Marketing by Temptation: a lesson in wants and needs

I popped in to our local branch of Waitrose earlier this week for a couple of pints of milk and few veggies. Now the thing about food shopping in the likes of Waitrose and M&S, is that is very easy to get caught up and turn your 5 item list in to a over-loaded shopping trolley.

I came out with a couple of frozen pizzas (to top up my last-minute-supper freezer draw), bag of chicken breasts (they were on special offer so I saved £2.31), a selection of frozen herbs (3 for £4 – how I can refuse?), a punnet of strawberries (over-priced and out-of-season but remembered my 9 year old mentioning she wanted strawberries on the way to school) to name but a few things that I wanted – but I didn’t really “need”.

My quick shop turned in to a £69.54 shopping trip which was precisely £50 more than I had intended to spend!

Why did I spend so much more than I intended? 

The £50 was the difference between buying what I “wanted” and buying what I “needed”.

And this is the trap that many coaches, consultants and service based professionals fall in to.  The trap of trying to sell something that they feel their clients need – and not what they want.

Yes, some people “need” help with their time management.  But do they “want” to spend their money (and their time!) on a half day workshop or 3 month long training programme to improve it?

Some people “need” to organise their house and de-clutter their cupboards, but do they “want” to cough up a few hundred pounds for someone to come in and do it for them?

And yes, there are people who “need” to lose weight, feel more confident, find a perfect partner and know how to manage their staff better – but if they don’t “want” to pay for a solution then it’s doesn’t matter how much your service is “needed”, you’ll won’t find enough clients unless your solution is something they “want”.

So next time you are struggling to fill your workshop or find enough clients to work with on a 1-2-1, ask yourself is the service or product you are offering be tempting enough for clients to “want” you?

Are you challenged by the needs and wants of your clients? Add your thoughts or ideas in the comments box below

Other articles you may be interested in:

1. Why marketing a small business has nothing to do with selling
2. What if we called long sales letters something else?
3. How a nail technician training room got me started marketing workshops