What They Know About Us

Driving down Highway 100 the other day. Concentrating on other things. Speeding.

Oh look… there’s a Minneapolis police car. Instant change in state of mind. Eyes flick back and forth from speedometer to the cop. We’ve all been “there.” A pick-up truck speeds right by, in blatant defiance of the squad. The cop doesn’t pursue! That cop knows something I don’t know.

Trade secrets. Every profession has them. I’m not just talking about Coke recipes. I’m talking about possessing key insights into your customers’ needs and behaviors that gives you a leg up on them and the competition. The policeman knows his mere presence will regulate my speed. He’s oblivious, listening to Carrie Underwood on the radio. Advantage–cop.

Every business, every organization, every product seller knows something about their market the market doesn’t know about itself. It’s in a similar ballpark to a carnival barker getting a Rube to play his game.

For instance, Howie Mandel and the producers of Deal or No Deal know that people will statistically lunge for the big payoff–every single time. He’s expert at guiding them through those emotional choppy waters, knowing full well they’ll blow their chance at $200,000 by going for the Big Payoff. It’s a microcosm of Vegas. They know you’ll keep pumping that slot handle ‘til it’s all gone.

A well-known multinational food company counterintuitively decided they would increase the number of servers per table in their restaurants. They realized that people getting a little more attention from the server would buy more drinks, apps, and desserts. The servers found the more add-ons, the higher the tip. The restaurant sold more, the servers made more money with fewer tables, and the customer left with a thinner wallet.

A huge HMO was doing customer research. They asked, “If you had to change doctors, how would you feel?” The answer they got back was, “I’d hate it; it would be a terrible inconvenience.” What some very observant focus group moderator realized was that the customer was really saying they were scared. It was the ‘90s, a time when health care was changing so rapidly that people really felt it was out of control, so they felt out of control. The HMO, acting on an understanding of their customers that even their customers weren’t consciously aware of, focused their campaign on Having Control. The sign-ups increased dramatically plus they had a six-month lead on their less-observant competitors.

Altitude Intelligence, a phrase coined by a Minneapolis brand author, describes that notion most of us have that someone from anywhere but here is smarter. The word altitude is used because “you’re a lot smarter if you flew in from somewhere versus driving or walking.” It’s B.S. of course, but an insight that some companies effectively exploit in acquiring business. Sometimes it backfires. An agency friend of mine got a call from a woman who said she represented “only national artists.” His response was, “Well they live somewhere, so what you’re really selling are local artists who don’t live where I live.” Foiled, she hung up.

Steve Jobs, Apple’s king of wow and wink, knows that his products are all about desire, pure and simple. He doesn’t ask customers what they want. As he says, “You can’t ask them what they want if (the answer) is around the next corner.” He already knows what people want, and he knows how to make it indescribably essential. He is a true genius, an industry revolutionary, and he kicks the pants off everyone he competes with.

What do you know about your customers they don’t know about themselves?