Friday, April 6, 2007

What does the customer want really?

In many cases, a customer's desire for a particular product is actually a metaphor to an underlying deeper desire. And in most cases, the customer is not consciously aware of this deeper desire that they are expressing thru their interest in a product. To be a great marketer, you need to understand what the customer really actually wants. This is what will separate you from the riff-raff.

People buying condos are looking to buy into a lifestyle. Similarly, as Rashmi Bansal puts it so well in this awesome rip-roaring post, people looking to buy clothes are actually looking for wardrobe advice. And active users of social networks in most cases really actually want to get laid.

Check out this excerpt from Rashmi Bansal's post...
"There are two kinds of salesmen in the world - sorry salesmen and sari salesmen. The sorry variety diffidently walk upto a customer and enquire - just for the sake of enquiring - "Madam, can I help you?" Madam glares at the salesperson and he/ she beats a hasty retreat.

The second kind of salesman sizes up his prey and then moves in for the kill. "Aaiye na sister, baithiye na... " He then proceeds to pull out some 'latest stuffs' and even as 'sister' protests "mat kholiye" he grins and declares,"Dekhne ka koi daam nahi lagta." Or so you think.


The fact is once this sales fellow has dug his claws into sister's skin she will never leave the shop without buying something. "Kya mangaoon, chai, thanda..." And he proceeds to open a few hundred saris more without a care in the world about who will fold them.
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The irony is that a lot of the people who enter designer stores might not be as well turned out as you'd expect. Maybe that's why they are at a designer store - in need of urgent wardrobe advice. Deciding who are the freeloaders and who the potential big bucks but you-would-not-know-it-if-you-looked-at-me is where a true salesman's instincts kick in.
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