Mary Schmidt Marketing Troubleshooter

One of my “sales training soapbox” points has long been: There are three things to know. 1. What a customer wants. 2. What they need and 3. What they will pay for. And, these are often three different things. To throw another spanner in the works, what I (or you) think is a surefire barn-burner sales point may not even interest the prospective customer. Or, it could actually be a negative to them. (”Hey, why should I pay for that? I don’t need it!”)

A recent post over at Publishing 2.0, What You NEED versus What You WANT gives a great example of the want versus need quandary we marketers often face. He’s talking in terms of media, but it really applies to anything.

There’s a lot of marketing speak about solutions and certainly if you’re not solving a problem (real or perceived, big or little) - you’re not going to sell much. But, the bigger challenge is - if you’re solving a problem - does the customer know they have the problem? Do they care? Are you solving the right problem (Need versus want)? One small example from my own client experience - I get a call from a small biz wanting a press release. In reality, I end up working with them a much needed marketing plan. A single press release (no matter how wonderful) thrown into the media wilderness isn’t going to increase their business all on its own.

So, in looking at your own business, ask yourself: Am I offering what they want or what I think they need? And, remember the hoary old saying “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.” It applies to us people too. We don’t always want what we need and, will resist - to the point of failure and even actual death - doing what we need to survive and thrive.

Tags: marketing, marketing troubleshooting