KB Collective

Selling on need might seem like it makes sense. You're solving a problem that needs solving, but I'm going to argue that's not the right way to approach a sale. There are plenty of problems people NEED to solve that they ignore, because at the end of the day people will do what they WANT to do, and that's why you should sell on 'want'. I want you to imagine you're in this example I'll give. You walk into a restaurant, you're on a diet so you look at the healthy options, you skip the fish and chips even though you want it so you can pick the salad. Did you make that choice because you needed to or you wanted to?

You might think that it could be considered a 'need' since you don't want to eat the salad, but you need to for your diet, but you'd be wrong.

You might need to pick the salad for your diet, and you might need to diet to get healthier, but the choice to be healthier is a want, and every problem being solved at its core comes from something we want.

Let's look at a slightly different example. You're trying to get someone to join your gym. You have all the best equipment, the best prices, you're located right in the middle of the community, but why do people come to your gym? Is it because of your equipment? Or how close you live to them? No. It's because they want to lose weight, or they want to put on muscle, or they want to take better care of their health. There could be a million reasons that all amount to the same outcome, the need to go to the gym is only so they can get what they want. NEED is a pathway to what they WANT If you look at the core of every 'need', they are all pathways to get to a basic human 'want'. Products and services succeed because they cut out how many steps it takes to get to the outcome the customers want, and being able to communicate that will help you make more sales with your customers. Let's look at UBER. A person wants to be somewhere, so they need to travel. They could take a car, but then they have to find parking. They could take the bus but then it's crowded. They could take a taxi, but there's none around. But suddenly they remember that they can get where they want, without needing parking, or being around other people, or having to find a taxi, by just using UBER to call a car to them and take them where they need.

Let's dig into that a bit more, there's always trade offs to get where we want, and there are smaller wants along the way about 'how' we want to get there. UBER might be more expensive than a bus, but they 'want' comfort over affordability. They may even get there in the same amount of time if they drive, but they don't want the hassle of finding parking. What they NEED to do is dictated by what they WANT. How do we use this to sell? Your customers pay for your service, product, or offer because they have a want they need to fulfill. You could spend all your time talking about how great the features are that you offer, but if it doesn't help them figure out if you can get them closer to what they want, then you may as well be talking to a brick wall. Your sales language should focus on communicating how you will help them get where they want, not even discussing 'how' until afterward. If you can confidently tell them you'll get them what they 'want', then you can tell them features and details after to validate and reinforce how easy you will make it for them. The easier you can make getting their want sound, the better your chances are of them wanting to buy from you.