“The most important business book to come out in years.”

What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You

Unlocking Consumer Decisions with the Science of Behavioral Economics

Learn exactly why people buy—and how to use that knowledge to improve pricing, increase sales, and create better “brain-friendly” brand messaging that directly impacts your bottom line.

Understand the true needs of your customers.

Behavioral economics is the future of marketing research and insights, transforming how brands and businesses grow.

In What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You, learn how to leverage consumer psychology in your business to significantly boost real, bottom-line results.

Reviews

Branden Cobb

Most practical marketing book

This is a very great book. So many tips and tricks that are sure to help make marketing more effective. Understanding what makes the human body and mind tick is knowledge that all marketers can benefit from. Thank you Melina for all your efforts putting this together to make it easy to learn from.

Sarah Mason

Applicable Lessons for Marketing Professionals

This must-read book is exactly what it promises to be. Melina Palmer conversationally explains the psychology of customer decision-making and provides effective strategies. Rather than a dry, lofty textbook on behavioral economics, the author cuts through complex content with concise language and illustrative analogies.

I am a director of marketing and communications for an organization launching a commercial B2B product. While I love learning and diving deep into concepts, I don’t really have time to dive too deep into a behavioral economics book like Thaler’s “Misbehaving” when trying to refer back to concepts to implement. If “Misbehaving” is the academic study and history of behavioral economics, Palmer’s “What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You” is the educational how-to guide. I appreciate having a resource like this book that I can refer back to.

This book explores how consumers make decisions, not how consumers think they make decisions. We often think we are ruled by logic as we make purchases. But how we think we will behave is not always how we actually behave. I’m excited to implement actual strategies in my organization to pave the route from prospect to customer.

It is organized logically. First you get an education on concepts. At the end of each concept chapter are application exercises and a cross map to Palmer’s podcasts if you want to dig deeper. (Her podcast, the Brainy Business, is excellent BTW. It’s what first introduced me to Palmer.)

Following that, she shows how to apply those concepts. She shows how they all play a part and intermingle to guide marketers, entrepreneurs, and anyone interested in selling their products/services. I personally found the chapters, “How to sell more of the right stuff” and “What problem are you solving” to be particularly useful to my work in marketing.

This book is definitely one I’ll be keeping and referring back to. Buy your own copy. I’m not sharing.

Adam Hansen

Behavioral Science Is As Behavioral Science Is Applied

I’ve been working at the intersection of Behavioral Science and Innovation for over 15 years now. I understand the territory well, and love that I can keep learning more and figuring out new and better ways to press my learning into service for my clients. What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You has already begun giving me insights and practical tips, helping me to try more and better ways to serve my clients.

What the author has done an *exceptional* job of is (1) breaking down tricky concepts to make them relatable and (2) then making it easy to start applying your learning. Through her actions, Melina shows that the learning she’s encouraging us toward is that which actually increases our capabilities. This is not a book of dry abstractions (even as much fun as that can be for some of us!), but of experimentation and richer engagement with our world.

What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You is an enjoyable read with insights galore and opportunities abounding for us all to do better. If you care about serving your customers better, you will want this very useful resource to help you get past the nonconscious gremlins that make that effort harder than it need be.

It’s exciting to see The Behavioral Revolution finding so many great ways for us to get involved and make a difference. Melina’s contribution here is essential.

IcedCorn

Very englightening!

If you’ve ever wondered why companies do what they do to create a sale, this is the book you need to read.

I do have to admit; I felt a little gullible reading this book after seeing all the things my mind gets tricked into doing. The good news is that you’re not alone, and this book explains behavioral marketing very well.

As someone whose real job is “operations” and not marketing, this book got me more interested in marketing to see how I can use these strategies in my everyday job.

The book does point you to many of the podcasts by the author, but I believe that it’s less about “selling” another authored product and more about giving you more information about the topic in the chapter. Or wait, was that just behavioral marketing :)? I’ll never know.

Anyway, the book links to some worksheets, but on my e-ink Kindle, they were hard to review. I recommend taking notes in the e-edition or use a tablet device to read and link.

The content is excellent and explains principles with life examples that make understanding a breeze.

S. Fuller

Fun & insightful

Melina does a great job making a lot of potentially complex information approachable and fun. I took a bunch of notes to apply in my work as I read. It’s clear Melina’s practicing what she’s preaching in how she wrote the book, which I enjoyed picking up on. Bonus: there are a bunch of podcast episodes referenced throughout the book that you can easily listen to if you want to go deeper on a topic (for free!).

Adrian Tennant

The most practical guide to applying BE for businesses

There’s a lot to like about Melina Palmer’s book. An engaging tone, easy to read, with just enough theory for anyone new to Behavioral Economics – and references to academic research to reward the reader who wants to dive deeper into a given topic. In addition to introducing core concepts and how they can be applied in a business context, Melina thoughtfully provides links to episodes of her excellent podcast, The Brainy Business: The Science of Why We Buy. Each episode discusses concepts introduced in the book in more depth. But wait, there’s more! Purchasing the book also gives you access to a free 100+ page workbook that provides a practical way to match “nudge-able” moments with BE concepts. Highly recommended.

Diane Jordan

Like a personal mentoring session...

Melina did a superb job with this book. I’ve listened to her podcast for along time and the book reads like the soothing, personally engaging voice of her podcast. Just wish it had been hardcover to facilitate my highlighting and note-taking!

Mary E

Amazing marketing resource written in easy-to-understand language!

This book is an amazing resource! I’ve listened to the podcast of the book’s author, Melina Palmer, for two years. I love the insights and advice that she and her podcast guests provide about behavioral economics and marketing. It’s so nice to now have that advice and more in one handy book.
In the book, Melina clearly lays out the pieces and connects them into implementable strategies. The book includes cross-references to different parts of the book and to her relevant podcast episodes. I’m a small business owner and entrepreneur. Melina’s advice has helped in many ways on pricing, packages, anchoring, framing, and much more. These things make it easier for customers to buy my services.

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Finally, a book that balances the Art & Science of consumer behaviors.

I came across this book while preparing for a new job. I have always been fascinated by drive-thru menu pricing and the intentional placement of pictures. Or, how Google tested 40 different shades of “blue” to find the perfect color hyperlink to get consumers to click. In my new job as the CEO of a consulting firm, I am looking for ways to stand out from the competition, and I thought it would help to understand additional ways to grow business using different triggers. This book is an easy read and has a perfect balance between science and art. The short chapters are a bonus for me, almost like it was intentional to help my brain get through the book faster. …it’s almost like the author knew what I want, hmm – ha!. You’ll appreciate this book in your collection if you’ve read and enjoyed Peter Fader’s “Customer Centricity” or Marshal Cohen’s “Why Customers Do What They Do.

Kari Gormley

Brain Rules Meets The Power of Habit and Have a Business Book Together

What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You is a fantastic book written by podcast host and behavior economics guru Melina Palmer.

Melina uses beautiful stories, podcast excerpts, and psychology to show how you can help your gain and retain customers. What Your Customer Wants And Can’t Tell You is a quick read that helps you understand your brain’s defaults, how it can get in your way, and how to outsmart yourself (consciously and subconsciously). Melina practices what she preaches and shows you how to take action.

I’ve read this book with my teenage son and my husband and look forward to applying what we’ve learned from Melina.

Consumer Decision-Making Unlocked

Turn prospects into loyal, raving fans with the power of behavioral economics.

Buy the Book

Effectively market your brand by understanding the true needs of your customers.

Regardless of your industry, company size, or tenure, What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You will help you leverage behavioral economics to improve your brand and customer experience.

"A fascinating book on human behavior and economics."