Will the want/need/problem/opportunity cause your prospects enough pain or the prospect of enough pleasure that they will be willing to take action?
If your prospects are ready to act to fill their need or solve their business problem, then they will be more likely to buy your product or service. On the other hand, if your potential customers need or problem is not strong enough to motivate them to take action, then you will be required to expend more sales and marketing effort to convince them that they will benefit from filling the need or solving the problem. Keep in mind that your prospects probably have several needs or problems, so you must show them that the one you can fill or solve is of high enough priority that they should fill it before the others.
This again would require specific effort your part, and will become another requirement for your integrated marketing communications program. You will be able to save yourself much of this effort, however, if you plan to refine your target market segment to include only those prospects who already recognize their need or problem and who are willing to act on that need or problem.
To continue your analysis, then, the next question you must ask yourself is: Are there additional customer characteristics that will tell me that these customers will be ready to buy? To expand on the example above:
Of those who visit the dentist regularly, those with a higher likelihood of gum disease may be more ready to buy your electric toothbrush than those with healthy teeth and gums. One customer characteristic that is related to a higher incidence of gum disease is age. You might therefore choose to sell your electric toothbrush to those individuals who are over 45 years of age.
When you combine this characteristic with the income and education characteristics we selected previously, your analysis has determined that your target market segment would now become those individuals earning $50,000 or more per year, with four or more years of college education, and who are over 45 years of age.
To complete your analysis, there are two more rules to apply once you have identified your target market segment. Both rules will help your business achieve success.
Rule #3:
Let The Customers Know That You Can Fill Their Needs
Will your prospects recognize that you can fulfill their need or want, or solve their business problem? If you are an existing business, do your prospects already recognize your ability to fill their need or want, or solve their business problem?
If you are an existing business, and they do, then your marketing communications program has already done its job or you have already built good relations with these prospects, you can move on to Rule #4.
If your prospects do not yet recognize your ability to meet their need or solve their problem, then you must figure out how to demonstrate to them your ability to do so. This activity will become a part of your marketing communications program, and will form the core of your initial selling activities. Your prospects must recognize that you have a solution to their need or problem before they will commit to spending time or resources with you.
If you have chosen a target market segment satisfying Rules #1 and #2, then the bulk of your marketing and sales activities and expenditures will be dedicated to satisfying Rule #3 and Rule #4, below. Rule #3 will be satisfied by your advertising and promotional activities.
Once you have figured out how to educate your prospects on your ability to satisfy their need or solve their problem, you can move on to Rule #4.
Rule #4:
Find Customers Who Will Pay
Will your prospects pay you to meet their need or solve their business problem?
There are two parts to Rule #4:
1. Will your prospect pay? - and - 2. Will your prospect pay you? Even though your prospects recognize their need or problem, are motivated to take action, and recognize that you have a solution, they may not be ready or able to pay, or to pay you.
You must ensure your prospect will have funds budgeted or available to fill this need or solve this problem. You also must ensure you are dealing with the decision-makers. In the case of a family, the husband and wife may make joint decisions, especially on large purchases. In the case of a business, several individuals may comprise the ”buying center,“ including a purchasing agent, an executive, a financial officer, and possibly others.
Once you have determined your prospects' ability and willingness to pay, you must ensure that they are willing to pay you (i.e., they recognize you can fill their need or solve their problem in a way that no other competitor or substitute product can do). They must clearly see greater value in what you have to offer them, and trust you to stand behind your product or services ability to meet their need or solve their problem. If your prospects can't distinguish you from your competitors, don't trust you, or can't distinguish your product or service from other products or services offered to them, then a portion of your marketing and sales activities will have to be spent on educating them about your uniqueness and trustworthiness. Of course, uniqueness and trustworthiness must have value to your prospects before they will be willing to pay for them.
Conclusion
If you are a new business, analyzing your market, remember that every firm must satisfy these four rules for marketing and sales success. If you an existing business and you are having difficulty finding customers to purchase your product or service or you are spending a lot of time ”convincing“ your prospects to buy, consider targeting your market segment to satisfy Rules #1 and #2. Then, you'll find that almost every prospect you talk to has a need for what you're selling. You'll then be able to concentrate your marketing and sales efforts on satisfying Rules #3 and #4, to ensure they easily see how you can fulfill their needs better than any of your competitors.
If the results of your product-market analysis show that there are valid customers for your product or service, you are now ready to write your marketing plan. The benefit to you of following the four rules will be shorter sales cycles, a higher percentage of prospects converted to customers, and more productive use of your marketing and sales dollars.
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© 2001 Linda Pinson & Donald R. McCrea