Maslow’s hierarchy of needs? Have we accidentally wandered into a college Psych101 class? Working in sales in the senior living industry is easy, right? Run the ads. Answer the calls. Wow them during their visit. Boom! Your community is full and your waitlist is awe-inspiring.
Okay, now that we’ve all had a hearty chuckle to start the day, let’s talk about what really goes into creating successful marketing and sales strategies for positioning today’s senior living. Undeniably, the most critical concept in sustainable success is building strong, long-lasting relationships. To create these relationships it isn’t as easy as offering respite coupons or sharing the best slice of cake from the bistro during their community visit: you’ll have to take a step back and view the experience as a human. It helps to revisit how Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs influences all aspects of your decision-makers’ lives.
What Is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs?
To answer this question, we’ll need to rewind to 1943, when American psychologist Abraham Maslow wrote the paper “A Theory of Human Motivation.” Maslow hypothesized that there are five basic needs that dictate the behavior of humans:
Physiological Needs: Basic human survival needs, such as food, water, rest, and shelter.
Safety Needs: Well-being, health security, emotional stability, financial security, and protection from violence and theft.
Belongingness and Love Needs: Family bonds, friendships, emotional intimacy, sexual relationships, and comradery.
Esteem Needs: Self-esteem, acknowledgment, confidence, and self-respect.
Self-Actualization Needs: Education, skill development, and fulfillment of potential.
Presuming Maslow had it nailed down, in the last almost century many researchers have based their thought models on these needs and their accompanying motivations. So, what does that mean for marketers, salespeople…and anyone who wants to influence the behavior of others?
Bestselling author and behavioral economics professor, Dan Ariely found in his research that “humans are simply irrational animals whose behavior can be predicted only if you understand what drives them.” So how do we determine what is driving our prospects’ decision making and how do we incorporate that into our sales process?
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Once you identify the hidden motivation, you can apply the appropriate messaging approach.
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Consider the emotion that accompanies your prospect’s agenda and adjust your tone accordingly.
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Map the pathway to the final decision, so you can deliver information that either:
– motivates the prospect closer to a purchase decision themselves,
– or gives the adult child resources to advance other decision-makers.
Prospects are just people – with all of the confusing human behavior that implies. The foundation of every successful strategy to influence people is built using (at least a basic) behavioral psychology. If you don’t recognize what drives your prospects it is impossible to understand why people do what they do. However, when you know what your prospect values, you can articulate the value of your community or offer genuine support in a way that deeply resonates.
It is critical to stay tuned into where the person you’re connecting with is, in terms of their basic needs being met – whether that is recognizing the burnout in a staff member and setting aside time to talk with them or identifying a prospect that cannot seem to advance around a seemingly logical-to-overcome obstacle to move into your community. (Pro Tip: Deep dive into grief and loss, before giving advice to older adults on downsizing!)
Start at the bottom of Maslow’s hierarchy, the most important physiological needs, and work your way up through the pyramid to determine where they are currently struggling in a way that impacts their ability to make a decision. It’s possible they are facing challenges in multiple areas, and your prospect may not fully understand their needs themselves. It’s difficult to do in-depth self-reflection when managing stressful situations and emotionally charged decisions. Your prospect is likely to simply focus on one prominent symptom of the underlying issue, as opposed to trying to address the problem as a whole. That’s where you, as an expert in senior living, come in as you offer holistic solutions that deepen rapport and advance them through the sales process.
Transforming Psychology into Sales
No worries – we’ve been preparing for this question our whole careers. Because your decision-makers can fall into a variety of categories, such as seniors, family members, and professional referral sources, it’s important to take advantage of account-based marketing strategies and custom-tailor your marketing and sales conversations. Let’s work through an example situation together:
Jane reaches out to discuss options for her and her husband. He recently suffered a fall and is in rehab, while she is struggling to keep up with everything that goes with living alone, maybe even for the first time in her life. Sally the salesperson jumps at the opportunity to share all about the amazing activities and chances to make new friends, pursue hobbies, and minimize her time spent on home maintenance. However, Sally quickly realizes Jane is losing interest.
STOP: What happened?
The turning point here is that while Jane will benefit from the activities the community offers and the maintenance-free lifestyle, the event that triggered her search was her husband’s fall and her current isolated living arrangement. These two urgent, base concerns can create overwhelming feelings of insecurity, causing Jane to feel unsafe. With emotional safety needs coming second only to the physical survival needs; humans are programmed to seek safety with all their attention in order to survive. It is only once a person feels safe that they can turn their attention to the other needs further up the hierarchy, such as seeking connection and belonging.
SELF-TEST FOR UNDERSTANDING:
Pick a prospect from your database. Are they ‘surviving’ or ‘thriving’ based on Maslow’s pyramid? Double-check what’s driving them with this simple A/B test.
Loss Aversion / Pain Avoidant (LAPA)
Concerns: economics, risk, strategy, politics
Stability: lower levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
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To avoid getting fired
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New at job and needs to learn and get up to speed
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To avoid too much effort because of other stress factors
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To not get bogged down
If you are facing LAPA, then you should lead with one of these:
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Social proof or influence
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Familiarity
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Security
Goal Attainment / Pleasure (GAP)
Collaboration: know the full scope of the community, team and programs
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To be recognized as amazing/legacy
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To keep growing and not get bogged down
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To hit a number or stay under a budget
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To find unique solutions that positions them for the future
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To drive towards an internal benchmark
If the secret aim is on the GAP list, then your approach should be:
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To highlight enjoying life
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Connect with a bigger vision
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To offer opportunities to be inspired / play (delight)
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Customization
How to Unleash Your Sales Potential
At ADage, we understand people. Are you struggling to uncover what drives your prospects? Do your sales and marketing teams need help understanding buyer psychology, generating content that resonates, or manufacturing urgency to help guide your prospects along the sales journey? The strategists at ADage are ready to help you interpret human behavior and turn that into data that converts. Let’s set up a time to chat about how to achieve your growth goals this year: https://adagemarketinggroup.com/contact