Great (and not so great) Expectations

Here is an excellent exercise for your sales and marketing team. Sit down together and list every positive and negative payoff you can imagine that might occur for someone purchasing your product or service.

For example: If someone buys your toaster, one positive is they might not burn their toast as often (because of the built-in heat sensor). Another is that people may admire how good it looks (because of its sleek European styling). A negative payoff might be that their spouse may yell at them (because of the high cost). Or that it might not fit on their counter (because of its bulky European styling) Get the idea?

This exercise is based on the EXPECTANCY THEORY of Victor Vroom (don’t you love that name?), which suggests that purchasing decisions are made based on the net of what we expect the positive and negative payoffs to be from purchasing that product or service. In other words, for each possible decision, we have an expectation of the pros and cons, which we then consciously and subconsciously weigh against each other in arriving at a decision.

At the end of your exercise, you’ll have a list of possible payoffs. Rank them by the likelihood that your target consumers will expect them to occur.

Then figure out how to minimize the likelihood and perception of the negative payoffs. For example if you have a high cost, you might want to stress how that cost is amortized over an extended period. This is a great way to identify and deal with problems you may not have been considering.

Finally, you’ll want to consistently include the top-ranked positive payoffs (which you’ve identified) in your advertising and collateral so that your prospects can visualize these outcomes. The idea is to allow viewers to “see” each outcome in a context that will ensure it is remembered at the appropriate moment in the purchasing process.

That’s why commercials often feature new car drivers being admired by beautiful women or handsome men, and why beer ads show people having a good time out with their friends instead of drinking alone in front of the television. It wouldn’t be surprising to find this exercise has identified a couple of payoffs that you’ve been slighting in your advertising or sales presentations.