There are those products and services which we have to buy and then there are others which are nice to have. If you want to drive high growth, you need to offer something which customers have to have, where the purchase cannot be delayed or avoided.
Nice situation to be in, however most of us aren’t that lucky, but what if you could ride on the back of such an item? What if you were able to sit alongside such a need with a complementary product and put your hand up and say “me too”? While that may seem a bit light hearted, it is the strategy which is used by a lot of companies selling a portfolio of products.
The basic marketing strategy is to tap into the ‘compelling need to buy’. That is, products or services which save peoples’ lives, take away physical or mental pain or simply keep people out of jail.
It is easy to see how life-saving drugs fit into this group, but what about the rest of us. Think regulations! There are a huge number of regulations which govern almost everything we do from health and safety and road use to environmental issues. Whether it is a personal problem such as having third party insurance on your car or complying with the water restrictions, we all have ‘big brother’ watching us. In business we are surrounded by regulations, some which will close us down if we fail to comply.
The good thing about compelling need products is that there is little customer resistance, less price pressure and a shorter sales cycle time. Obviously the best position to be in is to sell one of these life saving or compliance-satisfying products or services, especially if yours is the only one or the best.
However, another possibility is to sell alongside such a product or service. Often a compelling need sweeps other products and services along with it. The software company which sells a payroll system will often sell other applications at the same time, most of which are not as compelling. The accounting firm which offers audit services also offers a wide range of consulting and advisory services. Your dentist fixes your tooth and offers a whitening treatment as well.
Start by examining the regulations which govern your marketplace or the environment in which your target customer sits. What do they have to do? Can you find a product or service which meets that need or can you find a partner who has such a product where you can jointly offer your solution in the same sale transaction?
Even if your product cannot be easily sold at the same time, you now have an open door to a customer and we all know it is easier to sell to an existing customer than to find a new one. Your opportunity is in the follow-up to the original sale when you can introduce a wider range of products and services. Piggybacking is not free but it can be very effective.
James was the editor and publisher of SmartCompany and LeadingCompany for five years. He is now the Australian Financial Review‘s companies & markets editor, and a former BRW editor.
