What are you selling? Candy, Vitamins,or Painkillers?

Your company’s got a great idea for a new product, service, or feature.

The first question you ask is: Will it generate more sales?

The answer: It depends on whether it’s a candy, vitamin, or pain killer.

Painkillers always sell. When you’re in pain, you’ll grasp anything to help alleviate the discomfort. A painkiller is a must-have. Vitamins? Not so much. Sure, they can help, but they’re just nice-to-have. It doesn’t really make a difference whether I take it today or not. Candy? Well, I don’t need candy. In fact, it may even be bad for me. But it’s cool, the latest thing, and everyone’s buying.

Irrespective of what you’re selling, it’s either candy, vitamins, or painkillers.

It may even be two or all three at the same time!

One Man’s Candy Is Another’s Painkiller

As a product, how would you categorize Facebook? Is it candy, vitamin, or painkiller?

The answer will differ dependingon whom you ask:

• For the taxicab driver who spends some of each day waiting to pick up a fare, Facebook is probably candy. It allows him to see what his friends are doing and make comments. It’s non-essential but helps pass the time.
• But for the working Mum who wants to stay in touch with friends and family, share in their lives, and celebrate special events, it’s possibly a vitamin. A nice-to-have, but not essential.
• And for the widowed grandmother living alone, far from her children and grandchildren, it’s undoubtedly a painkiller. It’s the only way to stay in touch with what’s happening in their lives. It’s essential.

CANDY

Candy gives people pleasure. They’re sugary, sweet, and deliver a sugar “high,” but we’ve been told they’re bad for us try and avoid them. Candy doesn’t solve a problem, doesn’t have to be bad for you, not everyone has to like them, and you can live quite happily without it. Online games serve up candy day after day, and great games generate massive income for their creators. 

VITAMINS

Vitamins are cool ideas. They’re great but not essential. We know they’re good for us but aren’t in a rush to buy them. But they could be a painkiller tomorrow. Think about a product like Zoom. It started off as an alternative video conferencing tool; something we installed but rarely used. Today? It’s an essential part of almost every business and household across the globe during COVID-19.

PAINKILLERS

Painkillers, on the other hand, are essential. If the pain is bad enough (e.g. kidney stones), you’ll do everything possible to alleviate the suffering. When it comes to selling, having a painkiller that addresses a pain point is your quickest path to success. And if your product is an addictive painkiller—one people can’t do without even when the pain subsides—all the better.

Three different individuals, all with friends and family, but different needs.

What is it? Positioning Your Product

Whether your product is candy, vitamins, or painkillers impacts your go-to-market (GTM) strategy.  But it requires more than merely understanding what your product is and what it can do. As we saw from the Facebook example, knowing your target audience is essential for marketing and sales. So ask yourself:

• Who is our target customer? Is it the right group for the product?
• Could there be more than one customer persona?
• Is our product non-essential but give people pleasure?
• Does our product make people’s lives easier?
• Could our product become a painkiller in the future?
• Does our product address an existing pain point? Are people looking for it now?
• Is our product addictive? Will people keep using it after it’s fixed their pain point?

Once you’ve identified whether your product is candy, a vitamin, a painkiller, or a mix, write down the need and value for each target persona. State what pain point or desire is being addressed, the anticipated impact of acquiring your product, and what you need to do for them to become addicts. As the sales cycle evolves, update your positioning based on your observations, including market trends, positive outcomescreated, and adverse outcomeseliminated.

The Bottom Line

You don’t need an addictive painkiller to be successful. That would be nice, but it’s not realistic.

The most important thing is to know your target audience and position your products correctly.

About Jeev

A serial entrepreneur with a rich history of launching disruptive online businesses and taking them to the top, Jeev owns dozens of “go-to” reviews and rankings websites. Jeev has invested more than 20 years researching human behavior and how to leverage different sales methodologies to effectively influence decision-makers.To find out how Jeev can help you, visit jeevtrika.com.