The Fastest Way to Business Failure or Success

There are many ways to fail and many ways to succeed in business. I believe that the ones mentioned in this post are the fastest path to either. After you’ve read the whole article, let me know if you agree or disagree.

People Don’t Buy What They “Need”

The fastest way to fail in business is to…

Believe or act as if you have something of great value (which you may)  that people need (and they might) and try to convince them to buy it from you.

It’s possible that: “Find a need and fill it” as a way to determine what people will buy is dead. At least from the perspective of YOU thinking you know what needs people have that they’re willing to pay to fulfill.

That philosophy was developed prior to and at the beginning of the industrial age. Back then, if you could figure out how to mass produce a mouse trap cheaply and market it effectively, you could sell mouse traps because people “needed” them. And if you built a better mouse trap, then as long as you marketed equally as well as the original, you might be able to win the competition for mouse-trap buyers.

Stop Trying to Sell People What You Think They Need

But it’s nearly 2010. The world has changed. “Find a need and fill it” simply isn’t a good strategy any more.

First: There’s too much competition in the marketplace for your potential customers’ business.

Second: People are very tight with their money, especially in late 2009, when this article is being written. The scope of what they think or feel that they actually “need” has narrowed considerably.

Third: People don’t buy what they need. They buy what they want.

Here’s an example that demonstrates that people don’t buy what they need:

Imagine that someone’s car breaks down, for good. You might argue – and they might say – that they need another car.

They don’t. They could live without one, however “inconvenient” that would be. They could walk. They could carpool. They could ride a bike. If they really “need” anything, all they need is a way to get from “here” to “there” and back again. It doesn’t have to be a car.

But take it a step further. In this day and age, they could work at home and have food and other essentials delivered to them. They wouldn’t need to travel, and wouldn’t need any form of transportation, except for exercise or fun. OK, that might be a bit extreme in some people’s thinking, but it’s simply meant to illustrate a point: Nobody “needs” a car.

People Buy What They Want

Even if for the sake of argument I agreed that if someone relates to a car as if it was a “need,” then you could call it a “need.” But then you need to ask yourself: What do they buy?”

They buy what they want.

If all anyone needed was “a car,” then we’d all drive the same car, with the same engine, the same body, the same color. It would get us from where we were to where we wanted to be.

But that’s not what happens. Even someone who “needs” a car buys the year, make, model and color car s/he wants. S/he’ll even go into debt to do this if s/he don’t have enough money at the time of the transaction.

Can you cite an exception? I’ve yet to find any.

Find Out What People Want and Find a Way to Give It to Them

OK, so I’ve made my case that people don’t buy what they need. They buy what they want. So that’s a big clue about how to be successful in business.

The fastest way to succeed in business is to…

Ask your market:

What they WANT. (NOT what they “need.”)

How they prefer to get it. (e.g. buy it at a store, have it shipped to them, attend a live event, listen to a teleseminar, read a Web site, download a pdf file or an audio file, watch a video, etc.)

Who they’d like to get / learn it from. (Even, and especially, if that’s not you.)

Then give them what they want, in the way they want to receive it.

You can make your case as to why it would be better for them if they get what they want, in the way they want it, from you instead of someone else, if they indicated that they’d prefer to get it elsewhere.

And/or you can make an arrangement with the person / business they want to get it from for you to be compensated in some way (through commissions on purchases made by your referred customers,for example) for connecting that person / business with their market / prospects – through you. You can become the conduit or “broker” between your market and vendors / suppliers of the products and services your market wants.

Become Your Market’s Hero

Whether your market buys directly from you or through you, when you give people what they want, you become their hero.

And they will turn to you either for giving them what they want directly, or making it easy for them to connect directly with the best sources of what they want, based on your highly valued recommendations, which saves them time, energy and money.

In this way, your market gets to know, like – then love, and trust you. You become “top of mind” for them when they “need” (yes, even though they don’t truly need it, that’s the word they might use) or want something related to the products and/or services you provide, or source for them on their behalf.

When People Trust You, They’ll Follow You Where You Lead Them

Once your audience feels this way about you, then you can offer to take them by the hand and lead them safely – with you as their guide – to what you want to introduce them to that they would have resisted even hearing about, much less buying, before knowing, liking and trusting you.

Build the relationship with your market and let them build one with you, first, by giving them what they want. Then introduce them to new ideas, products, services events once they’ve had the opportunity to get to know, love and trust you.

Fail, or Succeed: It’s Your Choice

So let’s recap:

The fastest way to fail in business is to believe or act as if you have something of great value (which you may)  that people need (and they might) and try to convince them to buy it from you.

The fastest way to succeed in business is to ask your market what they WANT (NOT what they “need”); how they prefer to get it / learn it; and from whom. Then give them what they want, in the way they want to receive it.

Share Your Thoughts

What do you think? Is “Find a need and fill it” dead? Do people buy what they need, or only what they want? Do you have any experience at failing or succeeding in a business as a result of either of these principles I’ve written about in this article?

Let me and others know by responding to this post on the BusinessMarketingSuccessStrategy Web site. I look forward to hearing your stories and answering your questions.

Jay Aaron
Strategic Visionary / Visionary Strategist
Follow me on Twitter: http://Twitter.com/newthoughts

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