What brand associations drive sales – i.e. what makes customers pay more and buy more? Maybe your salespeople have a clear idea. Perhaps you have done a classic market survey. Then, unfortunately, there is a high risk that you got the wrong answer and are focusing on the wrong arguments. The grim truth is that your customers will lie if you ask them a direct question.
“Lying” in this case should be interpreted as “saying what they are expected to say” as a smart professional. For example, if we were to ask marketing managers on which parameters they choose an advertising agency, they would most probably answer strategy, creativity and price level. The only thing we know about this is that it’s not true. It’s much more likely personal relationships, prestige, or maybe the agency is having a fun golf tournament – the kind of thing no professional person would admit.
If we can map what really, deep inside, drives people to do things, we can boost our communication with arguments that land straight to the heart. With communication that is based on the true sales-driving parameters we both build a strong brand over time and support sales argumentation short-term.
Today this is fully possible through a unique research method using statistical analysis of the responses, which gives a true picture of the brand associations that actually make customers want to buy and/or pay more. In the next step, the true parameters can be correlated to whether they drive volume or premium price. In most cases, these are different parameters, and depending on the company’s strategy, there will be different arguments that the brand should be loaded with.
And these factors are often not what you expect. Product features and price often come far down on the scale – i.e. they drive neither price nor volume. This does not mean that these parameters are unimportant. On the contrary, customers have difficulty distinguishing the quality between the products and they expect products to be reasonably priced due to competition.
Conclusion: These characteristics are hygiene factors in competition, they must be present but they do not differentiate. As such, the brand should not be built on these factors, but instead on those that really make a difference, the same with all sales arguments. So in simple terms, tell your story based on the parameters that the customer is willing to pay extra for and where you stand out from the competition.
Do you want to know more about what these true sales-driving parameters can do for your company, just reach out to ulf.vanselius@comprend.com