If you’ve studied any tertiary marketing course, you’re probably familiar with Theodore Levitt’s famous consumer insight about power drills.
“People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill, they want a quarter-inch hole.”
Marketers and their agencies are often guilty of not understanding the reasons why people behave the way they do. They don’t take time to talk with their customers. This lack of real communication has increased in recent years alongside the growth of marketing automation. We’ve stopped talking, we’re only computing, and lost a layer of human involvement along the way.
As I’ve written before, you’ll be surprised what you learn if you just talk with your customers.
This lack of knowledge about what motivates customers was laid bare at a tourism marketing conference in New Zealand, at which I spoke some time ago. I met Jeanette Kelly – a women who has spent years working in the hospitality industry, running her own business as well as working for others. Jeanette presented a wonderful piece of research conducted by the University of Waikato.
The accommodation and marketing managers of various hotels, motels, guest houses and the like, were asked what they thought were the most important factors influencing accommodation choices. They said, in order of priority:
- Staffing and accommodation service
- Room rate
- Location
- Facilities
- Marketing and Sales programmes
- Seasonal tourism
- Competition from other properties
- Supply and demand
- Events taking place in the area
- The general state of the national economy
- The state of the property
Guess what the customers listed as the most important factors influencing their accommodation choices, in order of priority?
- Cleanliness of the room
- Quality of the bath towels and wash cloths
- Quality of staff service
- Friendliness of staff service
- Comfort of mattress and pillow
- Quietness of room
- Well maintained furnishings
- On-premise car parking
- Overall facilities
- Level of security
In case you’re wondering ‘room prices’ came 17th on the list of priorities for customers. And what were the marketers smoking to believe customers care about marketing and sales programmes?
More importantly, as you can see in this case, what customers want to buy and what marketers are trying to sell, are poles apart.
So take some time to really talk with your customers and understand what motivates them. You could be pleasantly surprised by what you learn. Who knows, you might find they’re looking to buy something other than what you’re selling, or even be willing to pay more?
Have to go now. My bride says she has a surprise for me. Why is she carrying a drill?
Let’s connect: https://www.linkedin.com/in/malcolmauld/
