Why do people buy?

In his book, "The Little Red Book of Selling" Jeffrey Gitomer wrote;

"Why do people buy?" is a thousand times more important than "How do I sell?"

Why do you think people buy or why do you think your customers bought?

My customers buy what I sell because they believe my products will benefit them in ways other products won't benefit them. They are looking for a solution for something important to them.

MitchM

Houston, this is an excellent topic. Here's my two cents:

People buy for one over-arching reason and one reason alone: to feel good.

This is true for all personality types, from highly emotional impulse buyers on one hand to a most analytical bottom-line types on the other. A highly emotional impulse buyer may feel good because she found a pair of shoes that is the perfect color to go with her new outfit, while a low-key and analytical purchasing rep may feel good because he negotiated a vendor's price downward by 8%.

The pursuit of good feelings is what makes people buy. However, it's also what makes people not buy. If you and your product/service make the prospect feel better than it feels for her to not buy (and better than all other options and sources), an order is imminent!

The real issue for salespeople is this: we have to find out what "feeling good" looks like to our prospects, and then position our product/service accordingly.

Skip Anderson

People make buying decisions for a number of reasons but they generally distill down to 2 fundamental topics:
1. they need (I buy my medications because without them, I have a couple of serious issues on the horizon); OR,
2. they want (my wife and LCD televisions ... say no more);

In business, there are decisions made upon personal foibles (eg. ego). The decision to acquire is based on a need but the vendor selection is sometimes swayed by ego.

The logo-conscious consumer probably falls into this category (although they swear that the quality is better with a brand name). Billions are spent annually on brand awareness to cater to this topic.

There are numerous instances where this has gotten off-the-rails. One famous situation happened when a vacuum cleaner company (in Britain) offered return flights to N.A. with the purchase of their product. Guess what: the tickets cost more than the vacuum cleaner!

Hope this helps ...

Good luck & Good selling!
Pat

I agree with Skip.

Buying is an emotional decision.

Localman

Originally Posted by Skip Anderson People buy for one over-arching reason and one reason alone: to feel good.

I couldn't agree more.

Dale King

One emotion simply does not cover the spectrum especially when you consider B2B.

For example, my $127K sale had nothing to do with "feeling good". There was FAR too much politics, "legal input", and remote influencing to bring the complex dynamics down to anyone "feeling good".

When the ed'n SR on the team sold 900 laptops per year for 3 years to a university in Ontario, it had nothing to do with "emotion". Rather, it was a business decision which came about after almost 18 months of diligence (ed'n SR + supplier + university stakeholder/decision-maker, etc.).

When J.D. closed his largest account (now) as the prime supplier (mid-'06), it was strictly business. In fact, it was totally void of "emotion". We had to beat out the competition on every topic before getting to the table!

If you're going to be successful in sales in the long term, you need to broaden your scope to more realistically represent what's going on out there!

Good luck & Good selling!
Pat

Originally Posted by OUTSource Sales One emotion simply does not cover the spectrum especially when you consider B2B. For example, my $127K sale had nothing to do with "feeling good". There was FAR too much politics, "legal input", and remote influencing to bring the complex dynamics down to anyone "feeling good". When the ed'n SR on the team sold 900 laptops per year for 3 years to a university in Ontario, it had nothing to do with "emotion". Rather, it was a business decision which came about after almost 18 months of diligence (ed'n SR + supplier + university stakeholder/decision-maker, etc.). When J.D. closed his largest account (now) as the prime supplier (mid-'06), it was strictly business. In fact, it was totally void of "emotion". We had to beat out the competition on every topic before getting to the table! If you're going to be successful in sales in the long term, you need to broaden your scope to more realistically represent what's going on out there! Good luck & Good selling! Pat

I would propose that the decision maker in your scenario, Pat, had to feel good first and foremost, or the sale wouldn't have proceeded. I think if you step back and would analyze that scenario further, there was some "feeling good" going on. In addition, there was some "feeling good" about doing business with you, or they would have selected another vendor.

Also, to clarify, I stated that there is one over-arching reason that all buying decisions take place, and that is to feel good. (I call this the "super-macro" need).

However, if one drills down further, one will find eight reasons customers buy, which I call "macro needs" (to ease pain, a quest for quality, to be generous, etc, etc.).

Then there are the micro needs, which are the specific needs (June delivery required, has to be 62" high, needs to accomodate 125 user, or whatever. These are specific to the situation and to the prospect.

