Customers' needs can be complex. When we meet those often complex needs, we have an increased opportunity to turn a prospect into a customer, or to keep an existing customer.
But I believe there are three misconceptions about why customers buy, and all are relative to customer needs.
Misconception #1: Customers always buy to solve a problem.
Customers often buy to solve problems, but there are many other reasons shoppers spend money (and choose when to spend it, and with which company and from which salesperson). If you believe everything you read on the Internet, you would be led to believe that customers only buy to solve problems. This is a common theme of articles about sales (usually written by business-to-business folks). But I believe that only looking for "problems" to solve can distract you from the real reasons prospects will spend money with you.
Sarah collects a famous brand of crystal. She started collecting these pieces nineteen years ago. She owns vases, candlestick holders, wine glasses, and many other pieces. She usually gets a piece from her husband for her birthday, and another one for Christmas. She may pick up a couple other pieces throughout the course of each year to add to her collection.
Sarah's best friend collects this same brand of crystal, as do a couple colleagues at work, including her boss. Her mother has collected the same brand since she got married forty years ago. Sara perceives that people who collect this brand of crystal have good taste, an appreciation for the finer things in life, and to be members of a desirable economic class that can afford these pieces.
Does Sarah buy these pieces because she wants to solve a problem? No. Sarah buys these pieces because she wants to belong to (or continue to belong to) the group of people who own this brand of crystal. Her buying motivation is not to solve a problem; it is to confirm her membership in this self-defined (with the help of the manufacturer's marketing!) group of people with whom she identifies.
Misconception #2: Customers buy the least expensive option.
Having the least expensive product in your product category can be desirable to a certain segment of the market. But most people don't buy the least expensive option. "Saving money" is a key buying motivation of some customers, but certainly not of all customers.
Here's a story about Richard. Richard is not real. He and his story exist only in my imagination.
Richard owns a dry cleaning company that has a competitor one block away. His competitor is a recognized discount cleaner, and Richard has matched his competitors pricing since they appeared on the scene twelve years ago. Eventually becoming frustrated with this approach, Richard decided he was tired of chasing the low price market. He changed his brand and his approach to doing business.
Richard raised his prices and offered several new services. He re-branded his business as being the dry cleaner of choice for the busy professional. Over time, this branding message started to resonate with his new market. Since most customers of dry cleaning are professionals, and most self-classify themselves as being "busy," he started to add services to his menu to attract this clientele.
He offered curbside pickup and drop off. Customers could drive up to the front door and one of the associates would come out to retrieve their dirty laundry, or deliver their cleaned clothes to the customer's car. Eventually, he added "call ahead service" where a customer could call when they leave home or work, and Richard would have their cleaning ready to deliver to the customer's car when they arrive. This was a much-appreciated time-saver for Richard's customer base.
He implemented a payment plan where a credit card would be kept on file, and the customer would sign off on the charge without having to swipe the card, again saving time. He opened credit accounts for customers who would receive monthly statements rather than pay for each order.
Richard implemented effective promotional programs. Once a month, he would promote an upcoming "coffee day." Anybody who would drop off laundry by 10 am would receive a free large cup of famous-brand coffee. Richard hired a service to come in and prepare the coffee, but he saw his business increase by 125% on coffee days. The concept of free coffee resonated with his market of busy professionals and he found word-of-mouth buzz added to the success of the program.
"Goodwill Day" allowed customers to donate gently used clothing in exchange for a coupon good for a discount on future services. Richard's valet service would deliver and pick-up dry cleaning at customers' homes or businesses for a fee, and since his market was busy professionals, this service was seen as valuable and customers paid extra for it.
Align yourself with customer needs, not with an often tired and ineffective focus on lowest price.
Misconception #3: Customers buy the best quality.
Customers may or may not buy the best quality. It depends upon their buying criteria and the customer's individual definition of "quality."
When I was a sales manager a number of years ago, I went to a department store and bought two similar men's short-sleeved shirts. Both had zippers instead of buttons. Both had a fabric with a waffle-like texture. Both were 100% cotton, both were a similar color, and both were attractive and stylish (at least in my estimation). One of these shirts was a Ralph Lauren Polo brand shirt. The other was an inexpensive house brand.
I placed duct tape over the labels of both shirts. I put a small patch of duct tape over the left chest area where a embroidered brand identifier would be if there was one. I covered up the fabric and care labels with duct tape.
I then passed both shirts around my sales team and asked them which one they would buy. Having no clues about the brand of the shirts available to them (thanks to the duct tape), they had to base their decision on other criteria.
Every single salesperson chose the house brand shirt, which sold for less than fifteen dollars at the time. Nobody chose the Ralph Lauren Polo brand shirt which sold for forty dollars (if my memory serves). When I removed the duct tape, this group of mostly stylish and design-oriented folks were intrigued and surprised.
I asked which shirt they would have purchased if the duct tape was absent at the time of purchase. The vast majority of my group confessed they would have purchased the Ralph Lauren Polo shirt. When the labels were visible, the "customers" would have purchased the brand with the perceived best quality (or maybe it was the brand with the perceived highest value). When the brand information was missing from the decision, the "customers" would have purchased the low priced option because they all felt this shirt was of higher quality and was more attractive than the other.
Customers make complex buying decisions based upon their perceptions of quality, value, and their perceived appropriateness and attractiveness of the product. If customers bought only the best quality products, then all car buyers would buy Hondas, Toyotas, and Subarus (who seem to have made the best quality cars over the last decade according to a leading consumer magazine).
Customers often buy the best quality, but often do not because other buying criteria are more important.
If you like this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to our free sales tips newsletter.
Skip Anderson is the Founder of Selling to Consumers Sales Training,
a B2C and retail sales training and management consulting company. Skip
is nuts about helping companies and individuals sell more.
Recent Comments