Catch Your Non-Customers, follow this guide!

For everyone who sells a product(a good, a service or a personality) the people you relate with are either customers or non customers. The non customers are those people who do not buy your product and don't buy that of your competitors either. This perspective is targeted at doing two things for you: It will enable you to categorize the consumer and there by fashion and stretch your product to embrace and engage a category of people who were not buying your product before.
Every marketer or sales person must learn to step out of the various attributes of the product he sells, look to the needs of perspective buyers and convince them that the product you provide meets their need. The needs and wants of every consumer are numerous in nature and once we focus on those we are bound to sell more of the product that we have in stock.
Several years ago I  was saddled with editing a fun magazine which had fashion as its major focus. Revenue to print the magazine was a major challenge and so I decided to try to do the impossible: expand the scope of its readers. Eventually, me and the crew of the publication succeeded in breaking into serious business environments covering most of the formal business sectors that were secluded from the publication and we increased revenues  dramatically.
We can categorize the needs of buyers into eleven different groups:
Money: Any product that promises the buyer a chance of making more money will definitely attract a lot of buyers. Various kinds of people would spend money on products that would guarantee them more money.  There are not many people who will pass up the chance of making that extra bit that would help them do more, buy more and get to wherever they want to go.

Security: Every one wants to be safer and to a large extent in a world that has numerous terror threats, security is a billion dollar industry. Ranging from handy defense mechanisms like pepper spray,  pocket tools for self defense onto burglar alarms electronic wire etc. Security mechanisms also have  a variety of house or company based detection gadgets. The more dangerous the world becomes, the more people will spend their money on the security of life and property.

Being liked. Everyone has a little bit of vanity in them and most people would go an extra mile to try and be liked by people around them. A variety of products that include clothing, make up and etiquette training attract a lot buyers who would go to extra lengths to look, smell and behave in an attractive way all with the intention of pleasing people in their environment. 

Status and Prestige is linked closely to the human beings desire of being liked. Everyone wants to be recognized and accorded some kind of respect which status and prestige can provide for us. So products that provide us with such attributes would sell if those promoting them know where to find the people with these desires.

Health and fitness is another multi million industry which people love. Everyone wants to be healthy and so people spend a lot of money on health products, medicare and fitness and wellness training.The campaigns advising people to take good care of their health are in numerous forms and many people are making a fortune off of them.

Praise and recognition: Every human being desires to be praised at some level. Some people would give anything for the applause, trophies and admiration. The human being naturally likes to be appreciated for actions taken, efforts made or achievements in general. If we can find a way to make people attract praise and recognition to themselves through our products, then we can make money out of it.

Power, influence and popularity: Politicians contest elections on the pretense of wanting to serve and help people in their constituencies. Sometimes they do just that, but in many cases elections are contested for self aggrandizement. It is in the nature of man to love power, influence and popularity. Providing a  mechanism for these three commodities is bound to attract people. Providing a product that promises them would definitely make money.

Leading the field: Human beings like to lead in their chosen professions. There are numerous training programmes, orientation workshops and facilities dedicated to the pruning and honing of skills and developmental processes that could give those who are dedicated enough a leap forward in different fields. People are naturally attracted to such processes. How can you shape or reshape your product to promise or provide the leading feeling.

Love and Companionship: The desire to be loved is a human attribute that would be with us forever. Date doctors, relationship seminars, books and magazines as well as radio and TV programmes are dedicated to helping people to relate better. Some people are willing to go through training to help them understand better ways of treating people around them with a view to getting better results in their relationships. Products or services built around this are bound to selling if they are marketed properly.

Personal Growth is another huge industry which is hinged on the practical premise that every person who makes an effort can become better at something. Personal growth could refer to professional or personal development processes, it could also refer to religious or psychological development that positively affects the human beings capacity to perform and function at various levels. Books, tapes, TV series and various other mediums of communication are dedicated to these beliefs and so are various other mechanisms and training processes.

Personal transformation: Change is the only thing that is really constant in human beings. We either change for the better or for the worse. Being transformed to a better, more appreciable level of existence is every rationale human being's wish and desire. As we age, one of the innate desires of people is for us to appear better in our physical and mental capacities. Some people would spend a fortune to undergo various forms of transformation such as plastic surgery, make overs and drastic activity that affects our appearance in public.  Undergoing transformation as we progress in whatever we do is the ultimate dream of every human being.

All of our non customers are associated with at least one or more of the attributes that are our outlined here. If we can find a way to make our products exude  these emotions and promise as well as provide  them for more people, we would eventually find ourselves breaking into new groups of customers that have been hidden from our products.