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Understanding Your Customers Product Selection Process

Understanding your customers is the key to making sales and becoming successful. Everything hinges on knowing what they want, what they need, when they want it or need it, what they will buy, and what they will pay for it. From product development to product marketing - everything circles back to these questions, and more importantly, the answers to those questions.  

Diva Design World ( http://www.divadesignworld.com ) helps their clients to understand their customers better. Diva Design World is known for their success and expertise in marketing their clients products and services. They know that the answers to the questions come down to two factors: What the customer wants and needs from the product, and how the product fills those wants and needs.

The customers need or want of the product is the main focus of their buying decision. If a product meets or exceeds their needs, they will purchase the product. That is simple stuff. But the problem comes in when there are two or more products that have the same features and benefits for the same price. This is where understanding your customer’s product selection process is vital.

This isn't a question of what makes your product better than your competitors - the products are exactly the same. The packaging is even equally appealing to the customer. It's what is written on the outside of the package, or in your advertising that will make the difference. So, the real question is what to say to the customer and how to say it. Of course, you would list features of the product and the benefits that the customer will receive from the use of your product. But, the competitor is going to tell them the same thing. So, it comes down to 'how' you are going to tell them.

A woman needs to buy dish washing soap. She goes to a store that only carries two brands of dish soap, and she isn't partial to either brand. Both brands are the same price, the same scent, and both soften hands, leave glasses spotless, have a special cleanser that makes the removal of dried on food easier and virtually makes grease disappear. The soap is even the same color.  

Take a look at the features and benefits. You must understand the difference between features and benefits. Features relate to the product, while benefits relate to the customer. Benefits: soft hands, spotless glasses, less time scrubbing off dried on food. Features: special cleanser. On the packaging, Product A states that it softens hands while you do dishes and leaves your glasses spot free. It also says that it contains a particular cleanser, such as Kryptonite, but doesn't explain what Kryptonite actually does. Product B states that it softens hands while you do dishes and leaves your glasses spot free. It also states that it will make the removal of dried on food and grease easier. The woman buys product B.

Basically, the customer wants to know what features a product has and how it benefits them. They want to know in a language that they understand, and they want you to be specific - but not overly specific. That woman in our example had no idea what the special cleanser was, and she didn't care. What she cared about was soft hands, spot free glasses, and less time scrubbing the dishes so she could go watch her favorite television show.

People tend to think in abstracts. In other words, we think in the form of ideals, not in terms of actual things. So, when you list the features of your product, you can list actual things, such as specific ingredients, but then you must state the ideal benefit from the ingredient, such as removing dried on food easier. Benefits should always be stated in abstract form. For instance, product B broke the special cleanser down from an actual thing (the cleanser), to an ideal (easier removal of dried on food) - which therefore turned the feature into a benefit (less time scrubbing dishes).

It is important to remember these factors when you are writing your ad copy or designing the packaging for your products. Features and benefits are the main selling points of any product or service. But you must relate the features to the benefits.