One of the toughest struggles Account Service professionals have is the dichotomy between what the client wants to say about its products or services and what the consumer (the actual buyer) wants to hear. We understand you are proud of your company, we understand there probably has been a lot of blood sweat and tears put into developing the product or refining the service, we understand that “it” is your baby, and we understand you want to make money.
How do you make money? You get the target to buy your product. How do businesses buy products or services? A person makes that decision…same as a consumer. We all buy things and most of us make purchases based on benefit or emotion; especially bigger ticket items. Yes, there are products and services that cost little, so typically there is less emotion needed to make that buying decision. Or, is there?
Think about it. Are you a Jif or Skippy peanut butter person? Do you use Crest toothpaste or Colgate only? All of these are relatively cheap items. However, many of us have affinity to a product because that is what our mom used to buy. We might buy something because it reminds us of being a kid, it will make us happy or we think it will improve our social status.
In the end, we all purchase products that will benefit us. Whatever that perceived benefit might be.
We are not buying something because your product has a bright yellow on/off button. We are buying it because the bright yellow on/off button is easier to see in our dark work environment (the benefit). And, we might be buying it because we perceive that brand, with its bright yellow button, makes us work more efficiently and better than others (pride).
I thought Danny Groner of Ragan Communications put it together well. We can take a lesson from Don Draper from Mad Men. We are not selling the Kodak slide projector with the new 60-slide carousel made from Dura-plastic, we’re selling the memories one can look back on when using it.
So, if account executives challenge you with questions such as “why does the consumer care about that button?” it is because we care. We want to help you connect with the consumer and compel them to choose you. We want your business to be successful.