There are six human needs that have been written about, originally by Tony Robbins. From these six basic human needs, six emotional USPs for businesses have been developed.

The six elements are Certainty, Connection, Contribution, Growth, Significance and Variety. They explain what we do as individuals; and why and how we do what we do. We all strive to meet our core needs and issues arise when we can’t meet them. Most of us will have a main human need that drives us, but we also need a mix of all six to stay balanced. The second human need and Emotional USP is Connection.

Connection as a Human Need

If Connection is your top human need, you will be someone who constantly looks for close relationships with others. You want a sense of belonging – to a relationship, a family, a group or even an organisation. This can lead to some very fulfilling relationships, but it can also cause you to overlook self-care, in favour of taking care of other people or your relationship with them.

How can you tell if Connection is one of your core needs? Loyalty and generosity with those you love will be your top values. You give freely and other people find you trustworthy. You have strong social ties, but you can sometimes find it hard to say “No”.

Is Connection your key motivator?

Connection as an Emotional USP

Most businesses have one main emotional USP that they can use to attract perfect clients.

If Connection is the Emotional USP of your business, you will be known in business circles as someone who is well connected and who can always introduce clients to the people they need to know. You might not be able to help someone answer a particular question, but you will know a man (or woman) who can. You willingly share your connections, preferring to pass work to someone who is better placed to help, than trying to do second rate job yourself. When you’re networking and speaking to people you meet, you’re probably always thinking about who else you can introduce them to.

If you often hear yourself saying “I think you should meet Sam – the two of you will get on really well and you might be able to work together,” then Connection is probably your Emotional USP. Clients will come to work with you because they know that you can support them through your network of other experts.

Is Connection your business’s Emotional USP?

The Big Brand

In my research into Emotional USPs I’ve been looking for big brands that I see using each of the six. For Connection my favourite example is LinkedIn – also my favourite social media network.

I first joined LinkedIn in about 2003, when it was first set up. Back then it was more about recruitment and getting a job and so, having set up my business in 2000, I didn’t use it much. I wasn’t looking for a job or for staff.

As time went on, LinkedIn seemed to change and became what it is now – a place to make connections. People join LinkedIn because it’s one of the best ways to make the connections you need for your business. You can find clients, suppliers and employees, all online and all over the world. One of the best features is the ability to recommend other people and to look at the recommendations left for people you’re thinking about working with. You can only be recommended by someone to whom you are connected and they have to leave the recommendation for you. This means that your potential clients can see exactly who you have worked with and what they like about you.

LinkedIn uses Connection very well in promoting the online service. According to https://about.linkedin.com the mission of LinkedIn is simple: connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful. Even though LinkedIn now also makes money from membership subscriptions, advertising and recruitment solutions, the underlying Emotional USP is still Connection.

Are we LinkedIn? If not, find me here and ask me to connect. I might know just the person you’re looking for!

Introducing Contribution

In the previous issue of Scribbles I wrote about the first Emotional USP of Certainty. Here we’ve looked at Connection, so next time I’ll introduce you to the third one, which is Contribution. To give you a flavour of how this one works, I can tell you about charities that promote themselves well use Contribution to get their message across and to raise funds. When you make a donation to a charity, you’re contributing to something bigger than yourself and it gives you a good feeling of positive emotions.

Here’s an example. On 11 September 2021 I’ll be walking a half marathon in aid of the Alzheimer’s Society. That’s 13 miles through Wiltshire, stopping off at the amazing Stonehenge. I’m doing the walk in memory of my amazing Mum, who died 4 years ago and who struggled with losing her short term memory in the last few years of her life. It’s a horrid disease and it’s really tough watching someone you love lose the strong grasp they used to have on their life.

Please will you sponsor me, to help the Alzheimer’s Society do more research into the disease and provide support for those who are unlucky enough to have it? You can sponsor me here and for every pound you give, I will double it, by donating the same amount from Appletree. Yes, I will match fund anything that you are able to donate! Thank you for your support – and your contribution!