There are six basic human needs that drive our actions – six emotional needs. These emotional needs form the basis of six Emotional Reputation Strategies that can be used very effectively by coaches, consultants and trainers, in marketing your business.

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

Significance as a Human Need

If significance is one of your top motivators, then part of meeting that need includes receiving recognition. You will have a desire to be seen, to be heard and to be listened to. You want and need to be noticed. You measure yourself by what you believe makes you unique, compared to other people. Recognition provides you with a sense of validation that makes you feel seen, special and needed.

You can tell if significance is one of your core needs if you’re highly driven to be successful and if you love setting and reaching goals. You’re committed to a cause – or several causes. Other people tell you that you stand out. You can be competitive, a perfectionist or even dramatic.

Is Significance your key motivator?

Significance as an Emotional Reputation Strategy

When Significance is your Emotional Reputation Strategy, clients will work with you because they know that you can help them to stand out, have a greater impact or develop a greater level of significance in their work or company.

If you’re a Career Coach, your clients are probably looking for a promotion, or a better job than the one they have now. They’re looking for greater significance through the work they do. They will hire you to help them to climb the corporate ladder. Through working with you, they will feel more significant and develop the confidence and assertiveness they need, in order to apply for that next job. Significance is not restricted just to Career Coaches – it can be the reason that clients work with many different types of coaches and consultants.

While there are six Emotional Reputation Strategies, most businesses will have one key one that really helps them to attract their ideal clients.

Is Significance your business’s Emotional Reputation Strategy?

The Best Brand

An example I’ve seen of Significance in business is Apple. They might sell phones and computers, but they don’t promote the business on how great the tech is. They promote each product as something that can help you to stand out. Have you ever noticed how ‘Apple People’ are really proud of their latest iPhone? Compared to those of us who are happy with our Androids (I love my Google Pixel – it has a great camera and makes phone calls too!) Apple owners like to show off what they’ve got. The tech makes them feel special. So special that they will queue up overnight to buy the latest version, even when the current version they have works just fine.

Microsoft products probably do exactly what Apple products do. But if you’re an Apple Person, no doubt you disagree with that statement! I think that Microsoft promote their products on Certainty – when you buy their kit you know that it will get the job done for you. They don’t sell computers based on making you feel special, or to help you stand out. Apple do that very well, which makes me believe that the Emotional Reputation Strategy they use is Significance.

Are you an Apple Person? How do your iPhone or your Mac make you feel?