledge needs to increase your expertise & respond better than competitors. If consumers have tried various options, compare results & expectations to determine better alternatives.

Since success can depend on specializing, consider your capacity for deep & wide product selections.
Local conditions determine which product models might be necessary. You can use your expertise to assemble precise solutions.

Compare conditions with your inventory & ability to support customers. If products are complicated, will you restrict your inventory based on your ability to advise customers about using products?

How well can you judge product quality? How well can you determine if product quality matches people's conditions?

Retailers can fail with cheap products & insufficient knowledge of products & conditions.

It's vital to offer & describe specific benefits so people can recognize options they need for their life stages.

Some suppliers sell to discount chains & upscale stores. If you offer the same brand products as competitors, you're fishing from the same stream & should differentiate with value beyond products.

You should emphasize how your inventory standards & knowledge affect people's results.

You also need to balance inventory with people's priorities. You'll be stuck with products if you don't motivate people to upgrade their conditions.

Referrals & testimonials can motivate people to invest in improvements & buy from you. By successfully supporting customers with products & advice, you can generate referrals & testimonials to motivate people.

Add Value With Advice

Help people determine how to influence or control their conditions.

People, who are in the same location & similar conditions, can have needs of different severities because they have different resources. How can they upgrade their resources to fit their needs? Is the problem treatable or should people retreat?

You should know when to advise people to try other options. Example: "I don't know if that would work as you want. Let's consider other options."

When people know you care about them, they're more apt to trust your advice. Service quality affects customers' feelings. People notice when retailers think of customers as money sources.

Consult with customers to find solutions based on product specifications & current or potential problem severity. Example: When problems start, people might need to do maintenance or make adjustments. If problems are severe, people might replace parts or make big changes.

Customers don't have to be experts, when you offer full solutions. When they have that much confidence, why would they choose other stores?

Is It Time To Change?

Product streams can end, start or change when people's priorities, needs & desires change. You can switch streams by changing your kits.

Monitor customers' conditions, so you'll know what's getting harder & you can adjust your kits & advice.
Do people need different products, methods or both? Ask about their needs & results to determine whether to change your inventory or knowledge base.

Be more concerned about how products fit people's conditions & your ability to sell solutions instead of whether other retailers reject products. Retailers have various business model criteria & reasons to drop products.

Here are some criteria to consider:

If you need to change suppliers, consider these criteria: Do suppliers push products or help you serve consumers? Do suppliers provide product information you need?

Some niche criteria should be whether people recognize a product's value & consistently pay profitable prices.

You can adjust your inventory & advice as you monitor how well products fulfill customers' needs. Use customers' feedback to track value. If value declines: 1- conditions are changing; 2- you offer the wrong products or 3- it’s the wrong niche.

Your business model criteria should be focused on helping people fulfill specific purposes. You'll increase awareness of your store's value as you promote products & services for specific purposes.

I wrote about purpose brands in this post - "Fulfill Customers' Needs With A Purpose Brand". Clayton M. Christensen & Michael E. Raynor explained purpose brands in The Innovator's Solution. You can check a search engine for a summary.

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

Copyright 2019 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
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