Want vs. Need

I was tuned in to the TV recently and I’m constantly amazed at the barrage of ads and messages sent to us regarding products and services.

Target marketing has been around for years and of course, my kids (and present company included of course) are prone to seeing a brand, ad or message and immediately saying “I WANT that” or “I NEED that”. The fact that I have to go through my kids’ toys before Santa arrives and donate at least half of them to Goodwill proves that they spoiled and certainly have more than they need. I’m sure if you have children in your life or have experienced the same thought process before you can relate.

Have you thought about how that relates to your own business? WANT vs. NEED. You may have seen people in your own field say that your service or product is a WANT and not a NEED. Well, to some people that may be the case. It’s your job to ensure in the minds of your customer, your service or product is a MUST HAVE. I’m not here to debate that issue in this space (although I have my thoughts) yet the key to MUST HAVE in your client’s eyes is positioning the problem you solve and how quickly and cost-effectively you solve it for them.

Let’s break this down further.

First, explore your business through your customer’s eyes. There’s something called the curse of knowledge. You know your phone number yet you never call yourself. You may think something is obvious on your website or in conversing with a client…yet you truly DON’T know what’s obvious to your customers and what’s not until frank conversations about the experience can be had. Have someone contact your business and ask questions about it….someone who DOESN’T work in your field and has no prior knowledge of what you do. Have them also look at your marketing materials and see if it’s obvious the problem you solve and how you do it.

This will help you determine how much work your business needs to truly go from having your product or service become a NEED vs. a WANT.

In your conversation on the phone, one of the best ways to go from WANT to NEED is asking the question “What is the biggest struggle you are having with ____________ (how their business pertains to your service or product)?” Be candid with them so they, in turn, can be candid with you back. This goes back to building the relationship. Once you understand your customer’s needs, you can truly position your products or services as exactly that by using quotes from past customers who saw your products or service as a MUST HAVE.