Diverting Rivers or Digging Wells?
Ken Krogue reminds us that when it comes to marketing, diverting a river makes a lot more sense than digging a well. He writes that we should
Find existing need, tap into it, shape it. Don’t try and create need.
And he describes how the great Jobs did just that.
This is good advice that none of us follow. It’s not because we are incapable. Nor is it because we want to fail. We don’t do it because we are not “hardwired” to identify potential client needs. We are hardwired instead to think of our own needs. BTW, that would be ok if we were very active in dynamic communities. Because our own needs would then have some degree of similarity to others in our community. But when “individuality” and “creativity” trump relationship building, we get into difficulty. We start digging wells … just for ourselves.
BTW, we get a sense of the nature of the me versus we problem in the way people talk. Check out, for example, what Forbes Magazine (using the smarts of Lisa Earle McCleod) says you need to change in order to sell better. You guessed it. Speaking in terms of the buyer’s needs. Hmmm … I guess this is not second nature.