Yearly, billions and billions of dollars are spent to convince customers to purchase things – from clothes to toys to insurance policies to private jets and more – and the focus is on seeing the best way of reaching people. Do our customers appreciate utility or fun more? Can we market luxury to them or are they more cost-conscious? What is their life like and how old are they? It is alarming to find out that a variety of strategies can be utilized to convince people to partner or buy with you.
 
So allow me to save you some time. Customers are looking for one very specific thing more than anything else, something everyone wants in fact, and that is meaning. In order for people to build their dream lives the look for meaning in everything they do, from relationships to jobs and even the things they buy. This has always been true and it will never change.
 
Interestingly enough, only one way exists in which we would find meaning in this world, and that's by attaching ourselves to something greater. That's the core of humanity, and it determines everything we do. The desire to belong to something more than ourselves is why we reproduce, it's the source of why we root for sports teams and it's why we build monuments and cathedrals which are designed to last well beyond our lives. This is why we make friends, get movie character tattoos, join companies and watch the viral videos that are currently popular. This need for us all to bind ourselves to something greater can be illustrated from things like when our ancestors who chose to fight Revolutionary Wars to the fact that every year in New Orleans, thousands of people get nude so that they can snag a few colored beads. Why do they do that? Those beads are sold for very reasonable prices on Amazon! But apparently that isn't as meaningful as gathering them amongst a large crowd of sweaty, vomity drunks.
 
There are millions of ways to persuade people to buy from you or partner with you, but if you could only focus on one approach, then you should show them the meaning of your what you're offering. For example, Coca-Cola seeks to sell people on the meaningful experiences Coke can give them with others rather than selling them on the quality of their product. Insurance didn't become as large as it currently is by being incredibly exciting, but because they attracted people to the thought of protecting their loved ones.
 
At the end of the day, meaning is more important to consumers than entertainment. It's more important than perks. And it's more important than money. You will have created a keystone of a successful customer experience if you can packaging your products and services in a way that provides a significant meaning to your customers.