Buyers may not always select the product they like best - they often buy the one they fear least!
What makes the better choice?
Think about it…the last time you purchased a big ticket item what did you do? If you are like me you check product reviews before making a purchase. Why? Well for me, a lot of products look very similar, at least in the way they are positioned and marketed. So in the shopping process I’m not really looking the buy the superior product, I’m looking to buy a problem free product - the “better” product.
Since technology has enabled all products with a mind numbing array of features and functionality, I know that on average, all products are probably pretty much equal in equivalent price categories. I also know that bugs exist, be it a sticky gas pedal on a car, or some bios glitch in my new laptop that causes it to lock up every time it attempts to charge the battery after I switch from LAN to wireless network (actually happened to me). So, I really want a product that has the fewest bugs, which will result in the fewest headaches to me, and will over its life remain glitch free the longest.
Therefore I don’t give a lot of weight to what a company says on its website, what is printed in it’s literature, or what a sales person tells me. Rather, I read product reviews and talk to owners of similar products. But I’m not looking for information that causes me to give a higher opinion of one product over another - I’m looking for things that will cause me to eliminate products until I am left with one or two from which to make my buying purchase. Then I might rationalize my purchase based on a product’s value based on it price vs. feature/functionality.
I propose that a good many corporate technology buyers use the same methodology. That is when they compare my or your product against a competitor’s, they aren’t really looking to choose the product they like best… they are looking to buy the product they fear least!
Therefore when I’m selling, I try to be extremely alert to the following:
- Any areas of concern or doubt expressed by my buyer.
- Who in the decision process has veto authority (this is often different than those with recommendation authority).
- Areas where my prospect was burned in the past by a product.
- Situations where our sales team is attempting to overcome an objection by talking (rather than showing).
- Ways in which I can build rapport and trust with my prospect - this often involves listening and parroting which is different than paraphrasing.
Obviously doing all the above does not take the place of showing how my product or service meets or exceeds the buyer’s requirements. But I find that when used with demonstrating how my offering best supports the strategic (as opposed to tactical) objectives of the organization, I can often keep my product from being commoditized in a competitive selling environment, and present my prospect with the “better” choice.
November 21st, 2010 at 14:47
I think it’s essentially a perceptual issue. There is a difference between what buyers “like” and values perceived to be associated with a particular product, and that difference is often significant enough to substantially affect the purchasing decision.
For instance, I “like” the Ford Mustang and the latest model looks great to me. With a 4.0-liter SOHC V6 engine generating 210 horsepower standard at a price point at just over $21K, I really do like this car. However, my eye is also trained on the Honda Civic SI couple with a 2.0-liter K20Z3 engine generating 197 horsepower at a slightly higher price point of 22K flat.
If I were buying solely based on what I “like,” I’d choose the Mustang. It’s definitely a cooler car guaranteed to make me look cooler, but my impression of Honda in general is that they make better-built, more reliable vehicles and I believe the Honda Civic SI is no exception. Therefore, I am going to buy what I perceive to be the better value, even though I like the other car more.
From a marketing perspective, the objective is not to strive to get potential consumers to like anything. Instead, the emphasis is on building brand affinity, or establishing awareness in order to drive the target demographic not to like something, just be drawn to it. This is particularly important in some product categories, like refrigerators, where the “like” factor has inherently less play than the perception of which is the best machine.
On a broader level, the disparity between what a person may “like” and perceive to be of value, is virtually universal, extending into areas in life not typically associated with marketing and sales. For example, many people like paintings of sea gulls and the seashore. However, even most seascape aficianados agree that these works are in an entirely separate league from a Vermeer or Rembrandt, a fact reflected in the enormous pricing differential.
Net-net, just because you like something doesn’t necessarily mean you want to, or should, buy it. You may enjoy dating someone, but marriage is a different matter altogether, and the biggest catastrophes tend to occur when people confuse the two.