I recently helped a successful entrepreneur write a book about his company.
In the book, we outlined 52 factors which made his business the success it is today.
If you are a prospective client for this company, you could’t help but be impressed in how professional, customers focused, innovative and forward thinking it is.
I spent a lot of time with this entrepreneur bouncing around ideas for content for the book.
One line in particular sticks in my mind which is this. ‘Selling is easy… the hardest part is finding something that people want’.
This is such an important line, I will repeat it: ‘Selling is easy… the hardest part is finding something that people want’.
Given that this particular entrepreneur is what I would call a master salesman, this came as a great insight to me.
Perhaps it shouldn’t of, as when you think about it, it is clearly easier to sell something people want than no.
But in the world of marketing, and especially the ‘big-promise marketing gurus’, they would have you believe you can sell anything to anybody — especially if you use their new fandango marketing method.
This simply isn’t the case.
First and foremost, there has to be market for your product and services, and prospective customers have to want what you sell.
For sure, great marketing can help make a product more attractive and enticing, but essentially, their must be a want there by your target audience.
A great example of this is my new Bromtpon folding bike which I have just paid £800 for, not an insignificant amount of money.
I’d had in my mind for sometime that I wanted to get a folding bike. In fact, I’m in the process of converting my garage into another office and storage space for bikes is now limited. My children’s bikes are getting bigger, so it is time for mine to get smaller.
If you know the folding bike market, you’ll know you can buy half decent folding bike for around £200. Given that I rarely ride my old mountain bike, a £200 folding bike should have been more than sufficient for me. But the point is, I didn’t want one… not when I had seen the rolls royce of folding bikes, the Brompton.
In reality, I don’t need a Brompton!
The fact the the Bromtpon folds smaller than all other folding bikes is great, but I could have got by with a Dahon at half the price, or even a lower price unbranded bike at £200. But my emotional want and desire was so great with Brompton, that my decision making was made from my heart, and justified with my head. Now having bought my Arctic Blue S3R Brompton, I can tell you endless logical reasons why I needed this bike, but in really, I quickly became emotionally attached to the bike and just plain old wanted one.
Brompton have a fantastic british made product in their bikes, but they are also master marketers and have created a whole culture around the bike so that you feel part of an exclusive club. When you see fellow Brompton riders, you have a knowing respect for them an their machine.
To add to the eccentricity of Brompton, the company hosts an annual Brompton races around Blenheim Palace, where 750 racers wear suits, ties and short trousers and race around the grounds of the palace. Similar Brompton races occur around the worlds in Japan, Mexico, US.
Imagine now being the marketer behind Dahon, Birdy or Bike Friday, three companies who offer quality folding bikes which would meet the needs of any self respecting cyclist. The trouble is, if a prospective customer has set their heart on a Brompton and wants one, then no amount of marketing, or possibly even price discounting is going to make them switch to a different brand.
Such is the power of having a want.
Thankfully not all folding bike purchases think the same way as me or have the same desires as me and there is still a sizable market for other folding bike manufacturers who tap into the wants of another group of customers.
