 Good afternoon from a beautiful Malta. I wanted to do a book review this month in the form of an article review And here's why I've been here all week delivering training to a client and in particular the focus this time was on sales and One of the exercises that I used among many But one of them was an article from the Harvard Business Review and it actually came from September 2016 called What is your customer really want? So I wanted to review this for you because I do believe that this Resource and that's what I'm going to call it is immensely useful What it does is that it gives you the elements of pyramid Sorry, the elements of value pyramid and what this does is it breaks down what people want into functional emotional life-changing and Social impact needs now. What does that really mean? Okay? Let's bring it back to basics Ordinarily people will pay for something if it saves them time if it saves them money if it saves them stress Or if it saves them worry and I came up with that rhyme a good few years ago when I started giving training in The sales related area specifically in the area of financial services The thing is though is that actually we buy from many many other reasons and often when we're very close to a product Are very close to a service We don't quite know how to articulate it in terms of benefits and all of the best trainers in the world and sales People in the world they'll talk to you about benefits as opposed to features But it can be hard it can be difficult in order for people to make that jump and I have to say I felt the same until I read this particular piece So I'm going to give you an example and down here at the functional element of the pyramid is We pay for things that save time simplify reduce risk organize, etc There's lots of examples we can think of that But what this article makes the point about is that we don't stay with anything for just those reasons Instead what builds sales and thus retention is emotional So this is where we pay for things like something that reduces anxiety that rewards you Or is something that gives you therapeutic value or wellness Now as we go further up though when we think about why do people want to pay lots and lots of money for something? Even though it may cost an awful lot Maybe like driving a certain car staying in a certain hotel buying a certain house, etc Is all due to the life-changing elements of the pyramid so for example, it's due to self actualization It's due to affiliation or belonging and it provides hope and then if you think about the very very top So think about this some people spend not years But decades giving their luck giving their children a better life than they had and in fairness I have to say into great credit to my own two parents. They did the same for me So what is that and why is it that people are willing to work so hard to do that? Well, that is what what the pyramid calls here Self-transcendence is when you can transcend when you can actually go higher than your own expectations So again just to make this concrete because it's important as opposed to just a great article that I actually put it in context This morning. I walked about it's about two miles in this heat Over to a shop called the soap cafe in Malta. Now. I have been going there for years Okay, it's an absolutely beautiful shop. It sells soap. It sells beauty products. It sells treatments. It sells side candles and so on But I walked over there today because I know the owner I know what she stands for and in fact Some of you may have met her through our savvy women podcast It's Charlene from the soap cafe as I mentioned so in terms of the The elements of value pyramid Why is it that not alone would I go and pay with money but also pay with time pay with effort and pay with and by the way I do this every single time I come here. So I'll tell you exactly why based on this Okay, so number one, of course, it does save me time because I know exactly what I want and always when she knows I'm coming she creates for me exactly what I need as well I won't go into that She has she did load of products there for me ready today that she knows based on say my allergy to mosquito bites Based on my skin type and so on she has it all there She knows that I often a very little time when I'm when I'm calling But it's not just that it is the fact that there's wellness in there and there's therapeutic value in there Also, just the feeling of the shop as you walk in is just wonderful and also and from standing all week I could feel pain in certain parts of my body, which is kind of natural when you're standing in heels all week all the time And she knew exactly what to do along the way So therefore she hit every single one of my emotional and Emotional elements of value and soap cafe provides all of those the thing is though is that it's not just that There's a couple of other things that I go for and one of them is because I know her and I know as I say what she stands for And she stands for cosmetics with the conscience So therefore in her case one of the one of the points here in this pyramid is is affiliation of belonging Is that in order for me to express that view in my own purchases? I know that I can help the environment by shopping there So therefore that is the reason that it's not just convenience and it's not just because I like the products But because it is it is much higher than that and the other thing as well is that whenever I went to Charlene shop I know her story and a view that that that's on this page from Malta You know that Charlene went through a very difficult period in our health quite some time ago and she's such an inspirational character I mean, she's expanded the shop now. She's studying a master's in business now and she has restored her full health now So therefore to me I like supporting that and I like catching up with her and that is also self-actualization as as the case in point here So to bring this back and to bring this article review to a close I think this is really really helpful for people who are in business and don't necessarily know how to sell their products or sell themselves and Often hear people talking about features But don't quite know how to translate them across to benefits believe me This is a read that might take ten minutes that will give you the language for that And I did that with all of my groups this week every single one of them I went through this particular article with them The other thing as well is that it teaches you the difference between the first sale and retention and it shows you that as you progress up the pyramid you can become more and more attentive and Then it also helps you to stratify your benefits So maybe it is that you're selling your product because it saves money But actually that's not the reason people buy they buy the product because it reduces anxiety for example Or maybe because your value set actually aligns with somebody else's value set And you enable them through their purchase of your product or service to express that so on that note I it's been a piece that I've referred to many many many times and as I say it's on this this particular Harvard business review Which is what does the customer really want Just in case you're thinking hmm. I don't sell to customers. I sell to businesses Well, the great thing is is that the Harvard business review wrote one solely for businesses So this is the April 20 March April 23rd. Sorry March April 2018 one Also has the B2B elements of value as well So I'm going to put the links here in the post so you'll be able to see them Of course they'll be in in the blog as well so that you will be able to find whatever it is that that you may Be interested whether it's whether selling to business or selling to customers I'm telling you both of these articles are an excellent excellent excellent read But they're a resource for you for your sales team or for anybody that you know Who may be wondering if they're selling the really the right things so on that note And I'll be heading back to Dublin now shortly as my flight's going tonight I wish you all the very best and have a wonderful weekend. Bye