COUNTIFS with a variable condition

I am using COUNTIFS to work a formula for finding an average of a SUMPRODUCT. Formula:

=SUMPRODUCT(('2008 Cost by Block'!$B$4:$B$828=$B3)*('2008 Cost by Block'!$D$4:$D$828=$C3)*('2008 Cost by Block'!$N$4:$N$828))/(COUNTIFS('2008 Cost by Block'!$B$4:$B$828,"=APRICOT",'2008 Cost by Block'!$D$4:$D$828,"=2L"))

This takes place on sheet '2008 Cost by Variety', and takes cost by packing style by ranch block by variety and sums together the appropriate style selection on that row, then divides by the number of selections added, in order to get an accurate average for what I need. In this format, the formula works. However, when I attempt to change "APRICOT" or "2L" in the COUNTIFS formula to the cell number so that I can change the control without changing the formula, it returns a #VALUE. Is there a way to use "=B3" or "=C3" in place of APRICOT and 2L?