What Customers Want
Always remember that the use of a product is whatever a customer uses it for. Know when to keep silent during marketing and allow the customer to just talk.
Many years ago, I was in an office when a team came to pitch ebooks to a CEO [they have many business titles in a portable system]. When they left, the CEO said “Very brilliant boys, but bad products. With paper books behind me in these shelves, I look academic. What value would I get from ebooks? These books are needed for office decorations. I have no time to read these days”
I smiled. The CEO wanted the books to decorate his office, not to read. eBooks have no value to him because the value is in the contents [he is not interested in the contents]. He wants to look intellectual; he needs printed books in the office. Yes, the value for him is the decorative value of the books.
Tekedia Mini-MBA edition 16 (Feb 10 – May 3, 2025) opens registrations; register today for early bird discounts.
Tekedia AI in Business Masterclass opens registrations here.
Join Tekedia Capital Syndicate and invest in Africa’s finest startups here.
So, it is not everyone that buys a book does so to read it. Sure, those big tomes you see in some offices are decorators. Most do not even know the title of the books.
The same principle applies in all products: find what customers use your products for. Have awareness and discover them. Once you do, closing deals would be faster.
It's an awareness thing, and also knowing when to talk and when to listen. People see things differently, and when you now want to 'over educate' them about your products and services, they end up not seeing why they need them again; and a potential sale suddenly evaporates!
You can do all your thinking, with lots of features in the products, just know that someone might be interested in just one feature, and no need to bore him/her with other things. There are those who buy smartphones just for the camera quality, don't waste time telling them about how fast they could access the web with it; they not interested.
