Knowing What Your Customer Wants

I'm going to begin with the basic principle of business, knowing your customer. (This is not to be confused with a business method used for end user/customer compliance obligations for ensuring a customer does not have sanctions against them known as 'Know Your Customer', we will cover that later). This section is about understanding how humans work & who your target audience will be. It can also aid in helping you understand the saleability of your products.

So, Question - what do all humans look for in a product (or a person for that matter)? Answer - A benefit to them!

You wouldn't buy something that didn't benefit your life (unless you were conned or confused), nor would you continue to own something that doesn't provide a benefit to your life (unless you can't be bothered to sell it, holds no benefit nor disadvantage selling it or it has been otherwise forgotten about) - and that right there is the key to sales.

You don't necessarily sell a product, a product sells itself to somebody who see's a benefit that the product will bring to them in their life. Clothing may make somebody feel better & somebody might think that the item may improve their appearance, therefore holds a benefit.

Let's look at human relations (apart from family), what makes a friend a friend? We'll start by looking at mankind's best friend - a dog. (I'm not cat lover, I think they're the first to leave when times get tough). Why do we love dogs so much? What does a dog want from a human? Why does a dog make use smile so much? I'll tell you, because its the most simple elements of life that can help you conquer human psychology and that is; interest, companionship & trust. Dogs don't even ask for that, but that's what they want. I mentioned in my 'About The Writer' page, that in the 21st century, humans are spoilt for choice - in a world of choice, it can be hard to find an individual who wants nothing from us but companionship. If you find them people - keep their trust, show them genuine interest & probably most importantly appreciate them for who they are. When we look at 'funny' individuals, these people bring joy to other peoples life, there's the benefit they give to others. I've attracted a lot of people over the years who saw my level of care for others & sometimes just saw money, that was in their interest & what they saw as a benefit. I've had relationships, where I was literally listed what the person wanted, so fool me once, I tried to provide, but what did they give in return - I can assure you genuine interest & trust isn't something that lasted very long. But a dog, they don't need anything that you can't provide.

If you can recognise that people just want what they want, your sales abilities will be empowered. Not all humans are like dogs - most want what they request, what makes their life easy & what will pose a benefit to them, so bear that in mind when you think of what products to sell & how you're going to set about selling them and also when trying to maintain your reputation (the customer is always right) - anything that makes something easier for another, is saleable.

Back to products - lets look at the worlds most sold items.

Number 1 - Fashion items, the top selling industry on the planet. Humans who don't look good go unrecognised. Again unlike with dogs, if you don't look good, you often won't attract another human. This is important to remember when branding your product, whatever it is - make sure it looks pleasing to the eye.

Number 2 - Tech products, tech systems & communication devices - in the 21st century, it would be near on impossible to perform business as fast without them. Communication product revolutions are happening year by year & our demand for information & speed of that information has grown the tech industry to become one of the worlds largest. The worlds richest man, started his business in a garage, but recognised the requirement for a global marketplace that joins thousands of sellers to millions & millions of buyers. The consumer benefits that this tech giant has created could not be matched for years to come. My point to this is that anything idea that can aid that demand from everyday individuals for information & availability with superfast delivery speeds are what the world is looking for - remember this when developing your marketing methods & designing/implementing your website. A good ERP can help with this. Another point to this is humans are impatient, keep your selling stupidly simple & don't leave room for complaint or a request for further information.

Number 3 - Methods of transportation (Sea/Air/Land) - Once upon a time, we used animals to transport humans & goods, then steam engine train was created. The word engine, from the latin word 'Ingenium' which literally translates to 'Genius'. Nowadays we overlook this revolution to be as common as sliced bread. Getting from one place to another, in a percentage of the time it would take to walk or via animal transportation created the world as it is today. The faster we can move, the faster we can deliver & the bigger the benefit becomes to the consumer. Our spoilt world couldn't just settle for this - there is now a growing demand for a reduction in the cost & time taken for transportation - in comes the age of renewable energy fuelled high speed vehicles. The benefits of these industries speak for themselves, overcome the next major hurdles of this demand & you can benefit the new world economy.

Number 4 - This is the last example I'll go through & draw a conclusion to this post - Self-Care Products. - Medicinal products. Beauty Products. Variety of Fresh food. Pamper Products. Lets look at something as overlooked as paracetamol, the benefit that it brings to the world of people in pain. Make-up & skin care products, keep us youthful, makes individuals feel good & keeps our skin healthy - there are the benefits :) Fresh food, feeds a humans sensual desires, touch & smell - there again are the benefits. & lastly pamper products help our bodies relax, which help extend our mindfulness also provides many health benefits.

The conclusion - Benefits are what most human are looking for. If you can find or create a product that creates a benefit in peoples life, you will succeed. Remember you need to sell it correctly, use the FAB principle (its age old) Feature, Advantage, Benefits. Show the product correctly to attract the human, provide the advantages over any competition & list the benefits correctly, ensuring the customer has no room to think twice about 'does it have this....?', 'what about....?', 'can it.....?' Keep sales stupidly simple, because as I said from the very beginning a product sells itself, you simply facilitate the supply & delivery.

Any questions ? Feel free to ask