It’s never really about the product
From an excellent Medium post: The 3 Most Important Things I Know About Consumers I Learned From Bartending:
- It’s never really about the product – people drink to feel (or to stop feeling) something. True again about buying clothes. “Understanding these needs goes a long way. You almost never want to speak or market directly in terms of these needs, because it freaks people out and breaks the “magic” of what they’re doing, but understanding the deeper motivations goes a long way in building rapport.”
- People want to be guided – so true, I always do say, “what do you recommend?” For me, it makes or breaks my visit to the place; a passionate person would give me a recommendation they themselves consume, rather than what they think I would like to consume. Interesting to also see that people care about what others do… “Social proof is a powerful thing. And with great power comes great responsibility.”
- Consistency vs. Novelty – Customers want rapport with you (and themselves). “People love new. They love novelty.”
Giving stuff away gets people engaged (well yes, who doesn’t love a free lunch?).
Perhaps the biggest takeaway is also that people want to like you, and they do want others to like them (and they also want to like themselves).
So when making products, think about fulfilling all these needs.
