A customer’s purchase decision is driven by their urgency to solve a problem and the cost of the solution.  If the customer perceives the problem to be larger than the cost of solving it, then there will almost certainly be a purchase.  If the problem is small and the cost high, the sale is unlikely, as shown in the following illustration of the cost-benefit ratio.

You develop the ability to dial in how you market and sell to the urgency a person might have to solve a problem by first knowing whether your products and services serve a need or satisfy a want.  Below is a list of the top four reasons people need and want to buy anything:

When the driving motivation for purchase is a want rather than a need, you have to be even savvier in your marketing, sales, and product development.   Good money is made in helping people look and feel better.  If this is your business, then the third business model organizing principle tied to when your customers want your product is the most important.

Would you like some help learning the secret to higher sales?

Click the link below if you struggle to know whether you serve a need by solving a problem or by satisfying a want by speaking with a Marketing & Sales Scientist to improve your ability to convert your sales prospects into new customers.