Motivation doesn’t change.
The audience does.
Forty years studying what moves people to act — across 15 sectors and 150 client audiences.
The HCP weighing a prescribing decision and the consumer standing three seconds from putting something back on the shelf and the enterprise technology buyer in Tokyo — where consensus moves differently and trust is built on different terms — are not the same person. They carry different fears, different vocabularies, different definitions of what counts as proof, different distances between interest and commitment.
What works for one can actively fail for another.
That distinction is where this practice starts. Not with the data — but with the question the data is there to answer: what does this particular audience need to believe before they act?
Forty years across fifteen sectors is a long time to be a student. B2B technology buyers at Cisco and Informatica. Healthcare professionals at Novartis and Grifols. Consumer packaged goods audiences for Levi’s and Restoration Hardware. Nonprofit directors managing Google Grants budgets. Enterprise procurement committees in Japan. Each audience a different study in motivation. Each engagement another data point in a career-long inquiry into what moves people from interest to action.
The pattern that holds across all of them: motivation is specific. The tools to understand it are universal.
Measurement infrastructure — properly built, properly maintained — lets your audience tell you exactly what they need. GA4 event taxonomies designed around real behavior, not default tracking. Server-side tagging that captures data your client-side setup is losing. Conversion optimization programs that treat every test as a question about the human on the other side of the screen.
The work is learning to listen. The infrastructure is how you hear them.
Most engagements begin with getting the measurement right and evolve into ongoing optimization. The pace depends on where you are. We figure that out together.
Cisco, Informatica, Elastic, TIBCO, DataStax, GlobalFoundries, Bill.com, Clarizen
Novartis, Grifols, Molecular Devices, NeurogesX
Blue Nile, Restoration Hardware, TiVo, Levi’s, The Futon Shop, Panasonic
NTT DoCoMo, Kirin, Sharp, Sumitomo, Daikin, Kubota
Sea Otter Classic Foundation, Ten By Three, Soquel Creek Water District, and active Google Ad Grants clients
“Steve pushed us to A/B test, and his hypotheses bore out in tests time after time. Invaluable in uncovering insights for boosting conversion rates.”— Rita Chang
“Steve created easy-to-understand analysis with actionable steps. Exceptional at managing client expectations and communicating technical issues.”— Andrew Broadbent
“Steve brought much needed optimism and focus. His thoughtful and rational approach served as a calming force during a challenging period.”— Steve Ickes
“Steve has a genuine desire to mentor and guide staff. He doesn’t just hand you a report — he makes sure your team understands the data.”— Viviane Forny
The fastest way to understand your audience
is to start measuring them properly.
Tell me who you’re trying to reach and what you think is getting in the way. I’ll tell you what I’d do about it — and whether this practice is the right fit to do it.
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