I still contend that the over-arching motivation to buy is always to feel good, I I believe this is true whether the customer is a business or a consumer.

Now that you're expanding the emotions, I'm not sure that we're saying something different.

In any event, I'm not in the camp where you can bring the motivation-to-buy down to a single emotion.

My $127K sale did NOT make one person feel good. I had stakeholders + legal counsel + user group + purchasing ... then it went to H.O. in the Netherlands! Please do not attempt to diminish this hugely complex cycle. The example was provided to illustrate my point. I'd like to ensure that the newbies see that the complex dynamics in-play which need to be addressed by the SR. It would be inappropriate to portray ALL sales decisions as being motivated by a single emotion.

The other examples were to portray the fact that, in those instances, NO emotions were involved: They were STRICTLY business-related. They had nothing to do with making a decision-maker "feel good". In the case of the sale into the ed'n market, they had a set of criteria, we presented our offering effectively and won the business. Again ... no one "felt good" (we simply met some fairly complex criteria).

J.D.'s account was almost "clinical" in their vendor analysis, so, it was not a function of "feeling good" in the end.

I really didn't provide the examples to be twisted or further analysed. Rather, I felt the need to more properly position "motivators to buy" in complex sales so that rookies don't squander their time with prospects.

My original input was that (in business) "People make buying decisions for a number of reasons but they generally distill down to 2 fundamental topics:
1. they need; OR,
2. they want;"

It is FAR too simplistic to say that all buying decisions happen because some has been made to "feel good" ...

Good luck & Good selling!
Pat

Originally Posted by OUTSource Sales Now that you're expanding the emotions, I'm not sure that we're saying something different. In any event, I'm not in the camp where you can bring the motivation-to-buy down to a single emotion.

Originally Posted by OUTSource Sales My $127K sale did NOT make one person feel good. I had stakeholders + legal counsel + user group + purchasing ... then it went to H.O. in the Netherlands! Please do not attempt to diminish this hugely complex cycle. The example was provided to illustrate my point.

I'm not meaning to diminish the complexity of the particular sale you refer to, or of any sale. Yes, some transactions are very complex.

But I wasn't discussing the complexity of a transaction, I was discussing buying motivations of customers. Those are two separate issues, in my opinion.

The decision-maker (or, in your scenario, multiple decision-makers) had to feel good or they wouldn't have spent the money on whatever the product or service was in your transaction. That's my opinion, and I understand and accept that you don't agree with me, but I think it's a worthwhile discussion.

Originally Posted by OUTSource Sales I'd like to ensure that the newbies see that the complex dynamics in-play which need to be addressed by the SR. It would be inappropriate to portray ALL sales decisions as being motivated by a single emotion.

Pat, I can assure you that I don't want to mislead newbies in any way. But let me pose this question to you:

Since you don't agree that feeling good is the overarching factor in a buying decision, what possibly would be the over-arching determinant be?

Originally Posted by OUTSource Sales The other examples were to portray the fact that, in those instances, NO emotions were involved: They were STRICTLY business-related. They had nothing to do with making a decision-maker "feel good". In the case of the sale into the ed'n market, they had a set of criteria, we presented our offering effectively and won the business. Again ... no one "felt good" (we simply met some fairly complex criteria). J.D.'s account was almost "clinical" in their vendor analysis, so, it was not a function of "feeling good" in the end.

Purchases by "strictly-business" analytical, non-emotional, bottom-line individuals are made all the time on the basis of feeling good. Being "strictly-business" doesn't mean one doesn't feel good! They are not opposites! Every purchaser wants to feel good. Feeling good will most certainly look differently to one customer than it will to another, but it is still "feeling good."

Pleasing a board feels good. Pleasing your superior feels good. Getting a good deal feels good. Stroking your ego feels good. Solving a problem feels good. Ending a profit leak feels good. Cutting costs feels good. Even the most analytical of purchasers buys to feel good, or they simply wouldn't do it.

Originally Posted by OUTSource Sales It is FAR too simplistic to say that all buying decisions happen because some has been made to "feel good" ...

I didn't say that. That is a misquote. I didn't say anything about making someone feel good! I don't even know if it's possible to "make someone feel good."

But I do believe that "feeling good" is the over-arching motivation of customers to spend money with you or me or anybody.

Skip Anderson