A few years ago, I was casually scrolling through Forbes with my morning coffee when I saw a headline that stopped me mid-sip:
“The word’s richest man’s fortune exceeds $200 billion.” Right under it: “Bernard Arnault, owner of Louis Vuitton and Dior, becomes the first person to surpass a $200 billion net worth.”
Normally, I would’ve kept scrolling, maybe rolled my eyes and thought: “Luxury sells, nothing new.” But this wasn’t a normal moment in history. This was June 2021 – barely one year after the world shut down, jobs vanished overnight, economies were dragged back several years, and entire countries were still operating under mask mandates and travel restrictions. Humanity was supposed to be in survival mode. And yet – luxury fashion was having a record-breaking year.
Why Marketing Fails Alone In B2B
The math didn’t make sense. According to Maslow, luxury handbags don’t even appear on the pyramid until way at the top. They’re beyond food, beyond safety, beyond belonging. They live in the “self-actualization” attic – the place you only visit when everything else in life is perfectly stable. But apparently, in the middle of global uncertainty, people weren’t just buying $3,000 handbags. They were waiting in line for them. They weren’t choosing financial security or emergency savings. They were choosing Dior hats. And the most ironic part? Survey after survey claimed consumers were being cautious, cutting spending, and prioritizing necessities.
The data said “responsibility.” The sales said “Status first, stability later.”
We could spend hours diving into evolutionary psychology, status signaling, dopamine systems, and irrational genius of the human brain. We could quote research papers and decode consumer behavior through academic language. But honestly, we don’t need to. The market already told us the truth.
There is a new layer sitting above the classic hierarchy of needs – one that Maslow never accounted for in 1943. The world has evolved.
The way we buy has evolved. And now, sitting above survival, safety, belonging, esteem, and even self-actualization… is identity.
Welcome to the Hierarchy of Identity.
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Hierarchy of Identity
Today, people aren’t buying products or services. They’re buying versions of themselves.
They’re not purchasing a handbag – they’re purchasing the woman who carries it. They’re not buying a watch – they’re buying the kind of man who “deserves” to wear it. They’re not even buying solutions – they’re buying stories about who they will become once that solution enters their life. In the 1940s, the driving question was: “Will this keep me safe?” In 2025, the real question is: “Will this make me someone?”
That’s why a Dior hat outsells health insurance, even though insurance is objectively more important. That’s why businessmen upgrade to luxury watches during recessions, not after them. That’s why people pay extra for the same coffee in a cup with the right logo.They’re not paying for caffeine – they’re paying for identity alignment. Because in a world overflowing with options, features, logic, and information, the last true differentiator is: “Who am I when I choose this?”
Which brings us to business. If you want to sell today, stop obsessing over your service. Stop trying to win by being “better,” “faster,” or “more affordable.”
INSURANCE: Same Game, Different Packaging
Markets are won today not by solving problems, but by elevating self-perception. The companies dominating their industries are not the ones with the best products. They are the ones who understand identity and strategically build it into every touchpoint. And the faster you shift from selling “solutions” to helping people become who they already believe they’re meant to be… the faster you access levels of loyalty, sales, and influence that once felt out of reach. Moreover, you will be able to help your prospects go through CHANGE, and be the one leading it.
And yes, at first glance, it might sound cynical. It might sound like manipulation or “emotional trickery.” But it’s actually the opposite. It is one of the most respectful forms of selling. Because you are not selling illusions. You are not preying on weakness. You are anchoring into the most powerful – and the most honest – human motivation that exists: the desire to become the fullest version of oneself.
In prospecting, patience is the tax you pay for real influence.
The Golden Rule of Prospecting
Here’s the part that makes brokers uncomfortable: real prospecting takes time. Weeks. Months. Sometimes years. There’s no dopamine hit. No instant conversions. No three-click, Shopify-style deals.
But patience is the tax you pay for real influence.
Every serious player eventually learns this:
Marketing is optional. Prospecting is Oxygen.
In a world obsessed with impressions and “brand voice,” it’s easy to forget what actually moves money in B2B. And it’s not visibility. It’s not content calendars. It’s not clever copy.
It’s conversations.
It’s context.
It’s timing.
It’s persistence.
Marketing might open the door. But prospecting is the one that walks in, shakes hands, and stays until the deal is done.
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