Whether your building product is for commercial or residential use, your goal should be to make your product indispensable. Customers should see it as a“Have to Have” instead of just a “Nice to Have.”
For many products there is another, often overlooked step on the road to“Have to Have” status. And that step is “I Didn’t Know I Could Have.”
If you think of these steps as a sales funnel, the top of the of the funnel is your “I Didn’t Know I Could Have” segment. That’s where the largest number of your prospects are.
Here’s a common scenario. A building owner wants a new building, but doesn’t realize that they could have a better one and still stay within their budget. They don’t realize this because they either aren’t aware of your product or don’t know how it would improve their new building.
Why are so many owners in the dark? Most of the time, it’s because they rely on the architect and contractor to guide their decisions. But architects and contactors are not motivated to build a better building – they’re motivated to build a good enough building.
They don’t see new and different ideas as exciting or beneficial; they just see them as added risks and costs. With little potential upside, they’ll take the conservative approach and recommend doing things the same old way, using traditional materials even when there’s a better option on the market.
That’s a shame, because building owners could have a building that:
- Is Greener
- Has Lower Maintenance Costs
- Is Healthier
- Gives a Greater Return on Investment
- And More
The problem is that all these are “I Didn’t Know I Could Haves.” The majority of owners don’t know that they could have a better building without increasing their investment.
The same thing happens with homebuyers and homeowners.
These people make up the bulk of your prospects. Your job as a building materials company is to make more of them aware of the benefits of your product. And to do it cost effectively.
It’s not like most companies aren’t reaching out to prospects. They’re just not reaching out to the right ones. The mistake most building materials companies make is to focus on the smaller groups of prospects who are in the “Nice to Have” or “Have to Have” categories. These are prospects who are already thinking about your type of product.
For example, when I walk a trade show I will typically see an exhibit that communicates “We Sell Sound Control Products.” A few of them will go a step better with a message that says “We Sell Better Sound Control Products.” I also see this same approach on their websites and other marketing programs.
But those messages target people who are already in the market for products that will improve sound control. It doesn’t speak to the “I Didn’t Know I Could Have” crowd. A much better approach would be a message along the lines of “Why You Need Sound Control.”
With a message like this, you dramatically increase the number of people who will want to talk to you because you’re focusing on the majority of people who don’t know they need or could afford sound control, not the minority who are already interested in investing in it.
Take a look at your messaging and who it’s aimed at. Are you doing enough to let more prospects know that they “Could Have” the benefits your product provides? If you do that, you’ll be amazed at how many prospects jump right past “Nice to Have” and start seeing your product as a “Have to Have.”
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