Your rating for Marketing and Customer Communications is: Poor

Hmmm. That's disappointing. The great news is there is plenty of upside for you without spending a lot of money or needing to reengineer your business. Behavioural techniques are about tweaking what you already do so your efforts are more effective.

How to improve:

• Clarify your behavioural objective at the start of every campaign so you focus on what you need to get them to do;
• Don't rely on what customers tell you (that includes many forms of research). Wherever possible, test and observe;
• Don't rely on typical copywriting. Sure, your copy might be well articulated but that doesn't always mean it's effective. Investigate use of "framing" and employ behavioural copywriting services;
• Avoid templated website design which tends to neglect key behavioural principles;
• and challenge your web developer on what they know about influencing visitors to take action;
• Use behavioural economics to systematise how you engage customers (e.g. applying and testing specific principles).

Tools to support you:

• Use the free Behavioural Analysis tool to help clarify your behavioural objective
• Read the Little Book of Letters and Emails: Six golden rules for compelling communications
• Have a website audit conducted by Bri to pinpoint where the major opportunities lie
• Arrange a training session so your team gets up to speed as soon as possible

 These tips will be emailed directly to you shortly.

Your rating for Marketing and Customer Communications is: Room for improvement

It seems you are doing some things well, but others aren't where you need them to be. Behavioural economics can make your activities more consistently effective, as well as give your team a common understanding of how to influence customers.

How to improve:

• Clarify your behavioural objective at the start of every campaign so you focus on what you need to get them to do;
  Don't rely on what customers tell you (that includes many forms of research). Wherever possible, test and observe;
• Don't rely on typical copywriting. Sure, your copy might be well articulated but that doesn't always mean it's effective. Investigate use of "framing" and employ behavioural copywriting services;
• Avoid templated website design which tends to neglect key behavioural principles;
  and challenge your web developer on what they know about influencing visitors to take action;
• Use behavioural economics to systematise how you engage customers (e.g. applying and testing specific principles).

Tools to support you:

• Use the free Behavioural Analysis tool to push your skills even further
• Read the Little Book of Letters and Emails: Six golden rules for compelling communications
• Have a website audit conducted by Bri to pinpoint where your opportunities lie
• Arrange a training session so your team gets up to speed as soon as possible

 These tips will be emailed directly to you shortly.

Your rating for Marketing and Customer Communications is: Good

Congratulations, you seem to be on the right track.

How to further improve:

• Ensure every campaign starts with clarifying your behavioural objective to reduce wasted effort and focus the team on what outcome you are driving;
• Expand observation-based testing so you avoid the "say vs. do" gap;
• Experiment with positive and negative framing (e.g. "you save" vs "you don't waste");
• Expand and formalise your use of behavioural economics and consider showcasing your success in industry award programs. 

Tools to support you:

• Book 1:1 behavioural coaching sessions to push your skills even further
• Use the free Behavioural Analysis tool to clarify your behavioural objective
• Read Behavioural Economics for Business to formalise your application of BE
• Have a website audit conducted by Bri to spot any further refinements

  These tips will be emailed directly to you shortly.

Your rating for Pricing and Payments is: Poor

Ouch! That tells me you are leaving a LOT of money on the table. How you price and how you communicate price are two of the most fraught decisions in business. Thankfully, that means there is a lot of research on how to do pricing well.

How to improve:

• Don't list your price on its own - provide context;
• Always 'anchor' your pricing - sequence is vital;
• If you've got slow payers, review your terms of service and make sure you anchor to a short cycle;
• Consider discounts for on-time payment, and withhold some element of service until payment is made;
• Remember that money can be found if people really want what you are selling. While price is an easy objection to cite, it really means you haven't convinced them you are worth it.

Tools to support you:

• Use the free Behavioural Analysis tool to help clarify why customers might resist you (and use price as their excuse)
• Read the Little Book of Pricing and Payment 

These tips will be emailed directly to you shortly.

Your rating for Pricing and Payments is: Room for improvement

Not bad, not bad. But don't you want to be good? Pricing is such a sensitive topic, so it pays to get it right.

How to improve:

• Don't list your price on its own - provide context;
• Always 'anchor' your pricing - sequence is vital;
• If it's appropriate for your business, build in an annual price rise;
• If you've got slow payers, review your terms of service and make sure you anchor to a short cycle;
• Consider discounts for on-time payment, and withhold some element of service until payment is made;
• Remember that money can be found if people really want what you are selling. While price is an easy objection to cite, it really means you haven't convinced them you are worth it.

Tools to support you:

• Use the free Behavioural Analysis tool to help clarify why customers might resist you (and use price as their excuse)
• Read the Little Book of Pricing and Payment 

 These tips will be emailed directly to you shortly.

Your rating for Pricing and Payments is: Good

Look at you go! Nicely done. Sounds like you are framing value perception effectively, and not having too much trouble getting people to pay. But how about taking things to the next level?

How to further improve:

• Wean customers (and sales and marketing staff) off discounts;
• Experiment with font size and positioning of numbers on your website or in collateral. The "size congruency effect" means customers perceive prices to be lower if they are in smaller font;
• Raise prices - you might be leaving money on the table.

Tools to support you:

• Use the free Behavioural Analysis tool to help clarify why customers might resist you for reasons other than price
• Read the Little Book of Pricing and Payment 

 These tips will be emailed directly to you shortly.

Your rating for Product and Brand Development is: Poor

Crikey, that hurts! Seems like you are wasting a fair chunk of time and money, so let's look at how to get you the answers you need.

