Poor is not the person who has little, but the person
who craves more. —Lucius Annaeus Seneca

The underlying principle of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is that as soon as a person has satisfied a need at one level in the hierarchy, the person will immediately feel a need at the next level. This leads to the conclusion that people can never be satisfied, which presents both opportunities and challenges to the change leader.

Every salesperson would like to have “poor” customers who crave more and more, rather than become satisfied with very little. The opportunity is to deliver more when the customer inevitably wants more.
The first challenge is to manage carefully the customer’s present expectations, resulting in a happy customer. A principle of quality management is that quality means meeting expectations. So, ensure that your customer is happy with the results of the current change initiative by carefully setting expectations and then exceeding them.

The other important challenge for the salesperson is to evolve with the customer’s evolving needs. Once you deliver a change to satisfy one need, the customer immediately has another “need” beyond that. There is nothing irrational or wrong with the customer wanting more; it’s called progress. But to stay in the game and continue to satisfy growing needs, you will have to grow, as well.

Identify the person’s or organization’s “hierarchy of needs.” Forecast what the person will need after the first need has been satisfied. Then forecast what will be needed after the second, and so on.

Develop your capability to satisfy the customer’s evolving needs. Be creative. In today’s world of virtual teams, virtual work forces, and virtual companies, you may be able to partner jointly with other companies or subcontract part of the delivery. In fact, the more “strategic” a change leader you become, the more you will need to subcontract the implementation of the change.

Whether you personally deliver the product or service, rely on team members in your company, or rely on subcontractors at other companies, you must carefully manage the customer’s expectations and ensure your delivery exceeds those expectations. Delivery is job # 1. Deliver outstanding results.

One of the most important change leadership skills, therefore, is systematic project management. Continually build these skills.

Identify the hierarchy of needs. Develop your ability to deliver. Be fanatic about project management and delivery.