Nature versus nuture

Before we went out for dinner my wife had gone off and done what she calls a “Big Shop.”

That’s where she goes to the supermarket with our daughter, they each grab a trolley and they proceed to fill both trollies to the top with food. The bill comes to anywhere between $500-600.

The house is then well stocked with the essentials and the non-essentials. In between these “Big Shops”, she buys food in quantities of about $150 a time.

When my wife plans a “Big Shop” she gets most excited. She’s happy all day long – which is a rarity (married men reading this blog are going “I hear you brother!”). She loves doing the “Big Shop”.

That’s nature

As a woman she has an instinctive need to see food in the pantry, food in the fridge and food in the freezer. It’s a survival mechanism, I guess from way, way back.

As many men will atest, they feel a strong urge to be a provider. You’ll often see guys struggle emotionally if their partner earns more money than them (despite our enlightened times). Seems to devalue their self worth and chip away at their self esteem.

Again, that’s nature.

So what does this have to do with marketing your business? Plenty, I’d say.

At it’s basest level, you could position your product to meet those underlying needs of humans. If you are selling a portable BBQ, your pitch to a woman might be “The kids will be well fed with one of these.”

Your pitch to the husband might be a little different, “The family will be impressed when you bring home a big steak to toss on the BBQ.”

Corny examples, as usual, but I think you get the drift.

Different strokes for different folks. We all need to subtly change our offer for men and women. But more than that, we need to change our offer for every sort of different market segment.

And the most effective way to find out what would work best on your customers is to ask some question. My favourite is, “Mrs. Smith, what sort of car do you have? Why did you decide to buy that sort of car?”

If Mrs. Smith answers that question then you have made a sale practically. Because if Mrs. Smith says she bought the car because:

1. It’s safe
2. It has a CD player
3. It has roof racks
4. She likes the colour

…then your offer is going to be a car that:

1. Is safe
2. Has a CD player
3. Has roof racks
4. Is the exact same colour

Adjust your offer (and how you offer it) to meet the needs of your market. It’s in people’s nature to keep doing the same things.