How to improve:

• Asking customers directly about your product or market will give you System 2 responses - that's the rationalising part of us that makes up a story that seems logical. Unfortunately, most of the time people are using their System 1 to make decisions. That leaves you with what I call the "say vs do" gap. You therefore need to rely more on observation than asking.
• Most research methods, like focus groups, interviews and surveys, will only give you part of the story. It might make you feel closer to your customer and give your team confidence that you are hearing directly from your market, but you simply can't rely on what customers tell you.
• Behavioural economics is based on observation and experimentation, and can be your bridge across the "say vs do" gap.
• Use experiments wherever you can e.g. A/B testing of web pages and letters

Tools to support you:

• Use the free Behavioural Analysis tool to help clarify why customers might resist you 
• Read Behavioural Economics for Business to understand a better way to influence customers
• Request Bri to overlay traditional research with a behavioural economics assessment

These tips will be emailed directly to you shortly. 

Your rating for Product and Brand Development is: Room for improvement

That's a little ho hum, isn't it?  I'm not suprised. The hardest thing to do is anticipate what your customers will do, and that's why we spend so much time and money trying.

Unfortunately, most methods that seem inutitively right - like asking our customers - are behaviourally wrong. Why? When we ask them we typically get a System 2 response. When they are in their natural habitat, they are relying on System 1. That means we are left with a "say vs do" gap, where people say one thing and do another. 

How to improve:

• Seek researchers that know about and use behavioural economics because it isbased on observation and experimentation rather than interviewing and asking;
• Design your products to overcome the three barriers to use: Apathy, Paralysis and Anxiety;
• Use experiments wherever you can e.g. A/B testing of web pages and letters.

Tools to support you:

• Use the free Behavioural Analysis tool to clarify why customers might resist 
• Read the Behavioural Economics for Business to understand how to better influence customers
• Ask Bri to consult on your project and show you how to get the right answers without needing to ask your customers

 These tips will be emailed directly to you shortly.

Your rating for Product and Brand Development is: Good

Stand back, we have a legend amongst us! One of the hardest things to do is anticipate future behaviour, so it looks like you are doing a pretty good job.

How to further improve:

• Start every project by anticipating three common barriers influence: Apathy, Paralysis and Anxiety;
• Embed the practice of starting with clarifying your behavioural objective - it will mean all your staff are clear on what you are trying to achieve;
• Use experiments wherever you can e.g. A/B testing of web pages and letters.

Tools to support you:

• Book 1:1 behavioural coaching sessions to push your skills even further
• Use the free Behavioural Analysis tool to help anticipate why customers might resist 
• Read Behavioural Economics for Business to formalise understanding of the science behind customer influence
• Ask Bri to consult on your project 

These tips will be emailed directly to you shortly. 

Your rating for Staff and Stakeholder is: Poor

Aggghhh. People! Life would be so much easier if we didn't have to work with and through others, right? But that's not the reality. To be successful we rely on our ability to influence other people to do stuff, yet most of us don't get any training in how.

Your rating suggests there is too much friction in your business, and people aren't doing what you need them to do. That is very wearing and frustrating.

How to improve:

• Consider the issue from their point of view and build the case from there;
• Realise motivation is fleeting, so you are wating your time trying to pump up their tyres. Instead focus on making what you need them to do clear and easy;
• Complete a stakeholder matrix to identify who you really need to focus on;
• Make deprioritising a priority i.e. it's more about what you agree NOT to do than do;
• Stop treating staff like children, because they won't rise to a better level if they are consistently overridden and/or ignored. People respond to autonomy, purpose and mastery.

Tools to support you:

• Use the free Behavioural Analysis tool to help clarify why staff and stakeholders might resist change 
• Read the Little Book of Letters and Emails to make your emails more compelling
• Book a training session on with Bri

These tips will be emailed directly to you shortly.

To receive your results by email remember to click "submit" below.

Your rating for Staff and Stakeholder is: Room for improvement

Not too shabby, but not great either. Getting people to do what you would like them to do is the most difficult and (often) frustrating part of the work day. Why can't people just do what they know they should?! 

Your rating suggests there is an opportunity to make life run a bit more smoothly for everyone. Stop wasting your energy on the wrong things.

How to improve:

• Consider the issue from their point of view and build the case from there;
• Focus on making what you need them to do clear and easy. Motivation is only ever fleeting, so you will exhaust yourself if you rely on getting people as excited about something as you are;
• Tackle stakeholders strategically. That means considering the order in which you recruit supporters and whether that is in a public (meeting) or private (1:1) setting;
• Pay attention to how your environment is priming your decision-makers - ceiling height, noise and chair formation can change outcomes!
• Make deprioritising a priority i.e. it's more about what you agree NOT to do than do.

Tools to support you:

• Use the free Behavioural Analysis tool to help clarify why staff and stakeholders might resist change
• Book a training session with Bri
• For personal effectiveness, read The How of Habits

These tips will be emailed directly to you shortly.

To receive your results by email remember to click "submit" below.

Your rating for Staff and Stakeholder is: Good

Take a bow maestro! Things look like they are humming along nicely, but I don't want you to rest on your laurels. The thing about working with and through others is we can always get better.

How to further improve:

• Look for opportunities to reward staff intrinsically rather than extrinsically;
• Experiment with how you influence stakeholders, and look for patterns. As much as possible try to codify your approach so you can recreate success;
• Improve how the environment is priming your team - ceiling height, noise and chair formation can change outcomes!
• Help others learn to depriorise tasks. It takes a lot of discipline and confidence to say no to projects. 

Tools to support you:

• Use the free Behavioural Analysis tool to help clarify why staff and stakeholders might resist change
• Book a training session with Bri on how to influence performance outcomes
• For personal effectiveness, read The How of Habits

These tips will be emailed directly to you shortly.

To receive your results by email remember to click "submit" below.