How to immediately improve every sales message you touch: a simple checklist

How do you know what customers really want?

And even if you’re pretty sure you know what they want, how do you put into words (and more importantly, numbers) the intangible, nebulous ideas or solutions that make your offer unique?

In 2016, three Harvard researchers published a new framework in Harvard Business Review that outlined exactly how to put your business and offer in the strongest position possible.

They argued that although it’s difficult to identify the complex psychology behind why consumers love and are loyal to the brands and products they choose, universal building blocks of value do exist.

This is great news for founders and sales teams who take the time to learn those universal building blocks—because you can then apply them to every offer you make in the future.

The model is rooted in the concepts of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, which has been influencing psychologists and marketers’ work since it was published in 1943. The 2016 model extends the psychological insights from Maslow’s work by focusing on how consumers think and make purchases.

At Brazen, we’ve extended this to create a process for strengthening each client Brand Story we are presented with, as well as any we develop from the ground up.

The elements are a great place to start for strategists performing a SWOT analysis. It’s easy to see how an online marketplace would excel at “saves time” and “avoids hassle” over a brick & mortar retailer, but the higher you go in the framework, the more intangible the elements become—and the more they rely on strategic positioning and copy to be understood and felt by the consumer.

Read the original research at hbr.org or schedule a fifteen-minute Clarity Call with Brazen to see how well your message and positioning stack up against these universal building blocks of value.