What are you really selling?

We spend a lot of time with consumers in their home watching them interact with products and asking them questions about their likes & dislikes. One thing that never fails to amaze me is the disconnect between what people are buying and what companies are selling.

In a nutshell, companies sell products. People buy remedies for their pain, or solutions to their unmet needs (choose your analogy). A couple of years ago, we did a project on patio heaters. Looking at the offerings in the marketplace, you could see where each manufacturer had changed the form of the product slightly to differentiate themselves at retail. Little shelves, different shaped posts, multiple domes on the top. I'm sure the respective manufacturers thought they were setting themselves apart with their "unique" styling. And from their perspective, they all put out heat, which is what they were designed to do.

We spent many cool evenings with consumers, on their patios and decks so that we could better understand how to improve upon this offering. The first thing we learned was that the products on the market were "all the same" from a home-owner's perspective. The efforts toward differentiation was lost on them. More importantly, we learned that patio heaters were not strictly about outdoor warmth (as had always been assumed). It was really about enabling consumers to entertain outdoors. We heard comments about how much easier it is to hose off the deck after a party than to clean red wine off the light colored carpeting indoors. Outdoor parties were seen as less formal, more friendly and generally more fun. Patio heaters help people to move their parties outdoors.

While on the surface, that might not seem breakthrough, that is a finding that should reinvent the category. Once you are in the outdoor party business, you start to incorporate new attributes into your product. Other unmet needs like lack of surface space for plates and drinks, need for additional ambient lighting, and fire as a focal point all start to come into play. Our client introduced a couple of award winning heaters that satisfied some of these other needs as well. One walk through a big-box retailer this spring, and you'll see that this notion has caught on across many providers. Low round tables with gas logs burning in the center, natural gas heater/lamp combinations, other forms of heater tables can all be found. It seems everybody is trying to help people entertain outdoors these days... the market may be shifting. So, what is it that you are really selling? Are you sure that's what people are actually buying? If your market is shifting to a new direction, are you ready to still support it? Most importantly, how do you know?

A marketing dilemma

I’ve been reading Norm Brodsky’s book “The Knack”. I’m only a few chapters into it, but I now feel faced with an interesting dilemma. Norm says he never recommends that anyone launch a highly unique business, because few can afford to educate the market about what the service provides. Leave the breakthrough stuff to the Microsofts and the Apples of the world. The rest of us should seek out markets where there are already a number of competitors, then figure out how to separate ourselves from the pack.

For years, I’ve been trying to separate my business from other main-stream businesses by providing a unique position and offering. Those that have used us have been very pleased, which is evident by our 90% return rate of customers (doing follow on or whole-new projects). However, it has been traditionally tough for us to land new clients. Almost all of our new clients have come to us through recommendations from our existing relationships. Now I’m coming to realize that trying to be so unique may have actually hampered our growth.

This is a tough pill to swallow for a guy (and a firm) that is dedicated to finding the unmet needs of our clients and offer a service that directly satisfies them. It’s great for those “in the know”, but obviously a tough message to communicate to new prospects.

It’s human nature to categorize things into buckets that we currently understand. When we come across a wholly new offering, we immediately attempt to equate it with something we’re familiar with. It doesn’t matter if it’s a perfect fit, it’s just important that we can classify information in such a way as to not be constantly overwhelmed. Once a service is categorized, then we can mentally go through the process of differentiating one service from another (in terms of metrics that we comfortably use; price, speed, quality, etc.).

There’s nothing wrong with being unique. In fact it’s a critical factor in a competitive world. But, there’s obviously a big difference between having a unique offering, and talking about it in a strictly unique way. Introduce people to your product or service in ways that are familiar to them. Once there, help them to see how you have a unique solution to satisfy their needs.

An Intriguing Relationship

We had an interesting conversation the other day at lunch about products we own. Most of our possessions primarily serve a functional or utilitarian role in our lives. Granted, we may have opted for a deluxe model, with extra bells and whistles, but once we’ve become accustomed to having it around, it becomes an everyday part of our lives.

There are a few things we own that we feel passionately about. You could say that we even have a “relationship” with these products. When thinking about my own life, only two current products come to my mind; my iphone and my Mini Cooper. When I shared that with my lunch companions, they were quite surprised… “What about the BMW you owned before?” they asked. I stated that while it was a great car, I had no strong feelings toward it one way or the other.

So that got my mind churning. Why is it that I have such strong feelings toward my current phone and my current car? What sets these apart from other such products that I have owned in the past? Eventually, it came to me. I had the unique opportunity to customize both of these products to perfectly satisfy my tastes and needs.

Unlike previous purchases, I specified my Mini from the ground up. Color, style and location of stripes, sun roof, interior trim & colors, features, sound system, handling controls, etc. The web site told me that there were over a million combinations, so my car would be unique. That sounded cool, but didn’t hit home until I got it and started driving the thing. I see Minis on the road everyday, but I’ve never seen one quite like mine. I loved my BMW when I got it too. But within a week of owning it, it seemed that every third car on the road was a silver X5 just like mine. I felt like I was driving an (expensive) commodity. Today I’m driving a less costly car, but one that feels like a true extension of me.

The iphone generates similar feelings. Granted, it seems like everyone has one these days, but as soon as you turn it on, you notice the differences. I have downloaded apps that are perfect for me. It has become my source of communication, navigation, entertainment and information.

Watch two iphone users in the same room, and they’ll be comparing the apps that they each have. Again, no two are the same.

This all begs the question. Is it important for your customers to have a “relationship” with your product? Is it even possible? All I know is that in my case these products have transformed from function to lifestyle. All because I got to “make them my own”. That’s got to be worth something.

Why Shower Musings?

What is it about a shower that frees the mind to create structure from a mass of chaotic thoughts? I don't know how many times I have been struggling with a problem only to have a clear picture of where I need to head by the time I am toweling off. As a market researcher & innovation consultant I live in a world of possibilities. I immerse myself into peoples' lives to understand how they live, what they do and most importantly learn about their unmet needs. A given project will surface so much seemingly disparate data that it can be very tough to compile a strategy. That is until I get in the shower, then it all magically becomes clear! Of course I can drive my employees nuts. More than once we've been on the road to make a presentation to a client, when I've come down to breakfast with (guess what) a whole new idea that came to me while I was in the shower. They never deny that the new idea is better than the original, but they do begrudge revamping an entire presentation in the business center an hour before the meeting.

In this blog I plan to share some of my thoughts, some specific to products and some specific to human behavior. Perhaps my readers will come across a tidbit that helps them in their job, or challenges them to think about their business in a whole new way. And maybe, they'll take showers a bit more often!