What’s the value (in numbers) of what you provide to your clients?

Sure you’ve got testimonials singing your praises.

But do any of them say things like:

• “She helped me grow my business by 30% last year.”
• “With him at my side, I was able to lose 123 pounds.”
• “They showed us how to increase our productivity and accomplish 3x more than we’d been able to previously.”

I ask you this question because it’s one that we all need to understand if we want to have any hope of creating marketing that sends a clear message about why someone would want to work with us.

And we’ll never know the answer if we don’t actually measure anything.

The Before and After Approach

Part of the success of the TV reality show “Biggest Loser” is that it provides the players and viewers with clear measure of outcomes.

If a player eats fewer calories and exercises more, usually she’ll see a positive outcome (e.g. weight loss). We understand those mechanics, and can relate to the frustrations that might arise when the outcome doesn’t happen. If the desired weight loss doesn’t occur, then we get to enjoy the drama of Jillian Michaels getting to the bottom of WHY.

The point here is that just like the hosts of “Biggest Loser,” we need to help our existing clients track and measure their progress. It helps both parties stay on track and see immediately when there’s a need to investigate into WHY something doesn’t work.

The first step to measuring progress is to get your client’s cooperation. Sometimes that’s easy. You just explain your intentions with a simple, “I always want to be sure I deliver the highest value. So let’s track your progress and see where we end up when we’re finished, okay?”

Most folks are happy to play along. They, too, want to know how well their investment provides a return.

Which leads to my next point…

Everyone Loves a Progress Bar

You’ve seen the Progress Bar. They’re ubiquitous online – wherever you’re asked to complete a task (e.g. fill out a survey, complete your LinkedIn profile, download a file) – you’ll find one.

Guess what? The progress bar is an element of game mechanics. And game mechanics are a piece of the new trend you’ve probably heard about called “gamification.” (Gamification is the art and science of applying game theory and mechanics to non-game contexts.)

There are three reasons why the progress bar is so enticing to the human brain:

First: Our drive to satisfy our own curiosity. We want to find out what happens next. An incomplete progress bar is a constant reminder that there’s still more to come. Think about it like a movie or a book – you keep watching (or reading) because you want to know how the story ends. A progress bar keeps us motivated to perform tasks required to get to the next point. This works particularly well when coupled with rewards that are delivered at various stages of completion rather than just when the final goal is reached.

Second: We like Dopamine. The feel-good neurotransmitter is released in the brain when we receive rewards. It’s also released when we’re anticipating receiving one, too. Progress bars build up our anticipation by showing how close we’re getting to the final goal. It helps us feel good about our progress. Our ultimate success (achieving a 100% complete) is often perceived as a reward in itself for many people, adding to the dopamine mix and encouraging us to continue forward.

Finally: Progress bars show us how much we’ve invested in the task-at-hand. Whether it’s effort, time, or even money, knowing what we’ve “spent” keeps us “in the game.” Psychologists talk about the sunk cost effect which is essentially the tendency of people to continue in an endeavor once an investment of some kind has been made. The more time, effort or money someone’s put into something, the more likely they are to continue to the end.

Zero Outcomes = Zero Value

If your clients don’t take your advice and make a change – if they don’t implement – there won’t be any outcome to point to as evidence of your brilliance.

So your number one concern as a business owner, is to ensure that your customers actually use your products and services – not just buy them.

And the Progress Bar is just one way to help your clients engage with their own transformation.

But don’t be fooled. Gamification strategies can’t be slapped on as an afterthought. You’ve got to build them in to your business model from the get go. Otherwise, you might call the effort “pointsification” or “badgification.” And racking up points or rewards isn’t necessarily going to help your customer create lasting change.

Final Thoughts

What do you think? Are you already measuring your clients’ before and after? Have you used any game mechanics to keep your clients motivated and making forward progress? Or are you stumped about how to take advantage of this idea in your own business? Share a comment or question and let’s discuss!

Additional Reading:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/ulterior-motives/201105/motivation-and-the-middle
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/26-elements-of-a-gamification-marketing-strategy/

Tea Silvestre (aka The Word Chef) is a gastronaut, marketing coach and the producer of the ground-breaking web series, “Prosperity’s Kitchen” – a gamified approach to teaching solopreneurs and start-ups how to market themselves online.

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