Marketing

Think for a moment about what people actually do before they part with their money. Whether you realize it or not, they think through four steps, usually without knowing it. We call these the buying stages.

 Need or want stage. This is when a person decides that they want or need something. It might be that they want to save money or time, or they might want to gain something, such as money or status. Equally, they might want to avoid something, such as hunger, thirst or having to clean the house on their hands and knees.

 Knowledge stage. They search for information to help them decide which one to buy. For some products, they will look at advertising, brochures or reviews in specialist magazines. For other, more basic products, such as bread, they’ll probably just look at them on the shelf.

“Look at markets through the other end of the telescope – not the lens of what you want to sell, but the lens of what people want to buy”

Gary Bencivenga, American celebrity copywriter

 Preference stage. Then they actually make a decision and choose the one they will have. Even though they might have thoroughly researched the product, they will often subconsciously decide on things like colour, quality, price, style or what’s in fashion.

 Buy and justify stage. After they have made their decision and bought the product, they will then justify to themselves that they’ve made the right choice. They will say things like “it was the best,” or “it was reduced in price”.

Some people make almost instant decisions because they’re known as decisive. Some need lots of information and facts before they can make a decision. They are methodical and they just need time. Then there is another group, who take almost forever to make a decision. These are cautious and you will need to encourage them to make the decision by telling them who else has bought your product.

In Secret 5.3 you will see which sort of advertising and promotion you must do for each stage of the buying process.

You need to be a bit of a psychologist to see how people make a decision and why they would buy your product.

2.4 Look at who really makes the decisions

If you’re alone and want a sandwich or coffee, the decision is fairly easy. But, unfortunately, most purchases involve many people, especially if it’s a product or service for a business.

Even something that at first sight appears to be simple can involve more than one person. Imagine a mother in the shopping mall with her two children. One of them says, “I want a sweet.” That child is known as the initiator and is also the consumer. The mother is the buyer. The other child has a vested interest in the decision because they know that they’ll get a sweet too. That child is a stakeholder. If the purchase is not a sweet but something more expensive, the other parent may be involved in the decision process also. We give the people these names to help explain their role in the decision process of making a purchase.

 Initiator. The person who first suggests the idea. In the example above, this is one of the children. If the mother had made the suggestion by asking, “Would you like a sweet?”, she’d be in initiator instead.

 Consumer. The person who actually uses the product or service. This is the child in the example above. But, if you wanted to buy a computer network for a business, it might be a whole team of people.

“Most sales are lost because the salesman presented his product before he knew what motivated everyone else involved”

Gary Bencivenga, American celebrity copywriter

 Influencer. A person or group of people whose views and advice have a bearing on the buying decision. In the example of buying sweets, this could be a dentist who might suggest that sweets are bad for the teeth.

 Money man/woman. The person who has the money or signs the cheque. They have the ultimate authority to say, “No, we can’t afford it”.

 Buyer. The person who actually buys or pays for the product or service. In business these are the people who check the contract and look at the viability of the supplier in the long term.

 Stakeholder. A person or group of people who have no influence over the decision, but are interested in the purchase.

The more expensive the product, the more people you’ll tend to find involved in the decision. You must identify the individuals by name and work with your salespeople to make sure that you influence them correctly. It’s the little things that matter, so you must give the right kind of information to the right person. For example, the buyer is not interested in the technical merit of your product, they are interested in the status of your company. The money man is really only interested in making sure that they get value for money.

Purchases are never as simple as they seem, and there can be many people involved in even an easy decision.

2.5 Know your strengths and weaknesses

The best marketing people know exactly what they’re good at, and what they’re not so good at – their strengths and weaknesses. You also need to have an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors, and know what your customers think of you and your products.

Your customers’ views are much more important than your own. I’m sure you think that you have the best products in the world, but actually it’s their perception that matters most. And you must match your product and customer service to their expectations, based on your marketing material.

one minute wonder Phone your customers immediately after they have bought something from you. You will then get their instant reaction to how the purchase went.

 Product. Ask customers how the features, quality and reliability of your product stacked up to what they had expected.

 Price. Did they feel that they got value for money? Find out if they got more or less than they had expected.

 Availability. How easy was it for them to find out the information they needed when choosing which product to buy? How easy was it for them to buy it? Was it in stock?

 Service. What did they think of your service? Was it friendly, efficient and did it match what they had anticipated?

Many businesses employ someone to phone customers; others use the post. A postal or email survey can gather more information, but it won’t capture the customer’s immediate feelings.

You also need to talk to your prospective customers, particularly those who have never purchased anything from you. Ask them if they’ve heard about your business and what they think you stand for. This is called your company’s level of awareness.

Make a list of what you think you’re good at and a list of what you’re not so good at, and add your customers’ views to the lists. Then look long and hard at each of the weaknesses, and work out how you can address them. Ideally, you want to turn them around completely, so that they become strengths.

Know what you’re good at and not so good at, so you can play to your strengths and fix your weaknesses.

2.6 Define your proposition and values

Once people have decided that they want to buy something, they tend to choose the business that closely matches their own lifestyle and values. You need to define what you do and what you stand for as a business.

You need a very clear statement that is called your proposition. If you’re not a household name it needs to say what you do. If you are a well-known brand you can get away with a slogan, such as “We try harder”, from Avis, or “The ultimate driving experience”, from BMW.

At first sight, it seems very difficult to create your proposition and brand values. But your proposition should just say clearly what you do in one sentence. One way is to fill the gaps in this statement: we supply (customers) with (product) that will (benefit). For example, “We supply commercial vehicle manufacturers and repairers in South America with cooling systems that will cope with the rugged conditions and harsh climate”.

Your brand values are what you want your customers to feel when they see and interact with your business. You need to match these to your market, though. For example, it’s no good trying to be a young and energetic business if your market is elderly people.

one minute wonder Visit the food shops in your area and look at their displays. What colours do they use? What’s the layout like? What sort of people shop there? Try to decide what their brand values are, and which is their target group of customers.

Think which one of these best describes your business. And is it what your target customers want?

 Reliable and stable. The banks and insurance companies must come across as safe and secure.

 Exciting and energetic. BMW and Red Bull have created energetic brands with emotional appeal.

 Innovative and leading edge. Brands like Audi, Apple and Sony promote their leading-edge technology.

 Creative and stylish. Think about Gucci and Ferrari.

 Sophisticated and high-status. Brands such as Rolls Royce, Dunhill and Rolex say that you’ve arrived.

 Value for money. Companies like Kia, Skoda, Hyundai and Asus Computers push value for money.

People today want to feel engaged with a company and be proud to buy its products. Your proposition and your brand values show this and form your promise to customers. Just make sure that you never break this bond of trust.

You must be able to state clearly what you do and what you stand for in fewer than 35 words.

2.7 Research your competitors

Every business has competitors. And actually it’s good for everyone, as the combined spend on promotion and advertising increases the size and growth of the market. Only the very largest companies can hope to cover the whole market and all the niches within it. You must understand who your competitors are and how you stack up against them.

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