Wants and needs are the two driving powers that turn people into customers/clients. One power can be stronger that the other depending on a personality. Sometimes they can compete; sometimes they coincide and, in this unity, make up a stronger driving force in a consumer’s mind that his/her decision to purchase a product or service becomes inevitable.
What is the difference between wants and needs?
WANTS
Wants arise from several causes, such as a wish or desire to have or to do something or absence of something. Human wants are unlimited as well as their causes. When people want something, it is not necessary that the need what they want. Plainly to say, wants are something human beings can live without. Wants are not life-sustaining feelings. For instance, all people can live without jewelry. That is, they are not being born dripping with jewels. If there was no jewelry, human race would still continue its existence. What about air, water, nutrients, light? We do not only want to have them all at a time, we objectively need them, because they are our life-sustaining elements.
In marketing, wants are not less important than needs. Considering human beings as consumers, we can define that wants arise from other feelings, such as greed, vanity, envy, lust, desire, avidity, lucre, love, affection, pleasure, pride, sense of duty or honor, you name it. Even though some of the above mentioned feelings are considered vicious by some people, smart marketers use them for their profit. By satisfying consumers’ wants they reach the same goal as when they meet their needs – profit!
NEEDS
Needs also have different sources, but they are limited. Nobody wants to be needy, nobody wants to lack something, nobody wants to suffer a loss and need what they lost. Everyone wants to live in abundance. But if there is no need, there is no business. There is no such thing as absence of needs. Everyone always needs something. Scientists identify several categories of needs, which, in turn, help marketers build their marketing strategies more effectively. According to Abraham Maslow, there is a hierarchy of 5 types of needs: Physiological, Safety, Love/Belonging, Esteem, and Self-Actualization. Let’s shortly describe them individually:
- PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS: Breathing, Food, Water, Sex, Sleep, etc.
- SAFETY NEEDS: Security of Body, of Employment, of Resources, of Morality, of the Family, of Health, of Property
- LOVE/BELONGING: Friendship, Family, Sexual Intimacy
- ESTEEM: Self-Esteem, Confidence, Achievement, Respect of Others, Respect by Others
- SELF-ACTUALIZATION: Morality, Creativity, Spontaneity, Problem Solving, Lack of Prejudice, Acceptance of Facts
Now, how does this translate into network marketing success? Once you understand what your audience wants and needs, your marketing strategies will be adequate and the results commeasurable with your efforts. When speaking of meeting certain needs we mean certain products and services that are used as tools to reach certain goals, because people don’t buy products or services for the sake of products and services. They buy products and services to meet the needs that stand behind them. You get your hair cut not because you need your hair cut. The want or need to look better is what stands behind getting a haircut. We buy cars not because we need cars themselves, but because we need to get from point A to point B faster than on foot. Thus, products and services are only the means to achieve our goals; but needs are motivators that determine our behavior towards reaching those goals.
Think what products and services you can offer your customers to meet the 5 above mentioned types of needs. Here are my examples, depending on the type of network marketing business you’re in:
PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS: Products that help improve asthmatic symptoms; essential nutrients; vitamins and minerals; oxygen-enriched water; products improving sexual health, etc.
SAFETY NEEDS: skin products; home-based business opportunity as employment security; organic and contaminant-free products and nutritionals, permission marketing for security of morality vs. pitching, cold calling, and spamming; home security products and services, etc.
LOVE/BELONGING: Network Marketing as a Whole; Networking Websites, Team Meetings, Webinars and Seminars, Emailing; Family Business, etc.
ESTEEM: Improve you self-esteem by becoming a professional network marketer, leader, and coach; lead by example: reach your goals and help other reach theirs; respect your team members and they will respect you. Team up with the leaders in your business. Learn from the best.
SELF-ACTUALIZATION: Improve Your Self; Be Creative; Be a Problem Solver; Be Impartial; Get Rid of Prejudice
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
The key element in your marketing strategy is the needs and wants analysis. Give (your customers what they want), and it will be given to thee. Meet their needs, and your own needs will be met. This works like a boomerang. In the next lesson you will find out what steps to take to turn theory into practice. Stay tuned!
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