Does your audience want what you’re giving them?

At this time of year, many of us are out and about buying gifts for friends and loved ones. When selecting a gift we imagine what the person might need or want. You may think about their lifestyle, what struggles they are going through, what they do for a living, where they live and even how old they are.

Or you may give them what you think they need, without any regard for whether they think they need it or not.

As simple as gift buying sounds, it’s often not easy. Surely, you have memories of gifts gone wrong on both the giving and receiving ends. This is why gift cards and liberal return policies are so popular. It is also why the term re-gifting is now in our vocabulary and applies to many items beside fruitcake.

Often we need to dig a little deeper. Sometimes that can be as simple as asking a question or two. Take time to implement a little of what we refer to as “honest curiosity.”

Here are a few examples:

For your sister, whom is a new mom living in a cold climate; you start shopping for a beautiful, warm, but washable sweater. AND, after speaking with her and asking a few questions, you find out that she REALLY misses spending time alone with her husband. You finally decide on movie tickets with babysitting included. Both of these gifts are significantly different than what you think she needs, which is a case of Slim-Fast.

For your aging parents, who “have everything,” you assume something consumable is in order. You start researching what shows are playing at their local theatre companies. Since they don’t drive at night anymore, you want to be sure they offer a matinee. AND, after emailing with your dad it comes out that what they REALLY want is a new, small TV for the kitchen and someone to figure out how to hook it into the cable box. Both of these gifts are different than what you think they need, which is a nose hair-trimmer.

For your teenage niece, who is in the band at her high school, you think a set of nail polish in her school colors would be a big hit. You can even imagine her at the football games with her brightly colored nails. AND, after asking a few questions, you find out what is REALLY important to her is to have the latest hand held gaming device. Both of these gifts are different than what you think she needs, which is a t-shirt you can’t see through.

When we are gift buying it’s natural to consider the “audience,” in this case, the person receiving the gift. In the examples above, the first gift idea wasn’t necessarily a poor choice; it just wasn’t the best choice. It wasn’t what they really wanted. And what you really wanted to give them is as different as a TV and a nose-hair trimmer.

As we go through our day-to-day business lives, the same concept of considering the audience always applies. If we can remember whom we are talking to and what their needs, wants and desires are, we have a much better chance of communicating with them effectively. When we take it one step further and practice “honest curiosity” to find out what the unmet need really is we can be even more effective in obtaining our desired result.

When you use this approach the audience, whether it is one or many, will feel like they have received a gift after interacting with you.

The question to ask yourself is: Does your audience want what you’re giving them?