🦉 4 Human drivers that will make you better at selling
Whether you like it or not, we are all selling something
If you sell or market anything, this post is for you.
Whether you like it or not, we are all selling something. Sometimes, it's physical products, and other times, it's our preference to go to a certain restaurant.
Good marketers understand how humans make decisions; they understand the core drivers and motivations of humans.
Josh Kaufman’s recent appearance on The Diary of A CEO podcast (which has over 6 million subscribers on YT and is hosted by Steven Bartlett, a marketing prodigy who is the youngest dragon on Dragon’s Den show) delved into the four core human drivers behind buying something or taking action.
Josh Kaufman is a New York Times best-selling author best known for his insights into business, solo entrepreneurship, skill acquisition, productivity, and practical wisdom.
The core drivers mentioned come from a book called Drive. The key drivers for humans taking action are:
If your product or service doesn’t address or lack any of these drivers, it will be hard to sell. Understanding WHY someone might buy your product will help you highlight that specific need, making it easier for the buyer to make the decision.
Take Apple, for example. People buy Apple products because of the following:
Drive to acquire - Acquire status of being an Apple user, carrying an iPhone
Drive to bond - Connect with your loved ones and the world
Drive to defend - Apple is one of the best at security and privacy
Drive to learn - Ability to learn anything you wish, when you wish
Bonus driver: Drive to feel - A thousand songs in your pocket - feeling of all the feelings those songs bring you
This is how I am applying this for my newsletter:
Drive to acquire: Readers acquire knowledge and new skills via the newsletter.
Drive to bond: Connect with a community of people with similar goals, chat, share ideas on a group chat on Substack, and create accountability and positive social pressure.
Drive to defend: Defend against degradation from doing nothing to improve yourself; defend against confusion and complexity created by the sheer amount of information that is out there.
Drive to learn: Readers learn faster via summarized ideas shared in the newsletter that can be implemented immediately.
Drive to feel: Feel in control by taking action. Be productive and joyful by intentionally building the life you want.
Your turn?
Complete the following for your product or service.
Drive to acquire
Drive to bond
Drive to defend
Drive to learn
Drive to feel
Side note: My favorite insight from Josh’s work is the idea of being a well-rounded human who has skills in many areas.
I hope this was useful. If Entrepreneurship or marketing isn’t your thing, please navigate to the other sections below.
Much Love
PM
Brilliant advice. I had never thought of marketing in terms of drivers. Thank you!
Great article. Applying these drivers along the consumer journey and it's a win!