If you have children then you are likely familiar with the word – WANT.
I WANT this… What I really WANT is… Did I tell you how much I WANT?
My kids have a seemingly endless list of wants, but what I routinely point out is, you may want ‘IT’, but do you really NEED it?
Understanding the difference between a WANT and a NEED is not just a lesson for children to learn; it’s also a critical concept for every entrepreneur.
If you are currently perceived as a WANT, then you risk being positioned at the discretionary end of the spending spectrum.
This is not where you want to be.
Ideally, the goal for any entrepreneur must be to be seen as a NEED and therefore core to helping the prospect achieve their desired outcome.
If you want to be seen as a NEED, then the first thing you need to do is create Brand Awareness and a strong brand is built on several key building blocks.
Let’s take a look at what they are…
4 Keys to Building Powerful Brand Awareness (and become a CORE NEED for your prospects)
- You have a very clear message to market.
You are crystal clear about the problems you solve, the market you solve it for and the expertise you bring to the table.
It also means if a prospect’s request falls outside the scope of what you do, or the way you like to do it, you are not afraid to say NO to working with them.
- Your message to market is consistent and the look and feel of all your marketing is coordinated.
Nothing will diminish the power of a brand more than inconsistency in the look and feel of your marketing messages, materials and channels.
- You are recognised as a leader in your field and therefore perceived to be able to provide superior outcomes.
This means you can support your expert position by displaying the names of major companies you’ve worked with, credentials that you hold, and testimonials from clients.
- You generate top of mind awareness and regular referrals because of the quality of your work and the reputation that you’ve built.
To create awareness requires you to consistently be putting your thoughts and ideas into the marketplace, adding value to prospects and continually demonstrating your expertise.
The difference between Wants and Needs.
Recently we were in the market for a new vacuum. Our old one had packed it in and we wanted a replacement. What we wanted was simply something that would get the job done, but after talking with the guy in the store, we were moved from what we thought we wanted to what we REALLY NEEDED.
In the Marketers Club, we often talk about the power of good questions to create the shift in the buyer.
In this case, the shop assistant discovered what sort of cleaning the vacuum would be required to do by asking better questions.
Almost every entrepreneur I’ve meet knows what they want.
“I want to enhance our branding.”
“I want to build a new website.”
“I want to automate our marketing efforts.”
But the question is, is this what they really NEED?
Imagine you’re a sales consultant.
The client feels their sales team is not performing well enough. They are not prospecting or closing effectively, so the Sales Manager decides what the sales team requires is someone to come in, to fire them up and give the team a refresher on prospecting and closing.
They decide what they WANT is a two-hour workshop, so they start shopping around for a sales trainer who can deliver a session.
In this scenario, the position of the sales trainer has already been commoditised. The Sales Manager knows they want a two-hour workshop so now they are looking for the trainer who offers the best price.
In this game, the lowest price usually wins. The trainer’s value is reduced to an hourly rate and often to ensure they win the job, the trainer continues to throw in more ‘FREE’ bonuses to help separate themselves from the other commoditised sales trainers in the hunt.
Ultimately this is a race to the bottom and certainly not a pathway to wealth.
However, the sales trainer who is a more effective and innovative marketer can create a NEED, where before only a want existed.
Once a buyer recognises the bigger NEED, the value proposition changes completely and the focus moves from process to outcome.
Here, the Sales Manager is no longer paying to have a want fulfilled, but instead have a true NEED met. Now the conversation is not just about price and delivery time; it’s about a true value proposition.
The ability of marketing to transform wants into needs is exceptionally powerful as it makes it difficult for the buyer to make direct comparisons between suppliers.
In other words, a want is much easier to commoditise than a need and therefore best avoided.
Be well.
Paul