Find your customer's motivation and build a better business

Understand your customer’s motivation before deciding what will make them happy. In this video from 2011, I use an experience with my children to introduce a point: What motivates you doesn’t necessarily motivate others.

Understand your customer’s motivation as something individual

My children were learning to ride bikes, and I found they responded to different things. It reminded me how easily you can end up using the same approach for everyone.

The story is about my family back then. The business point was the difference between people, not a general method of parenting.

An event needs to interest the guests

I talk about a company that tried to work out what interested the people attending its customer events.

It then used those interests when planning the events. I saw it as a good example of starting with the guests rather than just the organiser’s own taste.

I thought good experiences could strengthen customer relationships. That was my assessment, not a documented measurement of subsequent sales.

Ask instead of guessing

The same goes for gifts for employees. Just because I find a remote-controlled boat exciting doesn’t mean it’s the right gift for someone else.

Among other things, I mention talking to people to get an idea of their interests. That’s a better starting point than assuming everyone wants the same as me.

Look at the person you want to do something for. What do they enjoy, and what matters in that particular situation? That was the question I wanted to bring into business.

Also read about the signals customers encounter in your shop.

Original house mention from 2011: Incidentally, I’ve put my house in Holte up for sale. The original sales listing no longer exists.

I’ve also taken some private photos; see them here

A Sunday when the children were going to learn to ride

I had a fantastic Sunday. I decided this was the day my children would learn to ride bikes. It’s something you almost take for granted in Denmark, but that wasn’t my experience here where we lived in the US.

There weren’t many cycle paths in our area. I was also uneasy about the traffic and drivers turning right on red. I’d read about cyclists being killed, and in the video I exaggerate wildly to describe my concern. That’s my experience of the area, not a calculation of accident risk.

Luckily, we lived on a very quiet side road. And at some point, we’d be returning to the cold north. Whether that would be in July or later, we didn’t know yet. In any case, I wanted the children to be able to cycle in the culture we came from.

So we’d bought good bikes for Christmas. Mads, aged four, and Emma, aged seven, had had bikes before too, but had mostly ridden around a little with stabilisers. It hadn’t really gone any further. Now I thought we’d spent long enough messing about.

Emma didn’t want to lose her new bike

I started with Emma. She wanted to be able to ride, but not right now. She thought it was difficult. We’d previously taken the stabilisers off her old bike and fitted a handle so we could walk alongside holding it, but it hadn’t really come to anything.

So I thought: How do I motivate her? My experience with her was that a carrot didn’t necessarily work very well. She responded more to the prospect of losing something she liked.

I asked whether she liked her lovely new bike. She did. Then I said that if she didn’t use it, I’d sell it. I’d put it on Craigslist that afternoon, and we’d have more room in the garage too.

She certainly didn’t want that. She protested about me talking of selling her Christmas present. But I stood by the idea that we shouldn’t have a bike sitting there unused.

Then she wanted to try. When she started finding it too difficult, I said something like: Then let’s go inside, play PlayStation and relax, and put the bike up for sale. After around an hour, she could ride, and then she was off.

Mads had his car and didn’t care about the bike

Meanwhile, Mads was driving around in a little electric plastic car, an Escalade with a motor and battery. At one point, he was practically lying on his back with a lollipop and his legs over the windscreen, watching his big sister’s efforts.

Once Emma could ride, it was his turn. But he wasn’t really interested. I knew him well enough to know that threatening to sell the bike probably wouldn’t help. He could simply think: Oh well, luckily I’ve still got my car.

He was more relaxed about losing things unless it was something he really liked. And the bike wasn’t that.

The delayed Christmas present became his carrot

For Christmas, I’d ordered a remote-controlled boat for Mads. It had been delayed and only arrived after Christmas. So I’d thought he could have it for his birthday in April.

Now I had the boat and remembered how much he liked that sort of thing. I told him there was something in the garage he really wanted. He quickly guessed it was a boat, and he very much wanted it.

He could have it, I said, but then he’d need to learn to ride a bike. Otherwise, he could have it on his birthday, 30 April. He thought his birthday was a long way off and wanted the boat today. So we’d have to get going with the bike.

I removed the stabilisers and pedals so he could first push himself along and practise balancing. My idea was to put the pedals back on once he’d got that part under control.

We hadn’t practised much with him, and never without stabilisers, so it was hard. But every time he was about to give up, I reminded him of the boat. After an hour and a half, he was cycling around with his sister without stabilisers. Those times are from our afternoon, not a guarantee of how quickly other children learn.

Understand your customer’s motivation rather than your own

Where am I going with that family story? We’re different. What one person enjoys isn’t necessarily what another enjoys. It’s easy to start with your own motivation and work from that, even when you want to do something for others.

I work with a company that has large customers. It tried to find out what interested the employees at those customers. In the video, I said the company did things such as becoming friends with them on Facebook and looking at their profiles to get an idea.

When the company organised customer events, it started with those interests. In my experience, that made for some bloody great events where guests said: Wow, this was brilliant.

I thought that once you’d tried to cater for the different participants’ wishes and interests, they’d also be more motivated to buy afterwards. That was my assessment of the connection, not a sales result I put figures on.

Your favourite gift isn’t necessarily theirs

You can use the same thought in lots of places. Just because I think remote-controlled boats are fantastic doesn’t mean every employee should get one for Christmas.

I can try getting an idea of their interests by seeing what they talk about themselves or simply talking to them. Then I can choose a proper gift for each person instead of choosing my own favourite for everyone. Also read Min vej som leder about my experiences of leading and motivating different people.

Your motivation and your joy in life are yours. Your customers and employees have their own. That’s the difference I think we should remember when we want to create a good experience or a better business.

Best wishes, Martin