Buying (Marketing) is Needs-based. The Needier the Better.

Is it Me, or Have Customers Changed?

When developing products and services, you generally perform competitive analysis. For founders with significant experience, competitive research may require a few hours scouring websites and other sources seeking product details that guide the creation of their product offering. Or it can be a detailed market evaluation, including customer interviews, product testing, and market research to understand what is not in the market today. In designing a more robust alternative, you look for scenarios where your products and services will be considered a more valuable offering. Competitive product evaluation is supposed to be an evidence-based, unbiased exercise. It makes sense to study the existing products and services to help influence the design of your products and services. But focusing on the features and benefits of existing market offerings keeps brands from seeing customers’ wants and needs.??

If you were designing a better No. 2 yellow pencil, you might want to focus on the lead that does not break easily or add an eraser that doesn’t have that annoying crumbling you need to brush off the paper. But if you were the founder of a new pencil company, you are looking for ways to differentiate your alternative pencils. When you consider your new pencil to the traditional No. 2 pencil, your mind focuses on the features and benefits. Since you have to build a better pencil and your engineering team needs specifications and functional requirements, this seems the logical approach. The same is true for service-based businesses. If you were the founder of an accounting firm, you might study the competition to see if they are project-based or put on retainer. Do they have a specialty in non-profit or tax preparation? Are they fully remote, or do they come to your office weekly? And what does that mean for how you will position your firm?

In the product development process, you are focused on creating products that people will want based on features and benefits that are currently available and your strength and skillsets.? Compiling a comparison feature set is simple when asked what makes you better. Point to a web page or product sheet with all the checkmarks of how you have what competitors do not.? “Look at this list of what we provide! See, how we are better!”? It is straightforward. And a trap. The product/service development feature/benefits process directly influences the sales process -- it is a continuation of the feature/benefit messaging based on the assumption that you understand the needs and wants of the customer. During thorough research, you could evaluate what your prospective customers need and want unbiasedly - but this rarely happens.

In the initial quest to bring a product or service to market, founding teams often ignore what customers want and need. The blinders of product development prevent seeing the environment in which the prospective customer is. And the initial investigation, data, and responses that didn’t match the feature or benefit intent were cast aside. Once on the path of feature and benefit-rich argument, the idea that customers don’t want our features is met with significant resistance.??

Academic scholars discuss value exchange to describe the transactional relationship between a consumer and a brand. Conceptually, you understand it is an ‘exchange of value.’ But the word ‘value’ can easily slip into the features-first mindset. If I ask a marketer who sells hammers, “what does your customer value, they may respond, “an affordable hammer that is not too heavy fits nicely in their hand. If I have a conversation with a potential customer about what they need - I would understand they need to feel comfortable making home improvements to save money for their kid’s college. Potential customers who want to embark on home improvements as part of a plan to save money for their kids will spend more on the quality hammer they need to reach their goal.?

Buying (and therefore, marketing) is need-based. A person’s inner needs and wants -- be it fear, insecurity, boredom, emotional pain, or unfilled wishes -- are what drive buying. You need to be careful that needs do not become secondary to features. Swap out the idea of value for the need to keep from slipping to features. Yes, business is about creating value. Creating value is the exchange of products and services. The products and services exchange is the fulfillment of the brand promise. And your commitment to satisfying the wants or needs of your customers.?

If I am doing work on my house, you may think I am buying a hammer for the benefit of nailing things. When I buy a hammer, I want features - like the handle must feel right in my hands, and the weight needs to match my swing and become an extension of me. I am buying a hammer to build things. But deeper down, I want to feel capable of fixing a problem and experience a sense of pride and accomplishment.