Do they NEED it... or do they WANT it?

Marc Goldman and I did a couple of really cool recordings this morning on "Strategic Online Marketing." I'll get you guys access to the recordings when they're prepped and online...

Anyhow...

In the conversation, we were discussing the difference between:

What people NEED...

and

What they WANT!

Let's talk about how you address these two separate issues in your copy. Which you think is most important. The importance each plays in "the buying decision."

Wanna play?

Whatever we're selling isn't what they need unless we can tie it into:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslows_hierarchy_of_needs

If you can do that, they'll look upon your product, service or solution as something they can't live without.

At that point, there's no difference between a want and a need.

A.

Excellent link and info Andy!

Thanks.

Speaking as someone who has sold products and services for many years, I would say:

People WANT many things, but NEED only a few.

Moving a prospect from wanting to needing is part of the sales process.

Then, the price needs to be right, but that's a whole other discussion.

Cheers!

Susan

I think of this differently. People need food, they buy a hot juicy steak. People need shelter, they buy a home.

Needs are categories. We don't sell or buy categories, they're one level of abstraction removed. The real problem is when the client/seller thinks they're selling a need, what's happening in their mind isn't seen in sales. People who think they're selling "needs" have bought into they're own PR. The only accurate thing you can predict is they're on the verge of making an unpleasant discovery.

Case in point. A builder is offering "shelter" and going broke. People are visiting his units and going elsewhere. The builder then built bigger, more luxurious houses, and kept the price the same by having the upper story unfinished and sealed off.

He's offering "more" for the money. The unfinished space can be completed when the money comes, pay raises are realized, etc. And this way, there's no need to go through the trouble and effort of house hunting and moving and refinancing and relandscaping.

There are a number of companies who thought they "owned" a need, only to find a competitor came up with an innovative alternative which showed it was only another product or service in a need-category. The market may shift tomorrow and people may express that particular need by buying something different.

People for sure buy more WANTS.

When I was 18, I didn't have any money and only bought what I needed. I could do the same thing today but I have more money, so I buy a lot more wants because I can.

I believe it's 90% WANT, 10% NEED.

Really take a look at your last months purchases. You really only NEEDED to pay mortgage, utilities, food, car gas, etc to actually live. But how many wants are on your bill.

The bigger difference is most people plan for needs but are compulsive with WANTS.

From my (very) short stint selling life insurance many years ago, I can say without a doubt that no matter how much somebody may need something, if they don't also want it, they won't buy it. During the Great Depression, it wasn't the grocers (fulfilling a need) who got rich. It was the people who sold luxury goods (fulfilling wants).

In copywriting, we often talk of appealing to the buyer's emotions, and then giving them the proof elements to justify their decision. I see a rough parallel between appealing to their emotions and their wanting to buy, and giving them all the logic so they can claim they "need" it as well.

speaking from face to face sales and copywriting experience people buy what they WANT.

John Carlton said it best :

Haha, that's so true.

darn right, we all buy with emotions and justify it with logic.

That's what copywriting is all about.

Listen to Clayton always telling you to appeal to the "dominant resident emotion" of your market and then use your facts and logic to make him rationalize his purchasing decision.

(oh, and you can substitute her for his, and woman for man in any one of my posts!

Actually, with the launch of neil strauss' pickup course (and all the pickup materials being sold now), it should be obvious women are VERY susceptible to following their emotional desires...

it's the reason they stay with the "bad boy" unstable types that also happen to beat them -- they emotionally feel attraction caused by his behavior, which is sometimes taken too far with his abuse of her -- but she logically rationalizes it "but he really loves me... he said he'd never do it again... it was a mistake... hes changed, etc"

Marketing example: you could also watch Sex and the city and see Carrie the main character (yes I watch it ) substitute prada shoes for abusive boyfriend! )