Make it ridiculously simple

Why I bought an iPhone 16

Photo by Paula Schmidt

Why we buy stuff

You can overcomplicate this.

But you don’t have to.

The older and more knowledge I get, I overthink.

But I don’t have to. And neither do you.

There are only 3 reasons people buy stuff from you.

I really don’t care if it's consumer or business or large enterprise sales or a new job.

Selling is the act of meeting a need.  People buy for 3 reasons:

1. Saves time

2. Makes money

3. Saves money

So why did I buy an iPhone 16 after being a loyal Android customer for 24 years?

Read on.

Saves time

I just did an agentic AI course with Amir Feizpoiur and Abhimanyu Anand.  I did the course because I was curious.  Part of the course was on assignment to develop a project with LangGraph.  I decided to develop an application on LangGraph for a Book Launch on social media.

There are 3 reasons for a writer like me who is problematic with social media (for many reasons - age, mindset, geographical location) to want to have a productivity tool for a book launch on social media:

1. I excel at writing but often struggle with social media.

2. Staying consistent on social platforms feels like an uphill battle.

3. Creativity fades in the crucial 3-5 month run-up to my book launch.

These are all opportunities to save time.

You can see it here

And here Next Page

 And here Bob and Alice - an anti-love story

Makes money

In my security and privacy consulting business for medical devices, I specialized in helping Israeli medical device/digital therapeutics companies achieve HIPAA/GDPR/FDA compliance.  

I started blogging.  I wrote about 3 things:

1. HIPAA - what it means, how it works etc

2. GDPR - what it is, how it works and how Americans are different from Europeans

3. FDA Cyber - what it is, how it works and how much compliance will cost you

Compliance enables my clients to make money.  That’s why they pay me.

Saves money

I am a serious reed musician. I play sax and clarinet.  Reeds are very expensive. A pack of 5 tenor saxophone reeds in Israel costs $50.   Out of 5 - you may throw out 3.  The reed may last 2 weeks of intensive practice/performance at best.

A Canadian company, Legere, makes plastic reeds that are better than cane.  They last 10-12 months.  A Legere tenor reed costs $25 online.

Legere reeds save money

Conclusion

No matter who your customers are, they only have 3 reasons to buy from you.

Don’t overthink it.

You can be a consumer, business or large enterprise play - there are only 3 reasons your customer wants to buy your product or service.

Remember it’s their need and not your cool idea. 

Selling is the act of meeting a need.  People need a product/service from you that:

1. Saves time

2. Makes money

3. Saves money

And why did I buy an iPhone 16?

I bought a new set of hearing aids.   They use a Bluetooth standard not supported by my old Android phone but well supported by Apple.  

I have been a heavy MacBook and iPad Pro user for years.   I loved my OnePlus Android phone.

But - the decision was not hard.  

I was wasting a lot of time fooling around with my Android phone and the devices and had to switch devices for music and phone calls.  It was time consuming.

The iPhone 16 Saves me Time.

And it’s cool.