168: How to understand what your customer wants – with Melina Palmer

What if there was a way to definitively know and understand what your customer wants? With this information, you would be able to confidently convert more leads into clients and know you’re charging the right amount. Would you want to learn how? 

My special guest today is author Melina Palmer and she’s simplifying how to understand what your customer wants. It all comes down to behavioral economics, (as in, why do people buy things when they do) to truly discover what they want and most times, can’t tell you. When we better understand how their brain works, we understand how your brand’s nuances and nudges are working for (or AGAINST!) you and your sales targets.

Here’s how. 

My special guest today is Melina Palmer and she’s simplifying how to understand what your customer wants.

We tackle and simplify all aspects of it, including:

• How she defines ‘behavioral economics’ and why it’s so important to understand what unspoken forces are at play when your customers are thinking about buying your products or services
• Two simple ways you can improve your pricing and increase sales by better understanding your customer’s behaviors
  • understand that 99% of what people do is on subconscious, unspoken level
  • standardize your pricing to end in the same number (whether it’s 5, 7, 9 or 0)
• Learn ways to create better “brain-friendly” brand messaging, using the tools of framing and priming
• If decisions are made (mostly) on the subconscious level, she shares the hidden rules in the brain that’ll actually increase sales
• …and ultimately, we talked about “the jar method”, which is a BRILLIANT way to motivate and keep your clients accountable for the work they promise to complete in between coaching calls. How to use this method to help them #dothething (BTW, I’m stealing this idea, it’s so smart!)

Melina has a certain knack for simplifying this topic (which can come off as a bit cerebral) without it feeling too academic or stuffy. We all know that we are faced with thousands of marketing messages in our daily lives… some we’re aware of, most we aren’t. No one really likes to be pushed into buying something or felt like they’ve been manipulated, right? (Yup, me neither.) 

However, when you are aware of how your customer’s brain works when they are contemplating making a purchase or investing in a new thing from you, you can refine the buying journey to be more pleasant. And when you do that, you’re creating a more world-class experience working with you from start to finish… and this leads to fans in your gospel choir and referrals a-plenty. 

Q: Are you ready to (truly) understand what your customer wants? If yes, this one is for you. It’s time to #DoTheThing!

<What’s catching my eye this week>

• The Internet’s Memory of Breonna Taylor – The Cut, written by Mary Retta 
• Sunday funk jam session with DJ Premier and Brady Watt – Marc Rebillet
• Attend Europe’s leading purpose-led business conference – May 19-20, 2021 – Impact Summit
• 50 powerful questions to help you reflect – The Institute of You
• Mary is offering 50-minute 1-1 brainstorming sessions for those looking for ideas on how to pivot their businesses

Links, books and apps mentioned:

Book: What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You: Unlocking Consumer Decisions with the Science of Behavioral Economics – Melina Palmer

Book: You’re Invited: The Art and Science of Cultivating Influence – John Levy

Freebies: Download the first chapter of the book – click here! – Melina Palmer

Podcast: The Brainy Business: Understanding the Psychology of Why People Buy – Melina Palmer

Podcast: How to get into the flow – part one, featuring Scott Robinson – The Simplifiers Podcast

Podcast: How to close more discovery calls, featuring Nikki Rausch – The Simplifiers Podcast

Podcast: How to squash your limiting self-beliefs – The Simplifiers Podcast

About Melina Palmer

Melina Palmer – She is the founder and CEO of The Brainy Business, which provides behavioral economics consulting to businesses of all sizes from around the world. Her podcast, The Brainy Business: Understanding the Psychology of Why People Buy, has downloads in over 160 countries and is used as a resource for teaching applied behavioral economics for many universities and businesses. 

Melina obtained her bachelor’s degree in business administration: marketing and worked in corporate marketing and brand strategy for over a decade before earning her master’s in behavioral economics. A proud member of the Global Association of Applied Behavioral Scientists, Melina has contributed research to the Association for Consumer Research, Filene Research Institute, and runs the Behavioral Economics & Business column for Inc Magazine. 

She teaches applied behavioral economics through the Texas A&M Human Behavior Lab and her first book, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You, publishes May 2021.