Every year, the U.S. military tests and evaluates thousands of soldiers, sailors and marines wanting to join special-operations forces like Army Rangers, Navy Seals and Green Berets.
For those who pass the grueling, months-long selection process, the only visible recognition is a tab (badge), a pin or a beret.
The true reward comes from earning membership in an elite fighting force.
In her bestselling book, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, author Angela Duckworth offers this conclusion after studying high achievers in the U.S. military and a half-dozen other fields:
“In sum, the highly successful had a kind of ferocious determination that played out in two ways. First, they were unusually resilient and hardworking. Second, they knew in a very, very deep way what they wanted. They not only had determination, they had direction.”
Certification prospects have plenty of both
In fact, their professional development path can sometimes look like a mission.
If you’re a certification sponsor, you have a rare opportunity to enter the lively conversation already going on in your prospects’ heads.
When your credential confers unique status, that’s the time to promote the benefit of becoming a member of an elite group.
Copywriter Herschell Gordon Lewis, author of a dozen books on persuasive advertising copy, includes exclusivity in his list of the five most powerful human desires, the dominant ones that ignite action.
He considers exclusivity to be the positive force driving Olympic athletes, entrepreneurs and professionals in medicine, engineering, education and the arts.
It’s an especially potent benefit for advanced certifications held by experienced practitioners. Those programs are already perceived as elite simply because fewer people are capable of earning the credential.
If you’re charged with growing test volume, speaking to your certification’s unique benefits will resonate with prospects who value the prestige of joining a select circle of professional colleagues.
Benefits and core desires
Certification-industry research reveals that most candidates are motivated by internal benefits like enhanced self-esteem, personal pride and the elevated status that certification confers. External benefits like pay raises and promotions are less motivating, per the research.
Our special report, How to Market Your Certification Program, encourages sponsors to speak to the core desires of their target audience and shows exactly how to do that. You can download that report right here.
Come see us at ICE 2020!
We love talking about certification and look forward to answering your questions about test development and/or test delivery. We’d also like to hear about your current or next certification program.
So be sure to stop by our virtual tradeshow booth next week!
While you’re there, we’d be happy to demo Webassessor, our award-winning, test-development and test-delivery software for certification programs just like yours.
See you soon!
