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What I Learned From Tony Robbins

I recently had the privilege of seeing Anthony “Tony” Robbins live at an event in Dallas, Texas. It was an odd match up as the event was about funnel hacking and yet Tony was doing the closing keynote. Given that he doesn’t do very many of these “private” talks and charges thousands for his events, I wasn’t going to question the relevance of having him close out the event.

Now if you’ve never heard of Tony Robbins (Where have you been for the last 2 decades?), he is regarded as the best success coach in the world. He advises presidents, superstar athletes, star studded celebrities and the biggest business moguls around the world. I believe the price tag for him to be your personal coach is $1 million per year.  With a net worth into the hundreds of millions himself, he doesn’t do these talks for money.

The experience was mind-blowing. The atmosphere leading up to his talk was like the anticipation I felt as I waited for the Sydney Olympics opening ceremonies to begin at Stadium Australia with 100,000+ other people. The energy was high, the music was blasting and electricity was in the air. It was like a rock concert.  People jumping up and down, hugging, high fiving, connections being made, tears flowing – it was surreal.

If you have a chance to experience Tony in person, I would highly recommend it. He seems to have an uncanny ability to connect with individuals despite the audience of thousands.

Everybody Has 6 Needs

Anyway, what does any of this have to do with online sales and marketing?  A lot.  One of Tony’s teachings is that everybody has 6 common needs.  These are:

1. Certainty – This is the need for stability, safety, security and comfort. If people don’t have certainty, they will have a hard time focusing on anything else.
2. Uncertainty / Variety – If there is too much certainty, life becomes boring as everything is predictable. People have a need for excitement, adventure, challenges.
3. Significance – People have a need to feel valued, unique, important, special or needed.
4. Connection / Love – People want to feel connected to someone or something. Communities of like-minded people or a strong mission can attract people to a cause or group.
5. Growth – People have a need to expand themselves through learning and mastery of a skill or knowledge.
6. Contribution – People have a need to feel like they are serving, giving or supporting others.

Everybody finds a way to meet the first 4 needs. The key point here is that the top 2 needs of a person controls their life.  People will make their decisions and take action based on what the top 2 needs are for them.  If you can identify what the top 2 needs are for your ideal customer and position your product or service to meet those needs, you’ll have a much easier time getting them to say yes.

Creating Raving Fans

If a person’s top need is for significance (they want to be unique or different), then a tactic such as raising your price above the competitions is the best way of convincing these people to buy from you instead of your competitors.  If your customer has a strong need for contribution, then adding a social cause to your business (such as Tom’s Shoes) will appeal to them.

Knowing who your target market is and what their primary needs are will help you market your business more effectively. If you can get your solution to meet the top 3 needs of customers’, you create raving fans who will praise your product, service and company to everybody they know.

Can you use more raving fans? If so, start identifying your target customers’ top needs and find a way to meet them! We’d love to hear from you on how you can or have re-positioned your solution to better meet your customers’ needs.  Comment below or send us an email at info@cornerstone-digital.com.au.

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Michael Lam

Co-founder of Cornerstone and web junkie, Michael knows just how to diagnose your online problems and remedy the issue. An online enthusiast who believes in technology as an enabler of growth, Michael worries about all the details so you don't have to.