What really drives us to purchase anything?

A lot of us get this wrong.

Including me.

And it becomes a problem later on in life.

We tend to believe that when someone buys something, they've thought it through LOGICALLY.

So when we switch side from being a buyer to a seller, we run into a problem.

We don’t know how to sell.

Our products have the latest and greatest features, yet we can’t sell them.

The reason is: Us human make purchases based on how we feel, and then we come up with reasons to explain it afterward.

You can see this play out all the time

When someone splurges on a fancy car, it’s driven by the emotions it stirs — feelings of prestige, elevated status, and the cool image they’ll project to others.

Later, they use the car’s technical specifications to rationalize the purchase.

But in reality, those specs don’t play as significant in the decision-making process.

Last night, I was taking the dogs on a walk in my neighborhood.

One of them took a dookie (pugs are freaking disgusting)

I pulled out a plastic poop bag from the roll that was attached to the dog leash

Picked up the “number two” and yeet it into the nearest trash can

Out of nowhere, I started asking myself

“What is the poop bag company really selling?”

You know the math lady meme looking all confused?

10 pm and I was standing outside with the dogs — in front of a random person’s house after my dog just took a sh*t— contemplating on the poop bags business

After standing there for 2 minutes, I came up with a list of what they are really selling.

They are selling the solutions to help these scenarios:

• Picking up dog poop using bare hands

• Sh!t and run

• Getting criticized by others for not picking it up (status)

• Dirty yard, dirty neighborhood, dirty street, …

• Kids in the neighborhood encountering a strange brown object, that they might collect and bring home to play with

• And more…

These are the problems that poop bags potentially solve.

After that whole thought exercise, I realize that “WOW, they are not selling plastic bags after all”.

Think about it, there are many different kinds of plastic bags — the ones you carry your groceries with, the ones that wrap around electronic gears before getting boxed.

They are all plastic bags, but each of them solve a different problem.

Yeah, you can use your groceries bag to pick up your dog turds, but out of convenience and ease of use, it’s easier to just buy the plastic bags that are designed for that purpose.

Whether you’re selling digital products, services, feet pics or whatever it is, take some time and answer this question: What are you really selling?

• Grab a pen and paper

• Write down all the problems you are solving with your products

• Spend the next day thinking about it and slowly shift your mindset into a PROBLEM - SOLUTION angle.

• Also write down the emotions that your products can bring (this will be extremely beneficial for your marketing)

Here’s an (in)appropriate example 😅

Men don’t pay prostitutes for their bodies, they pay them to get the urge out (the urge of planting seeds, and accomplishing something in life)

My uncle (chú Hải) pays them, so my cousin and I can learn about the human anatomy when we were teenagers

Some might pay for companionship because they are lonely

Key takeaways:

• People buy with emotion, and justify it with logic

• People buy the solutions to their problems

• Sell the destination, not the plane ticket

• Sell the transformation, not the product

Alrighty, I’m out ✌️

Justin “say you’re proud of me” Nguyen 😂 

p.s: Oh, I forgot to tell you, the dookie was runny, so I smeared it everywhere after picking it up. Good thing it rained soon after 😥

p.p.s: Are you facing a challenge in your life that seems impossible to solve, or an issue you can’t quite get a handle on?

Don’t go through it alone.

I’ve been in your shoes a few years back, and I’d love to chat with you to see if I can offer some assistance.

Simply reply to this email, or DM me on Twitter. Let’s talk it through together.