To Be Successful Sell to Wants not NeedsBy Julie Chance
My mother used to tell me, tongue in cheek, that I never wanted anything in my life– everything I asked for was something I needed!! Think about it. We say, “I need a new car.” “I need to go on vacation.” “I need someone to clean my house.” When was
last time you heard someone say, “I want a new pair of shoes.” I bet even Amelda Marcos said, “I need a new pair of shoes.”
As consumers we justify our purchases, at least in our own minds, as being something we need. As business owners, selling our products or services, we have been lulled into believing that customers are buying from us because they need what we have to offer. We are trying to meet needs of our customers instead of focusing on meeting their wants.
If customers made purchase decisions based on need we would all be driving Model Ts and Henry Ford would have been right, “The customer can have any color he wants so long as it’s black.”
People may buy a product category due to need. However, they purchase a specific brand or from a certain company based on wants. In other words, needs define total market and wants define market segments. For example, people buy a watch because they need to know what time it is. One person buys a Rolex because they want status and prestige associated with owning a Rolex while someone else buys a Timex because they want dependability inexpensively.
It is often much easier to see role wants play in purchase decisions when we’re talking about consumer products. However, concept is equally at play even in business to business environment. Decision makers in business world are same people that are buying based on wants in consumer world. And no matter how logical surface justification for need is, factor(s) that tip purchase scale are going to be wants.
