Cheryl Baumgartner   Medical...
You often hear the phrase give people what they want.  But have you actually thought through what that means?  Give people what they want seems to be a mantra in marketing and sales but stop and think about it for a moment, is that really the best thing to do?
Lets use my favorite cliche, the car salesmanOne day Charlie the Chevy salesman is sitting in his office when a young couple wanders onto the lot and starts looking at the cars.  They go straight to the top of the line most expensive car on the lot.  They take it for a test drive and they are in love.  So they go into Charlie's office and he runs the numbers and sees that they qualify for the loan, just barely.  Now here is where Charlie needs to think.  They can just barely afford to make the payments, should Charlie give them what they want knowing that it pushes them to the absolute limit, or should he present them with some options that will give them what they need and some breathing room?
Odds are Charlie is going to go ahead and sell them that car knowing it could be the Straw that breaks the camel's back for them financially.  So 6 months down the line, wifey gets laid off and this couple is left with a car that they cannot afford.  Will they blame themselves for buying a car that they could not afford, or will they think to themselves Charlie should have known we couldn't afford it.
But lets say Charlie explains that what they want is going to put them in financial distress.  Then Charlie says let's look at some other options; like the same model with less upgrades or a cheaper model that has these features that you really loved.  Charlie is now giving them options for what they need instead of what they want.  Now if they still are determined to buy the more expensive car, they are going into it with their eyes wide open to the trouble they could be facing.  Charlie did try to show them that before they bought it so when the shoe falls they can't blame anyone else but themselves.
But lets say they listen to Charlie and choose to buy something cheaper.  Maybe giving up the options or a different model with comparable features.  That car payment is $150 less than what they would have been paying.  They are still struggling when the the shoe drops, but they are able to make that car payment.  The Repo man did not sneak over in the dead of night and make off with their car for the finance company.
Charlie saved them $150 per month, making an all important difference by giving them what they needed.  When it comes time to buy a new car, where do you think they are going to buy from?  And as for Charlie, yes the commission he made on the first sale was less than he would have made on the more expensive car but he just made up the difference and then some with a second commission from the same customer.
As marketers of anything, we need to look beyond today's sale to making our customers into clients who will come back to us again and again.  And it might just mean giving up the huge commission on giving that customer what he wants today and instead giving him what he needs.  Because that customer will remember you when that need arises again.
Dec 15th 2010 13:03