I once read a story of how an educator raised one million dollars for the construction of a university library within 48 hours. This was the summary of how it went. He identified one wealthy man in the town who could readily donate the total sum. But the problem was that convincing someone to donate that amount of money wouldn’t be easy, let alone within such short notice. He could try his luck and just ask – after all the worst that could happen is that the man would say no. But he decided to try something different that was almost guaranteed to work.
Now this wealthy man had a rival in another wealthy man within the same town; there was a form of power and superiority contest between the two of them. The educator got in contact with the man on the phone and asked to meet him for an important urgent discussion. On meeting with him, he told him that there was an opportunity to write his name on the sands of time by donating for the construction of a university library. But the problem was that his rival was already in on the opportunity. So he had less than 48 hours to overtake his rival and seal the deal. The result was that the deal was sealed within 48 hours, and the wealthy man was thankful to the educator for giving him the opportunity to give away one million dollars.
Interestingly, his rival wasn’t even aware of any of this. He was just a decoy. But the educator used his understanding of two innate human needs to compel him to take action.
Based on the study by Paul Lawrence and Nitin Nohria – authors of the psychology book Driven – there are four innate urges that determine our behavior. And you can use your knowledge of these desires to your benefit when dealing with other people. In this video, I’m going to share with you 4 core needs that drive human behavior. If you understand what they are and how they work, with the right strategy, you can use them to your advantage in business and in your career. Before we get to it, be sure to subscribe to After School TV for more insightful videos like this.
The desire to acquire competitively
Imagine you just quit your job to start a business selling shoes. You create your marketing message that read, ‘I had to quit my job to start this. Support my dream to become financially independent I can bet that you will end up with a failed business in a matter of months. The reason is that; you are not speaking to the eight human needs. I used a similar method when I published my first book. I had been publishing a lot of free information on my blog, and so felt this was time for my readers to reward my effort. The result? I sold one copy of the book.
There is a common saying in the world of finance that the market is driven by greed. However, Warren Buffet, the most successful investor, had a different opinion that we can all agree on; it’s not greed that drives the world, it is envy. We believe resources are scarce; tangible things like the items you buy and intangibles like social status and experience are hard to come by. So we are driven to seek to acquire things while we have the chance.
However, deep down, the underlying motivation is not simply to have things; we are actually motivated to have better things than those around us. Think about this. The iPhone came out as the most expensive phone ever. Some industry leaders criticized it saying no one would buy a phone at such a price. But guess what? Millions of people didn’t just buy the iPhone, million buy new versions of it every year. Why? …Because generally, people want to have something better than anyone else’s.
From the story I told at the beginning of this video, if the educator had appealed to the wealthy man simply based on emotion, he would have met intense resistance. So he leveraged on his desire to acquire competitively. When next you want to get something from people, think about what’s in it for them. Think of how you can summon their desire to acquire competitively.
People want exclusivity. That is what makes intimate relationships appealing, and cheating unacceptable. If you are in business, think about how to present your product to people in a way that will make them want to go out of their way to get it. Use exclusivity to your advantage.
The drive to bond with other people
You know the happiness you feel when you are with someone or a group of people that understand you. That’s when your desire to bond is being satisfied. We all want to feel valued and appreciated. An international organization like Toastmasters has been around for decades and has spread across almost every nation on earth.
Members of each local club feel a sense of bond among themselves. This is largely because people who had struggled with the fear of public speaking find themselves in a community that understands, appreciates,s and is ready to help them grow. This bond has kept the organization growing for decades.
Also, think about the mass appeal for sports teams. Sports satisfy our desire to bond and feel part of a group. Hence people go out of their way to support their team, and to bond with those who support the same team with them. Businesses such as dating services, social media, and companies that promise to make us more desirable like perfumeries, fashion companies are taking advantage of our desire to bond.
There are many ways you can take advantage of this. You can create a bond with your audience through stories they can relate to. Instead of being a faceless corporation, or an emotionless professional, incorporate your personality and stories into your brand. This will help establish trust with your audience. Also in your organization, you will get the best from people when you encourage and reward teamwork and build a culture of fellowship.
The desire to satisfy our curiosity
Imagine you are watching a movie with an intriguing storyline. You have some other important task to catch up with but you have to struggle to walk away without seeing how the movie was going to end. This is your curiosity drive at play, and we feel curiosity because of something called the information gap. We tend to feel uncomfortable when we don’t know something; or in some cases, we even feel inferior. In other to avoid this feeling of awkwardness, we desire to learn or see the end of the story to close the information gap.
In fact, it’s the same drive that has kept you watching this video to this point. We have the inherent desire to satisfy our curiosity and make sense of the world around us. People want an explanation for everything. The traditional and online media is largely driven by this desire; with click baits, controversy, and ambiguous headlines. This makes it difficult to know where to draw the line.
You can take advantage of this by being creative and innovative with your personal brand. Give people someone new from time to time. Deviate from the norm when practicable. If you are building a company, understand that people enjoy their job more if they learn while working. And create such a learning environment.
The drive to defend our Own
From the story I told in the beginning of this video, the drive to compete and defend his reputation compelled the wealthy man to take action. We have the instinct to defend ourselves, our loved ones and anything we consider valuable to us. This is why people will consider buying life insurance, to protect their loved ones.
People will go to any length to protect their ego and to save face. They will defend their values and what they believe in. If you have an idea that appears to go against the norm, be courageous to get it out – because while you may receive criticism, you may also win diehard fans who will defend you.
Remember this; you satisfy people when you satisfy their drive. If you found this video helpful, like and share it with someone. If you are yet to subscribe to this channel, now is a good time to hit the subscribe button. Until next time, YOUR SUCCESS MATTERS!
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