Some years ago Tony Robbins identified six basic human needs that drive our actions. From these, six Emotional Reputation Strategies have been developed, based on the emotions that drive the decision to buy from your business.

The six strategies are Certainty, Connection, Contribution, Growth, Significance and Variety. The second human need and Emotional Reputation Strategy is Contribution.

Contribution as a Human Need

If Contribution is your top human need, you’ll be a very empathetic and compassionate person. You enjoy giving back and sharing what you have. You want to leave a legacy. On the flip side, you may burn out easily or let others take advantage of you, through your need to please and help them.

When you feel a need to give back, either by volunteering for a charity, or even starting your own, then you’re probably highly motivated by Contribution. Do you always look for close relationships with others and have a sense of belonging – to a relationship, a family, a group or even an organisation? If so, then Contribution could be your main human need.

Is Contribution your key motivator?

Contribution as an Emotional Reputation Strategy

Most businesses have one main Emotional Reputation Strategy that they can use to attract perfect clients.

When Contribution is the Emotional Reputation Strategy of your business, your clients will work with you because you can help them to make a significant contribution through their business. For example, if you’re a professional speaker with an Emotional Reputation Strategy of Contribution, your clients will book you because they know that you’ll help the members of their audience make a bigger contribution to the company they work for.

As a coach, you might be booked by corporate clients to encourage in employees a sense of service and giving back to their employer. Encouraging staff to be more committed to the business and working harder for the whole organisation is why clients will buy from you. You might also be involved in helping your clients to develop a sense of purpose or a big picture goal – either individually or as a team or department. You can help your clients to connect with something bigger than just them.

Some charities also use Contribution very effectively as their Emotional Reputation Strategy. When you make a donation to your favourite charity, or take part in a sponsored half marathon walk, you feel like you’re doing some good, for something bigger than just you.

Is Contribution your business’s Emotional Reputation Strategy?

The Big Brand

In my research into Emotional Reputation Strategies I’ve been searching out companies that I see using each of the six.

For Contribution, I would like to introduce you to Riverford Organic Farmers – a wonderful company that delivers a box of delicious, fresh veg to my home every Friday morning.

Back in 1987 one man had a dream about providing the best quality, organically grown fruit and veg to homes in the UK. Guy Singh-Watson is still the driving force behind this company, from whom I started ordering my weekly veg supply last year. Initially I wanted someone to deliver great food to my home, during lockdown. For many years I’ve bought local produce from local farm shops, but none of them delivered or had a predictable standard of produce at reasonable prices.

I signed up to a weekly veg box and have since discovered that I get so much more than great veg. I get a sense of contribution to the planet, through the practices employed by Riverford. All their produce is grown organically, sustainably and ethically. They don’t air freight anything produce into the UK. They are employee owned and have been voted one of the best large companies to work for. They treat their employees with dignity and respect, paying them what they deserve, regardless of their gender. All their packaging is reusable, recyclable or compostable. Even their plastic bags will rot down on my compost heap. Buying from them helps me give back and make less of an impact on the planet. For this reason, I believe that Riverford’s Emotional Reputation Strategy and they use it brilliantly in their marketing.

Check out their website for more details and if you’d like me to refer you, you’ll get £15 off your first order. Click here to ask me to introduce you to this great company.