Why Customers Buy From You
When a customer is ready to make a buying decision, you, naturally, want to be the one they turn to. But other companies will also be ready to answer customers’ needs and wants. What makes a customer choose a particular company?
More specifically, how do you persuade a customer to overlook the competition, and buy from you?
Why people choose one company over another is a challenge to determine. Customers themselves don’t always know. They may think they patronize a business because the products or services are better, when, in reality, it’s because they trust and like the actress who is the company spokeswoman or because their hairdresser mentioned it last week.
Many factors affect why a customer will buy goods or services from you rather than your competition. The most important:
Awareness. First and foremost, a customer has to know you exist. They can’t buy from you if they don’t know about you. So spend the most money in your marketing campaign making sure potential customers know about you.
Features and benefits. Features are the specific attributes of a product or service that distinguish it from the competition; benefits are the ways in which it improves a customer’s life or business. For instance, with an organic head of lettuce, the feature is that there are no pesticides used. But the benefit is that it helps the customer stay healthy and avoid giving their family potentially damaging chemicals.
Price. Setting the right price comes with knowing your customers, not just knowing what your competitors are charging. For some highly cost sensitive customers, price is the major motivator.
If those are your prospects, you’ll want to emphasize having the lowest prices.
Other customers are looking for luxury or premium pricing, and high prices may actually be attractive (think of all those super-expensive handbags). Most customers seek “value pricing” — wanting to get the most for their money.
Brand and/or reputation. Brands are powerful motivators for customers. Branding enhances customers’ familiarity and comfort level with your products or services. In smaller companies, especially service businesses and one-person businesses, the company’s reputation may be thought of as their brand.
Convenience. Convenience allows individuals and businesses to save time and lets them focus their energy on other things. Convenience isn’t only about location. Integrating more than one product or service together makes it more convenient for the customer. In my publishing business, for instance, we offer professors pre-prepared PowerPoint presentations for books they’ll use when teaching. That makes it easier for them to develop their lesson plans — convenient!
Word of mouth. Personal referrals are one of the strongest motivators. This is especially true when you are selling products or services where the prospective customer can’t easily discern the difference between offerings.
How do I know if an attorney will prove to be knowledgeable and responsive? I’m going to ask around.
The Internet has multiplied the power of word of mouth marketing through customer rating sites.
Tips: Give discounts or gifts for referrals, encourage satisfied customers to share their opinion on customer rating sites, and help past customers remember you through frequent e-mail, newsletters, or direct mail.
Rhonda Abrams is the author of “Six-Week Start-Up” and “What Business Should I Start?”
WBJ Web Partners
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