So not selling a Product

By
Gourav Kumar Ganguly
PGDM-Marketing, K.J.Somaiya Institute of Management Studies & Research
I had an epiphany today, when I was listening to a song from one of those Hindi movies from the
stable of the Bhatts.
I remembered a small fact that Mahesh Bhatt had underscored during an on-stage discussion on the
impact of Cinema on society and vice versa, where he had commented that We are in the
business of selling Dreams.
He went on to explain the fact that, in Cinema, they made their products the films, keeping in mind
an underlying secondary objective of helping people Live through the make-believe world of
Cinema.
I realise that, People, as he implied, are beings who sometimes just wish to escape from their
mundane lives for a few hours into a world of fantasy, a world where they do not have to bear the
burden of their everyday lives.
As such, people subconsciously sign a non-verbal contract of suspended disbelief wherein they let
their rational minds take a back seat, and let themselves be driven by the Director of the film for
those 2-3 hours when they have just let go.
That being said, if I may take a leap of theory at this juncture, and re-define sales from just selling a
product / service to selling a hitherto known / unknown missing portion of the targets life to
them, or even as if we are restoring a long lost portion or forgotten part of their lives back to them?
So we are not actually selling the product to our target. We are not even selling the utility to them.
We are actually selling the underlying dreams and hopes a customer has built or will build around
that product/service.
We can see this first hand in the example of selling a 2 BHK Apartment in Mumbai to a customer.
To the agent, it is just another sale, or another step towards that sales bonus at the end of the
month, but, to the new house owner, it may be so many other things:
1) That Dream of owning a house in Mumbai
2) The satisfaction of finally being rid of the necessity of paying high rents each month
3) The pride and status of being a Mumbaikar in every sense of the word, etc
Hence, the disconnect in the buyer and sellers understanding of the sale notwithstanding, there is a
clear distinction of just what is being sold.
I think it is high time salespersons understand that they are not making just another sale. They are
selling another Dream to the person sitting across the table, and thats how the thinking process
should be tailored to maximise the utility of the sale for both parties involved in the transaction.