The other day I was sitting in the coffee house in a four star hotel, discussing business with my partner over a cup of milk-tea. The place was good and golden bright, and not noisy – light music was on. The discussion went on peacefully. And I seldom had the break to stop for a drink of the tea. And when the chance came, I found that my tea already became cold. Without calling upon, the waitress at the bar came over and took away the tea pot and a minute later came back with the same pot – at least as was eyed by me – of hot tea. Putting this on the table, the waitress silently walked away without disrupting our discussion. And again, the tea went cold. However, the waitress did not come over and replace it. I bet she noticed that I no longer needed the milk-tea as the discussion went on heat and I did not have the time to stop for a drink. And when chance came and I had the time to get hold of my cup of milk-tea, I saw that the waitress came over again and took away the pot and came back with hot tea again. How smart she was, I was thinking. She’s not bothered us talking at all. And she served the tea only when it was needed. And I think of marketing, which is also a service provided where needed. Some may argue that by saying “Every day I survive a huge amount of Ads, which is totally needed at all.†Well I’m not saying that all marketers do that. Smart marketers serve only when it is needed. And when people are in need of something, they will look for them. Smart marketers study how and where their prospects look for the things they need and provide service there. Even smarter ones know how to inspire the need of people and help them getting to know what the marketers are trying to convey. When they are marketing a product, they do not focus on the quality of the product. Actually this is the least concern of people if they do not need this product at all. Instead, they work to inspire the needs and provide services to the anticipated needs. A very obvious example of this could be cell phone. No one would imagine that ten years ago a cell phone could take photographs and send them. So, marketing, as seen from this angle, is serving the need of people. And even smarter marketing is inspiring the need of people and then serving them.
Have you ever tried to count the number of ads we see each day? Most of the marketing don't even see the people they are marketing too. Marketing on the internet, I don't see anyone... But the girl saw you and when you need some thing... show brought it over... Also people buy what they WANT and not what the need... Ask yourself this can many people can she give this service too at the same time? Maybe 10 if she's really good!... But put a ads that 1000's can see and you now have the market.... Just my 2 cents....
We've learned how to tune them out. Except when we are looking for something as in when you're shopping for a car you either see too many of the same car or not enough of what you want to see. My take away is that a business that pays attention to the wants and needs of its clients, retains more customers.
firstly thanks a lot for replying. however i was not talking about a single marketer with a single reaching to his/her prospect. the girl serving tea was just an example or metaphor... of course marketers can not see people in person. however, just like we see stars millions of light-years away via electronics, marketers see people in the data.that's why they need market research/investigation. and marketers do not serve a single person, they serve segmentions. i was not talking about personal sales. however, even personal sales require such a discipline and i see you classified need from want...i totally agree! serving the need or serving the want of people, that's where we see if a marketer is smart or not.
I wonder about that need vs want thing. I agree that both are true. We will buy the things we need and when we have money or shown the right product we will buy the things we want. The question about want is how do we determine what we want. I believe that this is where marketing comes really in. If you create a great product and then market it (show it off) people will start believing that they want it. It's like me with an iPhone for example. How would I know that I want it vs many other great phones out there? It is the marketing and great showing off the product and its value that bought me over. Just my two cents as this subject can have PhD theses written on.
Well I see the need and want thing attracts more attention It's just that often you do not know what you need; however you do know what you want because you have: done some research, got the money, etc. What we need is a function/experience while what we want is a specific item/product.