Customers Needs vs Wants - When Want Is Not Enough

Do customers buy what they need or just what they want? It's tempting to say customers buy what they want but sometimes want is not enough.

I visited the supermarket on Saturday and there was a Lamborghini in the car park. This was an event. I don't get to see many Lamborghinis close up and it made me start thinking about needs v wants.

The car was stunning although I'm not sure which model it was.

I felt the desire well up inside me. "I want a car like this" I thought. A pure emotional reaction which surprised me by its intensity.

I'm normally very practical and at 6 foot 4 inches tall, I know that I probably couldn't fit in with any comfort. I'm not even sure I could get in it, the car was so low to the ground.

Seeing the car brought back all my teenage dreams.

But I didn't race back home and start looking for the nearest Lamborghini dealership.

Do I Need A Lamborghini?

I can't see me convincing anyone that my self esteem is so low that I need a Lamborghini so badly that it should be provided free on the National Heath Service.

My transport needs are quite limited.

I don't need the extreme speed the car offers and of course it is illegal anyway.

I don't need to attract the attention of people that much and the "Your Profit Coach" sign-writing along the sides could be seen as a little tacky.

I certainly don't need the frustration of being stuck in inner city traffic jams sitting a few inches from the floor and dwarfed by the surrounding buses, lorries and 4x4s.

It seems the heart says yes, the head says no.

This is why it's important to recognise both the emotional and logical factors in the buying decision.

The Ability To Pay

As a 17 year old I wanted a Lamborghini but I didn't have the means to turn my desire into effective demand. I even had a need as I am sure that it would have increased my ability to get dates.

I just didn't have the dosh.

So need and want is not enough if your target market is not able to afford the entry price. You are wasting your time and money on any "prospect" who does not have the cash to take up your offer.

To help your customers to afford to buy you can make things easier by arranging easy instalment payments and favourable credit arrangements. The consumer debt mountain shows that many people are prepared to submit to their desires with the "buy now, pay later dream."

The Willingness To Pay

This is the practical side of the emotional desires.

I want a Lamborghini.

It takes me back to my childhood when Lamborghini and Maserati were brand names that held me in a spell. My recent Christmas presents have included books of reprints of road tests from the late sixties and seventies heyday.

But I am not willing to pay the price.

I am not willing to pay the price to buy one, insure one or pay the running costs.

I haven't even been willing to pay the short term hire costs for a supercar to "live my dream" for a few days.

You see I know that I have other priorities for my money.

Some boring like building up my pension pot for when I am retired, some exciting and scary like my cash reserve which will allow me to cut back on personal coaching and consultancy while I write my Customer Focused Entrepreneur book and some which bring me short term gratification like a nice holiday.

Except for the very rich, buying one thing means making a sacrifice somewhere else. You can have this but if you do, you can't have that.

Are You Creating Effective Demand For Your Products And Services?

Buying decisions come in many different shapes and sizes.

Low cost, impulsive buys just happen. You want it. You can afford to pay for it. You buy it.

Many regular need purchases become part of your standard routine and you buy. Some because the services are provided on a "until further notice" basis. That's why inertia sets in with banks, insurance companies and utilities. You need the service and it doesn't excite you enough to spend your time looking for alternative suppliers.

Other purchases are habitualised out of convenience. Your usual supermarket. Your usual petrol station. Your usual printer. You go there because you go there.

Some purchases you have to make. There is no alternative. The need is high and you have to divert cash from elsewhere to balance your budget. The new central heating boiler when the old one is condemned. The emergency car repair needed to get back home. The want is low but the need is high.

But other purchases are special.

The price is higher and the consequences of the decision are greater. The emotional connection you make is greater. The purchase says something about you and for a purchase like the Lamborghini it can define the way people see you.

So when you are marketing, do you make sure that:

1. You focus on prospective customers with the ability to pay.
    
2. You work on needs and wants. You build emotional desire and prepare the basis for the prospect to justify the purchase to themselves logically.
    
3. You work on their willingness to pay. To some extent this involves increasing the emotional desire but you also have to show how your product fits in with their dreams and goals better than alternative purchases.

The end result is that I will keep looking at Lamborghinis in car parks and never know the pleasure of owning one.

Want is not enough. It is just one part of the process of creating effective demand and that's what matters to customer focused entrepreneurs.

I look in more detail at the issue of customer needs in the Hierarchy of Customer Needs

Comments

[Nick]

Thanks for a great way to start the week.. Sales is about creating want...through my conversations, your post will stay in my mind. Thanks for my cold calling ammo!