How to Set Up a Successful Business - part 2 of 10 - What Products or Services Should You Offer?

byPawanVarma

59 followers

2 years ago

Let's return to the thirsty person example in the previous blog post. After days in the desert, a person comes to you. Now you have some choices:
1. Offer them a glass of water, but 48 hours from now.
2. Offer them a glass of water on the condition that you will take their children away and they will never see them again (yes, a bit harsh, but play along with the example).
3. Offer them a strong shot of espresso instead of water.
4. Offer them a glass of water immediately, free or at a nominal price.

In the first case, you have the right product, but the timing is wrong.
In the second case, you have the right product, but the cost is too high. The value of the water is less than the value of their children.
In the third case, you're offering something to drink, but coffee is a diuretic, meaning that it takes water out of the body. So this is the wrong product.
And in the fourth case, you are offering the right product, at the right time, and at the right price.

Note that when you talk about offering something for your clients, you need to think about:
1. What you are offering.
2. Timing of the offer and of the delivery.
3. Cost. . . making sure that the value of your product is more than the cost to your client.

So, how do you choose what to offer?

Think back to the example. What does your client need? What has value to your client? What are they willing to invest in?

Let's take another example.

You're in the business of selling vacuum cleaners. These are expensive, $3000 machines. What do you need to know about your client?

A lot of people will tell you to look at income, family members, whether they own or rent their home, etc. Well, if you have a bunch of money just lying around that you don't know what to do with, go ahead.

As entrepreneurs, we just need to know one thing. Who cares --- I mean deeply, passionately, obsessively cares --- about having a clean house? If you have someone like this in front of you, and your product will give them the best clean in the market, then your chances of doing business are high. If they really like your product, AND THEY TRUST YOU, income, family, home ownership, etc. will have no meaning. Your client will find a way to do business with you.

I have actually been in this situation, selling expensive vacuum cleaners. Clients have used home equity loans, borrowed from family, busted out emergency credit cards, and literally pulled out cash from under their mattresses to get our vacuum cleaners.

But not everyone did this. WHY?

First, and we already talke about this, was that they didn't passionately want what we had to sell.

But more importantly, the only people who went out of their way were the ones who bought because of ME. Many times, clients would say that they had already seen the presentation before, and some had seen it 2-3 times. They didn't become clients because they didn't trust the person they were talking to.

When I was selling investments, I saw the same thing.
In my career as a project manager, it's again the same thing.

People want to do business with people they can trust. Look around. Who do you trust with your hard-earned money? The list is usually pretty small.

And how do you become someone that others can trust? You become passionate about what you are doing. And you become passionate about the benefit you are bringing to your clients.

This now brings us back to the beginning. The person walking out of the desert has a need. Why would they come to you? And when they do come, what are you offering? When will you deliver? How much will they need to invest?

When all of these elements come together, you have a client. And you have the answer to the question: What products or services should you offer?