According to Abraham Maslow, basic human needs are arranged in a hierarchy according to their strength (Figure 8.6). His theory rests on the assumption that as each lower-level need is satisfied, the need at the next level demands attention.

Sometimes called “primary” needs, physiological needs include food, water, sleep, and shelter. Maslow placed our physiological needs at the bottom of the pyramid because he believed that these basic needs tended to be strong in the minds of most people.

After physiological needs have been satisfied, the next need level that tends to dominate is safety and security. Security needs represent our desire to be free from danger and uncertainty. The desire to satisfy the need for security and safety can be an important buying motive. Buyers want to feel secure that their salesperson is highly ethical and the products they are considering will perform as they expect. If a customer does not feel secure and safe in a transaction, it will almost always destroy any opportunity for a successful relationship and sale to develop.

The need to belong, or social needs, reflects our desire for identification with a group and approval from others. These needs help explain our continuing search for long-term, mutually rewarding, business and social relationships. B2B buyers want acceptance and approval from those with whom they work, including their boss and team members. B2C buyers want approval from their friends and family members. Partnering-style relationship strategies, and value-added product and presentation solutions provide customers and clients an important element of social needs satisfaction.

At the fourth level of Maslow’s needs priority model appears esteem needs. Esteem needs reflect our desire to feel worthy in the eyes of others. We seek a sense of personal worth and adequacy, a feeling of competence.35 Salespeople who custom-fit a value-added solution that meets and exceeds their clients’ needs provide a feeling of competency to buyers in complex buying situations. Assurances and outstanding service after the sale also make the customer feel worthwhile in making correct buying decisions.

Maslow defined the term self-actualization as a need for self-fulfillment, a full tapping of one’s potential. It is the need to “be all that you can be,” to have mastery over what you are doing. Working with customers engaged in the buying decision process to discover the value-added and potential products described in Chapter 7 is an example of them meeting their need for self-fulfillment. Developing a trust-filled problem-solving role with a buyer concerned about finding a long-term, highly ethical, partnering-style salesperson is another example of fulfilling the buyer’s need for self-actualization.

The five-level need priority model developed by Maslow is somewhat artificial in certain instances. Many times several of these needs are interacting together during a sale. One example is the business lunch. Not only are you conducting business with a client, but you are also satisfying physiological needs for food and beverages, for engaging in social activities, and perhaps for feeling important in your own eyes and—you hope—in the eyes of your customer. The model also provides salespeople with a practical way of understanding which need is most likely to dominate customer behavior in different buying situations.