Businesses must unders­tand how people make purchases. Especially when th­ey are in the B2C arena (b­usiness to customers). This is a ve­ry critical aspect for planning marketing strategies and to succeed.

The dominant buying motive (DBM) is what will cause people to buy, but just knowing how important it is to selling or marketing is not enough. We must understand why it is important, and we must then use it. Two examples illustrate my point:

A husband and wife I have kno­wn returned to India about a year ago. They have an apartment in Mumbai, and before selling it they bought a new house in Ban­galore, both under mortgage. For more than a year after the purch­ase they made payments to HDFC on both the apartment and the house before selling the Mumbai one. Why? The separate living and dining room combination of the new house with split-levels looked like the one in the wife's childhood home in Kolkata. The emotion was so great she had to buy the house at once.

A friend of mine wanted an apa­rtment in a high-rise building. She grew up in Chennai, and I asked her what kind of apartment her family had owned, expecting her to say a three-bedroom flat on Lloyd's or Sterling Road. No, she grew up in a two-storey bungalow in suburban Guindy, and she hated it. She said she was the only child, and every night she had to go upstairs alone to bed. She wanted safety and a feeling of companionship while selecting an apartment.

Although both these people had childhood memories that determ­i­ned their houses, it is probable th­at neither of them realised when they began looking for houses.

It is important that we manag­ers discover these emotions if we wish to get people to buy what we se­ll. We do not motivate people to buy. We help uncover their emot­ions, and they motivate themse­lves. We must recognise DBM wh­en we locate it. DBM is not product-related. It is in the person.

I asked a colleague of mine why he wanted to buy life insurance. "Because I love my family," he said. His DBM is love. Another person said he bought life insurance bec­ause it was his obligation to take care of his family. That was his motivation. Still another said he wanted life insurance so that when he died, people would not point to his grave and call him an SOB because he did not take care of his family. His DBM was not wanting to be criticised after death. Same product, different DBMs.

If we wish to motivate people to buy, we better quit wishing and find out what emotion will motivate them to buy. Sometimes in sales or marketing, we discover the prospect's DBM and at the same time enable the prospect to discover it. At other times we discover what is already known, and the prospect simply relives it. Either way, generally, we must initiate the discovery.

Now comes the easy part: how to discover the prospect's DBM. We determine what characteristic or benefit of our product our prospects want and ask why that is important to them.

Here is an example from the banquet catering business:

At a banquet it took too long to serve the meal. Some guests finished while others were just starting. Some blamed the hostess for the poor job of the caterer. What the hostess wants from her next caterer: To serve quickly so all people can eat together. Why that is important to her? (Her DBM): To have guests know she did a good job. At her next banquet, the food was cold and people complained. What she wants from her next caterer: Food served hot. Why that would be important to her? (Her DBM): I don't want to be embarrassed. At her daughter's wedding reception, they ran out of silverware, and some guests had to eat without spoons. Her daughter was not proud of the reception. What the hostess wants from the new caterer: Enough silverware to go around. Why that would be important to her? (Her DBM): I want my daughter to be proud of her reception. Initially, people want to know the price of the banquet catering, but many times what causes them to buy from a particular company is their DBM.

Four friends of mine have something in common. One sells insurance, one sells real estate, another sells cars and the other sells audio systems. They all say that people buy on price. They say that without the lowest prices they do not get the sale. That is so strange because the rest of my friends do not own the cheapest cars, the least expensive homes, the lowest cost audio systems, nor the cheapest insurance. Who are these people selling to?