A seasoned entrepreneur argues that profitable businesses don't just fill needs, they sell wants. People buy gas, cars, and gum not for function but for the emotional boost of "more life." Businesses that uncover the want hidden behind a need command higher prices and happier customers.
After about 40 years in business, you would think that I probably have learned a few things. Actually, between being in business and studying business, being around great business people, I have to have found the secret. Yeah, not so much, but I have found some things that work, and what I'd like to do today is share with you one of the most important things you can do if you're starting a business or even if you're already in business. Now, you've probably heard it all before. You've heard it from people who are in business. You've heard it from people starting businesses. You've probably even heard it from business coaches who teach people how to be in business. You've heard it from your banker. You've heard it from your mother-in-law. Heck, even I've said it at one point. Find a need and fill it. What a load of horse crap. Sure, you can build a business that will survive and even do okay by finding needs and filling them. But who wants a business that'll just survive? Who wants to just pay the bills? Not me. I want more life, and getting more life is the only true reason to be in business. It's the only reason to work, and it's really the only reason people buy things. They want more life.
Don't believe me? Well, let's try this.
Think about the last thing you purchased.
Well, actually you can't because you, like everyone else, probably took a lot of the things you buy all the time and put them on autopay. That way you don't have to think about it. Why don't you want to think about it? Because you got more important things to do. You want more life. But let's say you can remember the last thing you bought. Let's say it's that tank of gas that you bought because you wanted to get where you wanted to go. Well, now let's scratch that. What'd you say? You had to get to work to pay the bills? Of course you did. You had to go to work to pay the bills that you generated by buying things to give you more life. You had to go and pay for the Christmas presents you bought last year. You had to go and pay for that car that has every option because you wanted to drive the very best and you financed it over 4 years ago. And you had to go to work to pay for that cruise that you took last summer.
All purchased to give you a feeling, the feeling of more life. And that's why people buy things. They buy things for a feeling, whether it's the feeling of security or the feeling of freedom. They're buying things because they want to feel differently than they did before they bought them. And this is why it's important to know this in your business. People buy things because they need to pay for schooling for the kids and video games and food for their children. All bought so that they can have more life. You see, no matter what it is, it all ties back to that feeling of having more life. You even bought that stick of gum that you bought today for that momentary pleasure of minty fresh breath. And heck, who doesn't want a little pleasure? What's life without pleasure? We buy things to obtain a feeling. Most people call these things needs, and that's where people get confused in business. They think they need to find a need and fill it. When the truth is you need to find the want behind the need. We actually have very few needs. We need air and we need water and we need shelter. We need food and we need clothing. And we need the companionship and love of others. But we take these needs and we change them into wants. We need air but we want purified air with a wonderful scent. We need water and we get it from a bottle instead of from the tap. Our food is faster and tastier and served to us. And our shelter, well, we don't want just a regular home. We want a home with extra rooms and a guest room and a dining room we won't use and a man cave. That's proper shelter. And companionship— scratch that. Let's just say that A lot of companionship is bought, not nurtured. We are a want-based society. So while you're finding a need and filling it, your competition is finding a want and solving it. Of course, to be in business, you need to be able to find a need and fill it, but you must find that want behind the need because that's what will drive greater revenue and more satisfied customers and clients. People don't want to buy things they need. People want to buy things they want, and they will pay more, and they will be happier because they did. I have some great news for you though. Whatever the want is that your target clientele has, you are likely the most qualified to provide it. That's why they're your target clientele and not somebody else's. You see, you're uniquely situated to solve certain wants and needs of certain people. It's your job to make sure you understand those wants, understand the need, and fulfill them. And when you do, you can have a large clientele because people love to talk about their wants being solved. You see, people don't want to talk about, "I had a need and it was taken care of." People want to talk about the things they desired, the wants that they were able to attain with the help of someone just like you. So remember, when it comes to your business, when it comes to your client, when it comes to your customer, you want to make sure that you understand they have wants. Those wants may be disguised as needs, but there's always a want behind that need. When you find the want, you can charge higher prices and you will have happier clients.
